Empty classrooms at summer’s end reignite a familiar nostalgia. After a lifetime spent in schools, I’ve not quite shaken the August-is-one-big-Sunday-night feel — although anticipating the kick-off of our Basic Training Course creates more excitement than anxiety.
Long gone is any worry about what to wear or concerns about buses running on time and teachers calling in sick. Just excitement. A new notebook. A true blank page ready to be filled in. The intoxicating promise of possibility.
Still, there are many details to be tended to.
After scores of emails, phone calls, and meetings, our planning phase has pivoted from creating a kicking ten-week schedule to confirming the location of locked doors, light switches, restrooms and refrigerators.
Interestingly, there is little hierarchy here. Both phases of planning have their own flavor, challenge, and purpose.
Sean Fate, Logistics Coordinator for VIMS, meets Ann Quigley and me on a sunny August afternoon for a final site visit before our course kick-off in less than two weeks.
While Ann and I feel reasonably familiar with the setting, knowing this will be “home” for this year’s course changes and sharpens our eye.
Sean is generous and patient, answering our questions and addressing our concerns. Of course you can arrive at 7 AM. No, that door won’t lock behind you.
He shares the secret hiding places for trash can liners, paper towels, and extra chairs. Most impressively, he and Ann conquer the wild wire world of HDMI and USB connections.
One last question. One last storage closet to see. One last look at the timing. Sean assures us he’ll be here to help. He wishes us good luck and gives us his cell number while jokingly asking us not to use it.
Empty classrooms. Blank notebooks. Sharpened pencils.
Yes, everything is possible.