Reflecting On A Few Things: School Is Winter

By Colleen Brynn @ColleenBrynn

Reykjavik, Iceland

Jaipur, India

Winnipeg, Canada

Ely, England

Madrid, Spain

Doha, Qatar

Buffalo, New York

Aalborg, Denmark

Montreal, Canada

Hoboken, New Jersey

Newmarket, England

Moscow, Russia

Jaipur, India

Oak Harbor (Washington State), USA

The Handball Team – Reykjavik, Iceland

As of today, I have been back at school for a month. After an epic year off, I’m back at it.

You’d think I’d have written a lot more about it by now, but the reality is that I’m keeping the details of this transition mostly to myself. As I get older, sharing less is becoming my comfort zone. I have a few theories as to why, and even those, I will keep to myself.

I will just say this. School is winter.

Last week, the chill got to me. It is much more damp here than the dry (though snowy) winters I get in Winnipeg. With the whipping wind, and the bit of moisture in the cold air, I thought my bones would shatter. Tears flew from my eyes in reflex to the onslaught, and at one point I screamed, I cussed, into the howling wind as I plowed through the parking lot to my car after classes. I said the F word next to the daycare on campus. Loudly.

I realized this is exactly what school is like. Hard, unrelenting, you know, a bitch.

Sometimes.

But then there are those days when the wind dies down, and the sun pokes through the clouds and the snow is soft and crunchy (and not sheets of ice trying to break my spine), and a walk outside is uplifting, rather than life-risking. As much as school can be a grind, it’s rewarding, satisfying, gratifying, even pleasant and fun.

I’m happy to be back. And soon, just a couple months away, summer…

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 Ah, the metaphors.

A quick thank you to everyone who has been sending me the positive vibes from afar. I made this request to a number of you over Christmas, and let me tell you, I’m feeling the love, I really am. Keep the vibes coming as I start midterms next week!

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