First Day of School

When I think back about all my first days of elementary school I remember a neat new (sometimes) uniform and putting on my new school shoes. I remember the odd excitement I had of filling up my new backpack with my new school supplies, including a sweet new trapper keeper that I spent an abnormal amount of time picking out. I wonder why I had such a strange fascination for school supplies, maybe it’s because while all the other kids back to school shopping consisted of new outfits, my highlight was shoes that had very specific guidelines but I felt such freedom being able to pick out my own shoes in hopes to have different ones from everyone else in my class. The best part of the first day of school was waiting for the morning bell and catching up with friends and their summer vacations. Well, I would think it’s the best part; I never got to experience this because my driver was notorious for being late. My “driver” may or may not be my mommy. Anyways so once I got in the classroom I would always have butterflies in my stomach wondering where my desk was going to be and more importantly who it would be by. The day would be full of organization of our supplies, distribution of schedules, and usually a writing piece on our summer vacation. The day would go by fast and stress free for the most part and before I knew it I would be waiting outside with my other family members where we may or may not have been the last ones picked up.

            So how is the first day of school different for children at Samauga Primary?....

            I was told by my Pule (principal) that school starts at 7:30, and I should arrive around 7. I woke up to a downpour of rain at 6 and automatically knew that this would make everyone late. I took my time getting ready, made breakfast and coffee, then put on my green Puletasi. Around 7:30 it had stopped raining and I decided to start my 5 minute walk to school. It was quiet, too quiet. Where were all the people? There were some of the high school children waiting for the bus. I walked up to the school and wasn’t all that surprised to find I was the very first person at the school. I waited for about 20 minutes and then my Pule showed up with her children. More children and teachers started to stroll in around 8:30. The students do have uniform, red bottoms and white tops. Some had new backpacks but chances are there was nothing in them. I watched my Pule enroll new students while the children mingled. The first order of business was to weed the field. In their brand new uniforms, the students were weeding the muddy field and saying goodbye to those stainless clean white shirts. It started to rain so the students moved on to the next task, moving the furniture into the classrooms. I tried to help, but one of the challenges I still face is being treated like an equal, instead of a Palagi. Once all the rooms had their furniture the day was over for the students. The teachers had a meeting after school which was in Samoan, so my participation was minimal. I spoke up when they told me I was teaching year 1-8 everyday, which isn’t even possible because of the length of their school day. Once the meeting was over it was time to go home and kafaou.

I can’t say I was surprised about the day. I was warned by group 82 volunteers to not set my expectations to high for the first week or so of school. I spoke with other 83’s about their day and we all had similar experiences. We were all so anxious for this big day that turned out not so big, but I have learned that patience is key but it’s a whole new level of patience that I didn’t think was possible to reach, but I am slowly climbing that ladder to the very top.