When I was in school, back to school time was a very exciting time. This year, it feels like there are more back to school commercials and excitement than previous years. It got me thinking: why is this time so exciting? Why do people get all crazy about back to school?

There are several obvious reasons. For one, some people just get excited over new office supplies. You know who you are. You are those who can’t resist buying new pens, even though you have 100 pens in your house and that you haven’t used a pen in two years, except maybe write the groceries shopping list.

Another reason that back to school is so exciting is the new beginning. New beginnings make us feel good about the future. We get to make new-year resolutions, to plan out how this year will be better than the previous one, and to start anew. Get a clean slate, and grow from who we were last year one step closer to who we want to be in the future.

And then there is the knowledge. To me, school stands for knowledge, scholarship, and intellectual challenge. When I think about school I think about learning to read, and the worlds of knowledge, adventure, and magic that literacy opens for us. Reading enabled me to learn about countries I’ve never been to, planets I’ve never been to, places that never existed, and adventures that someone else had – real and imagined. Reading is the best thing ever.

Now that I have kids, I can’t wait for them to go to school. And not only because it would mean they don’t need me to dress them every morning. It would mean that they, too, will soon be able to participate in this world of knowledge and imagination, and they can be taken to places they never been to, and places they’ll never visit, and all they need is a book and a flashlight (for reading after lights-out). I can’t wait for my kids to learn how to read.

What about you? What do you like and dislike about going back to school?