It’s that time of year: Only a couple of weeks until school starts

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” The old Staples commercial for its back-to-school sale was a great source of humor from which my dad would emit a belly laugh.

As a kid, we would see the back-to-school flyers from Kmart at the end of July. Boy, this really used to irk me! Let me enjoy my summer, for crying out loud, and don’t remind me of the inevitable!

We received our daughter’s forms for the new school year a couple of weeks ago. She’s going into seventh grade, and I fear we’ll have to take out a loan to get all the required school supplies. Each item on the list is described in great depth, down to the size of the rings in the multiple three-ring binders that need to be purchased.

On the upside, I am so thankful to have these lists ahead of time. Back in the day, we would come home the first day of school with a backpack full of crumpled forms to be filled out and a supply list. If and when our parents found the supply list, it was off to People’s Drug to get the proper supplies.

I was so happy when they finally relented and let me get a Trapper Keeper notebook. Ah, the scent of new school supplies, the notebook paper in its plastic packaging and the pencils, unsharpened and so brand new.

There’s always the bittersweet return to school, both as a student and as a parent.

As a student, there’s the trepidation of a new school year that includes new teachers and the difficulty of new subjects. If you’re going to a new school, you’ve got the added stress of navigating your new place of learning, as well as new friends to make. My first year in middle school was not a good one — I’d gone from a one-classroom per grade small school to a seemingly endless array of hallways and classrooms.

Then you have the whole high school phenomenon of freshman, sophomore, junior and senior (when eighth-graders were still in high school, they were called “thetamen”). Each of these terms means something different, both in definition and in application.

“Freshman” is another word for beginner. For a student, it can be exciting and terrifying. It’s exciting that you’re officially a high schooler now! It’s terrifying, because of the horror stories you hear about upper-classmen picking on freshmen.

We had a large tile Spartan head on the entrance floor of our high school. Rumor had it that if a freshman walked on the Spartan head, the upperclassmen would make them clean it with a toothbrush.

When you’re a sophomore, it’s cool because you’re no longer dragging around the freshman moniker. However, you’re still at the mercy of the upper classmen. You’re considered one yourself by the incoming freshmen, but there are still two classes above you. Coincidentally, the term sophomoric is defined as “exhibiting great immaturity and lack of judgment.” Go figure.

The term junior has a few meanings, one of which is “students in the third year of high school or college.” Another meaning is “lower in rank or shorter of length in tenure.” That pretty much sums it up – you’re almost a senior!

And finally, you’re the crème-de-la-crème, a senior. I used to see T-shirts around high school that read, “Go to hell, world. I’m a senior.” Nice. Admittedly, I had one — got it in Ocean City.

As a senior, you have many responsibilities and the added stress of getting into a good college. But you also have the ultimate power — you are the upper classman. Toward the middle of spring, you may catch some form of “senioritis” (aka lack of motivation). This is usually followed by a traditional “Senior Skip Day.”

Students, enjoy your school years, no matter what grade. They will be over before you know it, and you’ll soon be enjoying the scent of new office supplies.

Smith’s column runs every Friday on the editorial page.