“Long gone are the days of yesteryear, when we proudly sprung awake on the first day of school, our shiny new school supplies tucked away in our hip L.L. Bean monogrammed backpacks. A brown bag lunch sat on the kitchen counter and fresh, crisp, white, leathery scented tennis shoes awaited us by the door.”
“

Long gone are the days of yesteryear, when we proudly sprung awake on the first day of school, our shiny new school supplies tucked away in our hip L.L. Bean monogrammed backpacks.
A brown bag lunch sat on the kitchen counter and fresh, crisp, white, leathery scented tennis shoes awaited us by the door. Of course we thought we were the coolest kids on the block with our Power Rangers t-shirt and matching shorts and couldn’t wait to get to class, where bragging rights were certainly in order.
As the years have slipped away from us, we have taken less and less pride in the first day of school. In high school we slowly began the descent into flip-flop and pajama land and in college we have become full-blown slobs, our hair a disheveled mop atop our heads and our sweatpants wrinkled and tattered from sleeping in them for the past week.
Bleary-eyed and tousled, we stumble our way through the day, barely able to keep our heads from bobbing up and down during that arduous biology lecture.
I, too, am guilty of wearing the same pair of raggedy PJs for a week straight and am certainly the culprit of many an unwashed hoodie. But, what ever happened to dressing up for the first day of school?
I can hear the murmur of groaning twenty-somethings as I write this, but just think about what a nice outfit can do for your frame of mind. By simply waking up a half hour earlier, taking a shower and opting for that classy pair of slacks and a blouse, you can become a completely different and more effective person. I’m not saying this because I read it in some government-funded study conducted on chimps – I am speaking from experience.
Last semester I found myself falling into a fashionable numbness where nothing mattered but comfort. Each day I’d wake up and roll onto the floor, where I fumbled around for my pair of pink sweatpants and black hooded sweatshirt. Barely awake, I got behind the wheel and drove half-heartedly to a class where I took the opportunity to pick up my dreaming where I’d left off at home. After class, I hopped back in my car and drove back home, where I fell asleep yet again and did nothing for the rest of the day.
I was simply existing, rather than living and I needed something drastic to escape the trap. So, I pulled open my closet, selected my sexiest sundress, a black pair of heels, and a little sweater to wear to class the following day. I woke up slightly earlier to shower and blow-dry my hair and a remarkable thing happened after getting dressed – I was feeling alive! The simply act of getting dressed filled me with pride, put a spring in my step, and I walked with a swagger for the rest of the day.
So, I challenge you students out there to dress up for the first day of school and see how it feels. I guarantee you will see a difference in yourselves.

“