The First Day of School

From the big lights of the East Coast to the Pacific villages of the West, from the lakes of Minnesota down to the swamps of Louisiana, everywhere around the country, there is a universal axiom that holds true for every student, whether a fledgling first-grader or a third-year law student:

"The two best days of the school are the last day of school and the first day of school."
----- Robert Yan, future renowned philosopher.

So the first part is quite obvious: after 9 months of writing, memorizing, studying, listening, and other forms of torture, students look forward to the last day of school like no other, knowing that it signifies as well the beginning of summer, the time of no homework, no tests, and all play. It's a great feeling; I've had the pleasure of experiencing the last day of school 17 times in my life, and it never gets old.

But the first day of school might be a bit paradoxical, as it goes against the intuition of the last, in that the first day of school signifies the END of good times and the BEGINNING of the hellacious torture that is school. And for that reason the first day of school will always rank second to the last day of school, the last day of school maintaining its status as the main course to the appetizer that is the first day.

So why is the first day of school still viewed with some favor? It could be an interesting case study for some psychologist or child studies expert somewhere ( and please, if there are any members of those prestigious professions who read this blog, please respond in the comments). I think the answer has a lot to do with the fact that students spend SO much time in school, especially in the early grades of elementary, middle school, and high school (probably not so much in college, where skipping class and choice of schedule reduces the amount of time actually in the classroom), that school is a kind of second home for students. It's where they learn a good deal of what they need to learn for the rest of the their lives; it's where their friends and peers are; it's where they have some of their best experiences and some of their worst experiences; it's where they live their daily lives. And what happens when you've been away from home for a long time? You begin to miss it. Not only do you miss your friends (and maybe your teacher), you miss being in that environment, of feeling comfortable sitting in a classroom or on the P.E. court. Your body misses going through the daily grind like that.

Also, the first day of school brings a sense of excitement, of starting another year fresh. For students, the beginning of any year does not begin on January 1st, or (maybe for Chinese people) Chinese New Year sometime in February/March. The first day of the year is the first day of school, where you know you will be completeing __th grade this year. You will have new classrooms, a new locker, new P.E. clothes, new teachers, new classmates, new textbooks (ah the fresh smell of new textbooks), new clothes, new folders, new freshly sharpened pencils. So you get the point, everything is new. Nothing is boring yet; the new teacher speaks in a refreshing tone, even though in the back of your mind you know that by the end of May that voice will be one of the most grating sounds of all time. You have a chance at talking to new people, joining a new social clique, establish a new social identity for yourself. This is very different than what happens in the dog days of summer. As much as summer is fun but predictable, school is tough but unpredictable, at least on the first day. Sure, that feeling will wear off soon, in a month, a week, maybe even as soon as the second day of school, but for that one day, it's a pretty good feeling.

I just had my 18th first day of school, and I gotta say, it was pretty much as I described it. Going back to USC, I reconnected with Tommy Trojan, checked out the new Campus Center, walked down Trousdale Parkway, and saw how exorbitant the fees were for new textbooks at the University Bookstore (thank god I'm a 3L this year and don't have to buy many books). I went back to the law school, revisited with classmates, went to my new classes, and actually was fully at attention in ALL my classes.

I think the Robert Yan axiom works. But let's see how long the whole freshness thing lasts. I'm gonna need some extra motivation to get me through my last and final year of law school, and probably of school EVER.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Big Brother Predictions

Big Things Poppin' in this Year's Big Brother House. Actually, like I've expressed before, I think this has been somewhat of a down year for Big Brother, especially cuz the lack of fights. The only tiffs have involved Rachel, and they were just minor skirmishes, not the full-on, drag-it-out, call-someone-the-worst-thing-you-can-think of affairs that Russell, Chima, Evil Dick have had. Not surprising, though, when they cast guys like Lane who have self-described himself as "shy." Huh? C'mon, CASTING!!!!

Anyway, after almost a full month of watching the 24/7 live feeds, BBAfterDark, AND the actual TV show, here are some predictions about the rest of the season that are sure to go wrong:

1.) Brendon will NOT win this game. Let's start with the obvious. In a show-mance, the strongest goes first. Brendon is that guy. He has 0% chance.

2.) Kathy will skate by til the final 3 or final 4. It happens every year, time after time, even AFTER everyone talks about it happening. The sucky housguest who can't ever win any competitions sticks around cuz no one wants to waste their HoH week on that person. This year's version of Jordan, Sheila, Jameka, is............KATHY!!!!! The cleaning lady, ahem deputy sheriff.

3.) The Brigade will break up next week if they don't win HoH. It's actually pretty amazing how long the B-b-b-brigaaaaade has stayed together without being detected, and it goes to show how powerful a secret alliance like that can be without a weak link in their midsts (like the Sovereign Alliance Season 7) or members who throw each other under the bus (Mrs. Robinson season 8). However, apparently production's been hinting stuff to other houseguests like Ragan already, Matt's more of a double-dipper than a loyal follower, and eventually other housguests will start running out of targets. Once 2 Brigaders hit the block, someone's spilling the beans and the whole house of cards will collapse.

4.) Britney or Ragan will go head-to-head in the competition for best diary room quotes this season, succeeding Kevin from BB11. These two got some zingers, unlike the coached sessions of "The Beast" Hayden or "open my eyes real wide to look excited" Lane.

5.) The return of the Sabotuer will fail miserably, as will this Pandora Box combo twist. Surprised CBS is even reviving it after its first attempt ended in its hyped-up Saboteur

6.) Holding true to its once-every-3-seasons pattern, Big Brother will bring back a Houseguest midseason to try to "spice it up" and have a revenge factor present to further "shake things up." Currently, Big Brother producers are arguing vehemently amongst themselves whether to do this due to the lack of big characters evicted so far who are worth bringing back, but they will probably have a chance of heart once Brendon/Rachel get evicted next week.

7.) Jeff from BB11 will make a "surprise visit" to the Big Brother house and bring us a pleasant blast of BB11, firing one-liners like people and entertaining viewers with his fake Irish accent temporarily replacing his very real Chicago accent, providing a bit of comedic relief in what has primarily been a laughless cast.

8.) Someone will do something truly disgusting to vilify themselves, finally giving us a villain that we can root against with all our fury, like BB11's Natalie. This game is all about rooting for the good guys and hating the bad guys, and so far this season no one's really made us get emotionally involved. That will change when a.) Enzo gets caught for the 17th time not washing his hands after using the restroom, b.) Ragan scolds Brendon again for his lack of gameplay but does it in a professorial, condescending tone, c.) Kathy talks bad about America for not giving her America's choice cuz she is the most deserving of it and needs it the most, or d.) Hayden reveals that he and Kristen were in fact brother and sister. Until then, still no uber-villains. Bleh.


9.) Britney will emerge as one of the best female gameplayers Big Brother has even seen, prove her encyclopediac knowledge of the game useful, benefit from the fact her closest ally (Monet) was severed from her early in the game, and show how she's been a demonstrably better player than last year's southern peach, culminating in a non-controversial BB12 victory. Huzzah!


Btw, I love Vicente Padilla.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan