Gather here to chat about your day & have fun with all your Imzy friends!
Fresh paper and sharp pencils!

It's that time of year that my inner nerd loves! Back to school!
The crisp new paper, the sharpened pencils, the unused pink eraser, the (every so often) colorful new backpack to hold a world of exciting books!
What did you love about school? Or, what did you not love?




Some people here may still be IN school...!
I hated school.
Let me be clear--
ZORK HATED SCHOOL!!!
The end of August and beginning of September used to fill me with dread. The commercials for BACK-TO-SCHOOL sales used to twist my stomach in knots.
Getting bullied, taking tests, suffering hours of homework and the annual unrequited crushes.
No thank you!
First time I've seen a general forum where people find it obvious that schools are like prisons for children!
I wasn't big on the whole "school" part of school until the point I got to choose my own classes.
But I do love me some school supplies.
I remember the year of "gel pens" Teachers hated them but gosh darn it my classwork was so pretty. Haha
The year of gel pens! They installed a gel pen dispenser that cost .25 and out would come a banana or strawberry or something scented gel pen!!!
For shame! I hope those funds were put towards dry erase markers... Right @fluffywhitething huh huh??
They better have been!
I have no idea!
I think they went back to the pen company! :O
I only liked "school" when it was college. But college didn't feel like "school" because it was "art school", which is just the fun stuff. (Except for the classes I sucked at.)
Yeah high school got good when I basically had nothing but Art, Acting, Work Experience (which was for the Theatre Department), Biology and English. I had a million spare blocks because I finished my Animation class in less than a week (not kidding).
you had an ANIMATION class in high school?! goddamnit!! canada sounds like a fun park! our mandatory classes were typing and PUBLIC SPEECH, which was a fucking terror.
Animation was a joke. Run by my VERY straight laced wood shop instructor who had probably never been on a computer. Oh we learned AutoCAD drafting in that class too. Like I said took me a week... Cake Walk. Haha
I went to art school and didn't have fun! :(
Acting!!!
YOU HAD FUN!
In MFA school? Absolutely not!!!
YOU LOVED IT!!!
I agree about the "choosing your own classes" thing. That makes a big difference.
I'm back to uni soon! I don't need to buy anything except from new pens.
I hated school because some people triggered me :(
Now it's much better and I'm actually looking forward to it!
Now here's the part where I speak as a parent. This time of year is stupid expensive. Especially when you have more than one kid. And if you're like me and you want to help out teachers who really shouldn't ask for basic supplies.
I usually need to replace at least one backpack. This year it was only one. Last year my youngest wasn't allowed to have a backpack at school due to safety concerns. Never know what a fifth grader can hide in a backpack. She could carry her trombone case, though.
Scour every back-to-school coupon available. Still end up going to one store because it's 80000 degrees outside and I'm not going store-to-store.
Three ring binders. All the kids need at least two.
Spiral notebooks. College ruled for all of them this year. Some classes need tear out paper. Some don't want tear out paper. And you better not share one spiral notebook for two classes. So at least four notebooks per kid. (Well, middle child is a different story. Since they're at home.)
Pencils #2. Colored Pencils for everyone. Of COURSE this store is out of them. Sorry, kids, you're going to the dollar store. I refuse to go into Target this time of year.
Pens. And just like me, my kids are picky. I'm willing to pay extra for pens.
Son's teacher is ridiculously specific about the type of eraser he needs. It's a white-something-or-other. Find it no where near the school supplies.
Folders galore.
Son doesn't need the TI-84 yet.
I know I'm missing things.
Then there's the "Please, we need these things if you can spare them" lists from the teachers. (compilation from various teachers from two schools, many were repeated)
Dry erase markers. (8 teachers asked for these)
Why do teachers need to ask for dry erase markers?
Sharpies. note, parents need to bring these in, it's against school district policy for minors to possess permanent markers on campus
Sanitation wipes
Glue Sticks
Tissues
Paper towels
Hand sanitizer
Hand soap
Gift cards
This. Makes. Me. Angry.
Same.
Best I can do.
Hand soap?! Yikes, the district budget must be tight.
That's for the science teacher. I really like this teacher, but they do a LOT of messy experiments, and I'm guessing the soap for the sink in the classroom is only going to last so long.
Thank you--the district budget is exactly why those "if you can spare them" items are on the lists. Please please please, for anyone reading this, understand that the teachers have a very limited budget that must last the whole year, and typically is shared between grades, on top of teachers getting paid very little to contribute themselves! (Plus, as much as I love children, those Kleenex and pencils go so quickly. Parents know that.) So be mad at administration or state funds!
The stores that for some reason think kids need thumb tacks... (I realize they're more for teachers and dorms.)
As a kid? YIKES pencils, and eventually mechanical pencils. Trapper Keeper. Finding the best folders. Getting the right pens -- because we all know that there are pens that suck.
Getting the right pens is SO IMPORTANT oh lord I'm not even kidding. As a certified planner/journal nut this is still my favourite time of year for stationery, and I haven't been in school/uni for about half a decade!
Halleluiah for the perfect pens!
Loathed school. Hated every part of my education from 13+. It wasn't until I studied for my BA from home that I really, really enjoyed it and motored through my degree to graduate 6 months early with First-class honours. I liked getting nice pens and things in elementary school though, but that feeling only lasted until I actually got to school and then saw that, as usual, everybody else's stuff was way cooler than mine (tragic violin solo). :P