It’s official. Labor Day weekend is over, and students across the US are back to school. As you might have seen in our ‘office happening news’ last week, I am back in school as well. After a lengthy process, I was selected for the fully-funded Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Entrepreneurship Program through Babson College. I’m thrilled to be back in the classroom working alongside a fantastic cohort and continuing to grow DC College Counseling, although boy is there a lot of work!

To celebrate the start of a new school year and my own return to the classroom, we decided to take a trip to ‘back- to -school’ memory lane. Today we’re sharing some of our favorite school memories, as well as some embarrassing old pictures. Enjoy! 

COLLEEN

My favorite subject: History

The weirdest thing in my backpack: My radio discman, which was not at all weird at the time!  

At recess you’d probably find me: Organizing weekend plans with my friend group. I will never forget when my parents instituted a “one sleepover per weekend” rule - I thought it was so unfair!

What I liked about back-to-school shopping: Picking out clothes from the Delia’s catalog and ordering them over the phone.

After school I liked to: Play tennis or piano, talk to my friends on AOL and watch Total Request Live :) 

My go-to-after school snack: Cinnamon toast 

In elementary school I was obsessed with: American Girl Dolls (Felicity was my favorite because she was a redhead like me, but I was all about Samantha’s clothes and furniture).

I remember feeling embarrassed when: My mom and I would go to the movies together in middle school, but it was NOT cool to go to a movie with your mom. So I tried to selectively choose theaters where I wouldn’t run into anyone. This may or may not have included crossing state lines! 

To my teachers I was known as: The leader

I thought I was the coolest kid when: My seventh grade French class went to Montreal and my friends and I orchestrated a party for our classmates in our hotel room (after curfew!)

My favorite school memory: I went through a spelling bee phase- you know those kids in the Scripps spelling bee on ESPN? I didn’t get quite that far but I was the #3 speller in the state of New Jersey in fifth grade. I lost on “metallurgic” which I have never misspelled again! I will never forget the hundreds of photocopied pages of words upon words upon words - each page had three or four columns of words in tiny print and I spent so many hours memorizing them, which I realize does not sound like fun, but I was competitive and really enjoyed it.

SHANNON

My favorite subject: English!

The weirdest thing in my backpack: Oh my gosh, everything leopard printed - binder, lunchbox, folders, even my glasses!

At recess you’d probably find me: Reading Harry Potter on the swing set

What I liked best about back-to-school shopping: Stationary! I still love buying new stationary :) 

After school: You'd find me at dance class, most likely - or sitting in the library with my friends. 

My go-to-after school snack: Little Bites chocolate chip muffins

In elementary school I was obsessed with: Books! Not much has changed :) 

I remember feeling embarrassed when: My mom came to pick me up wearing her army-print cargo pants. 

To my teachers I was known as: The talker 

I thought I was the coolest kid when: I bought a faux fur vest at Limited Too with my own money - it was leopard print, of course!

My favorite school memory: My favorite elementary school tradition was the Harvest Festival, when each grade brought something to school to make gift baskets for senior citizens in the community. During fifth grade, we actually got to go around and deliver the baskets! Then we held a school assembly that the seniors could attend, and each grade sang a song. When I was in high school, I was actually invited back to the Harvest Festival to be a featured speaker and talk with the elementary students, which was definitely my proudest moment!

STACI

My favorite subject: English and Latin

The weirdest thing in my backpack: I carried around a collection of over 100 erasers that I would never actually use. 

At recess you’d probably find me: Climbing the old tires in the field behind school

What I disliked about back-to-school shopping: Going to the shoe store and trying on the required ugly, brown loafers for my school uniform. I was so jealous watching other kids buy cool sneakers.

After school I liked to: Go to dance class, dial up the internet before my parents got home from work, and make mix CDs. 

My go-to-after school snack: Carrots and Swedish Fish

In elementary school I was obsessed with: Designing jewelry. I would rip beads off my grandmother’s sweaters to make earrings and necklaces. 

I remember feeling embarrassed when: My dad told the bus driver I was late one morning because I was in the “potty.” The entire bus of kids heard! 

To my teachers I was known as: The goodie goodie

I thought I was the coolest kid when: I was selected for the lead role in the school production of “The Three Little Pigs.” 

My favorite school memory: There was nothing funnier than the infamous lunch period in first grade. We used to get milk delivered in bags (think Capri Sun-like pouches), and we had to jab the plastic straw carefully through the plastic to get to the milk. Our teacher, an 80 year old nun, had very precise rules for when and how we could open the bags. Sister H wasn’t about to have a mess in her classroom! Tommy B was a real trouble maker, and one day he decided to open his milk by placing the bag on the floor and jumping on it. The milk exploded everywhere, and I thought Sister H was going to pop a vein. She started chasing Tommy around the room and eventually slipped in the milk. Looking back, I feel bad for my teacher, but at the time it was funny to watch an old nun run around.

STEPHANIE

My favorite subject: English 

The weirdest thing in my backpack: An eraser in the shape of a baby's head

At recess you’d probably find me: Playing knockout (and promptly losing)

What I liked about back-to-school shopping: Convincing my parents that I *needed* the same pen in eight colors

After school I liked to: Take a nap 

My go-to-after school snack: Ramen with extra soy sauce

In elementary school I was obsessed with: Pandas

I remember feeling embarrassed when: I got in trouble for writing mean notes to a boy in my second grade class (but he started it).

To my teachers I was known as: The quiet one

I thought I was the coolest kid when: I wore black and white converse to school, which didn't align with the strict uniform.

My favorite school memory:  My friends and I were the creative weirdos in elementary/middle school, so when our teacher assigned our fifth grade class a project on Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, we decided to make a movie trailer for the book. We had a blast filming a four minute video (half of which was bloopers) and acting out scenes. We showed our class the video, complete with iMovie animations, a dramatic voiceover, and an outro of Lady Gaga's LoveGame. If I were to make that video now, I would be cancelled, but it's pretty impressive for a bunch of quirky 10-year-olds.

JESSICA

My favorite subject: English 

The weirdest thing in my backpack: I was very neat as a child, so nothing. 

At recess you’d probably find me: In the library

What I liked about back-to-school shopping: New school supplies! 

After school I liked to: Read books 

My go-to-after school snack: Ants on a log

In elementary school I was obsessed with: Artemis Fowl 

I remember feeling embarrassed when: Literally always- up until high school.

To my teachers I was known as: The talker

I thought I was the coolest kid when: Absolutely never! I was super nerdy.

My favorite school memory: Writing my 5th grade classroom newspaper that made my dad laugh so hard he cried.