I have always loved the first day of school - meeting your new teachers, seeing your classmates, buying new textbooks, pencils and notebooks. There is so much promise and opportunity in the air, you can actually smell it, like newness in a car. There is the promise of learning wonderful new things, the opportunity to make new friends or even to become someone new yourself.

When I was a kid, I would spend the whole summer planning my new persona for fall. On vacations, I would specifically look for and purchase souvenirs that would help me create this exciting and totally different Jennifer – wild-child earrings, hippie bandanas, preppy polo shirts. Many hours would be spent in deciding exactly what clothes and accessories would be worn on that first day, how my hair would be done, which perfume would be spritzed.

My son started kindergarten last week, and when I wasn’t being either a sentimental slob or an anxious basket-case, I was reveling in the first-day atmosphere. Even the five- and six-year-old kids could feel it. They strutted around their classrooms, sporting their new haircuts and backpacks, chattering happily about their teachers and getting to know one another.

Yesterday was our first day back at the university, and the feeling was the same, just with older faces and different props. Eighteen-, nineteen-year-olds, even twenty- and thirty-somethings were loudly talking on their cell phones or self-consciously playing with their new MP3 players as they waited in line to buy books. A former student stopped me to say hello, and I barely recognized him with his dark tan, wild new hairstyle, and recent nose piercing. Nose piercing may not be my thing, but I could certainly relate to why he was adopting his new look - first-day-of-school excitement.

Even students who don’t like school generally get into the spirit. Think about it. How often did you ever hear people sincerely gripe and whine about school on the first day? Sure, some of the tough guys would complain, but it always felt like they were just going through the motions. They too were pretty excited about seeing their buddies again and getting out of the summer doldrums.

Teachers aren’t immune either, though you might think we would be after years and years of school. We get a kind of high out of those first days, even with the chaos of preparing syllabi, juggling administrative paperwork, and making copies. Most of us love our subjects, and we’re happy to come back to share them with our students. Plus, it’s fascinating to see who will end up in our classrooms and how the dynamics will fall out.

Of course, after a few weeks, the newness starts to wear off like new car smell does. After a while, you start to take it for granted. It becomes routine. All the promise turns into work, and the opportunities turn into deadlines. School is hard. How many days until winter break?