Gapers Block has ceased publication.

Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
 Thank you for your readership and contributions. 

TODAY

Thursday, March 28

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Fuel

Ramsin / September 2, 2008 9:17 AM

One time my dad came to visit me at college. Now he was a bit rough around the edges, having built a successful business and traveling around with his limousine driver. After seeing what life at college was like (and meeting my English professor, Sally Kellerman) he decided to re-enroll in college.

I'm not gonna lie, there was some tension. First of all, he kept hiring experts to write my papers (and his) and his reputation as an expert diver (and inventor of the Triple Lindy) weighed heavily on my own identity.

Not to mention I was having beef with the school's best diver, Will Zabka.

Anyway, so in the end it worked out; Rodney Dangerfield did the Triple Lindy to win the big diving game (match?) and also married Sally Kellerman.

Andrew / September 2, 2008 11:43 AM

I moved from one school to another with a month to go in 3rd grade, then got chicken pox for the last two weeks of school. So when 4th grade started, I wasn't a new kid because people remembered me from the year before, but they didn't know anything about me. That sucked.

annie / September 2, 2008 12:48 PM

Last Thursday was my first day back to school in 11 years. I was a little nervous but excited, that is until my name wasn't on the class list, nor the wait list and was basically told, there was no chance of me getting into this class. I wasn't sure I wanted to go to grad school, but now I'm pissed and determined, as if this is a personal attack on me. Any other UIC students think their website is the most un-friendly site you've ever used?? I swear I was registered, now I'm e-mailing other Prof's to see if I can take their classes. I should have asked my mom to do it for me, she did it the first time and it was smooth...but I'm 32 and should probably handle this stuff on my own now. Rats, I hate growing up.

sg / September 2, 2008 2:11 PM

My family moved cross country the summer before 6th grade. My new school started way earlier than my old school so I started late. By like two weeks. It was horrible. I dressed different and got made fun of. Class pictures were on my first day and I was a total dork. Kids made fun of my non-accent. But the worst was in the last hour of that first day. Just so you know,the weather was totally different and I had developed horrible allergies to everything in the state. Anyway, we were having a class discussion about who knows what and I decided to be brave and put put in my two cents. I raised my hand and patiently waited for the teacher to call me. I started telling a story I thought was funny and I started laughing. And a huge snot bubble formed from my left nostril. And I was mortified. I think about that snot bubble every now and then and get the same sinking feeling in my stomach every time. I am mortified just writing about it.

mike / September 2, 2008 3:33 PM

I moved from San Diego to northern Virginia after my sophomore year of high school. I found out we were moving about a month in advance (thanks U.S. Navy), so I never saw many of my classmates again after the last day of school. We moved the day before school started. Kids in high school have enough stuff to deal with so they're not really interested in meeting the new kid. It absolutely sucked. During my junior year, I ate lunch in the library and had no friends. Looking back though, it was for the best. My grades improved and there were fewer kids dropping out to surf and get high all day.

snuh / September 2, 2008 8:35 PM

last monday was also my first day of school. it's only been about 7 years since i've been in school. and i've moved across the country to go to this school. and i'm 28 years old and surrounded by people 10 years younger than me. and it makes me feel like the undercover narc.
...

soup / September 2, 2008 10:06 PM

It was the day before the third grade and my Mom found the lice. I may have had it for quite some time before she discovered them in my head. I remember crying so hard that night. I had to miss the first day of class so that my Mom could give me the dreaded A200 treatment. It was misery.

fluffy / September 3, 2008 9:42 PM

I hated high school- I loved the Ap classes, but didn't like most of the students. In 9th grade some preppies called me a slut (I hadn't even kissed a guy) and it really hurt my feelings. Kids made fun of my accent and purple hair.

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