Schools Out!

Today is the last day of school for my girls. I remember the anticipation of summer. What seemed like endless exams and the relief of knowing that school was over. For those of you who don't know I grew up in the Caribbean, which means at least for those of us in St.Vincent. Summer began with a bang. Carnival.

Days of color and excitement followed by the inevitable days of exhaustion and recuperation. Then after a few weeks of the beach, summer camps, family visits and family vacations the inevitable boredom would creep in robbing the summer of it's fun.

Once I was old enough to work, I worked at a variety of family run businesses and was happily compensated. In college half of my summer experience always included six weeks of classes. One summer I met an American football player in speech class at the community college I attended. He would end up being the only friendly face in one of my classes at University later on.

Another summer was spent taking anthropology classes for my social behavior area of study. My South Eastern Asia class was taught by a professor who wore his hair in long shaggy bowl cut, and wore blazers with a leather patch.

He paired the blazers with jeans that were frayed at the bottoms and Vans sneakers. My professor road around on a long skateboard and routinely flew by me on the way to class. He was an interesting character, both to watch and to listen to. At the end of that six week session. I had a better understanding of the hows and why's of Southeast Asia  and a deeper appreciation for the movie Platoon.

At the end of my last class he played Alice Cooper's Schools out for Summer and since I was flying home the very next day to begin my Carnival revelry it was I found highly appropriate. So in celebration of my children's last day of school and first day summer vacation: