Happy School Year to Everyone.

School is back in session.  School supplies have been purchased, students and teachers have been introduced, and reuniting with school friends has joyfully taken place.  A new school year is an exciting time of a year.  It’s a time of new beginnings and expectations.  Back to school is a time to “change it up” from the laid back last few weeks of summer and return to a more structured schedule.  It may not be the new calendar year, but September is a great time to start fresh.  Author Gretchen Rubin (“The Happiness Project”) calls September the new January.  Rubin says “Back to school is a time of self-evaluation and reflection.  January is the official start of the new year, and I always get a burst of renewed zeal at that time, but September also gives the same feeling of an empty calendar and a clean slate.  The air seems charged with possibility and renewal”.

Saying farewell to summer and the wonderful camp memories made is never easy, but the new school year gives us all something to look forward to.  A fresh start feels good, and can motivate us to make positive changes and focus on all that we hope for in the new academic year.  It’s a time to refocus and pursue new school activities as well as outside interests. 

So what are your goals for the new school year? What do you want to do differently? What challenges are you ready to take on?  Your goal may be as simple as organizing your backpack every night so you are not as rushed in the morning getting off to school, or doing homework before you head out to extracurricular activities.  You may choose to pursue a class or club that you have never tried before, or try out for a school sport.  No matter what your goal is it is always helpful to make it specific. Instead of saying “I will read more”, say “I will read for 30 minutes every night”.  Once you have thought up a specific goal, write it down.  Seeing it in writing will make it more real.  And of course, reward yourself for your hard work along the way.    

So whatever you choose to focus on this new school year, we hope you are off to a great start.  Happy School Year to everyone!