Enthusiasm, pride and appreciation are important lessons for all of us to learn

By Nate Delesline III

Published: August 23, 2008

Nearly 10 years after I walked out of a public school for the last time, I never thought I’d long to return.

But while covering the first day of school for students at both A.G. Richardson and Pearl Sample elementary schools, I found the enthusiasm and pride I witnessed very appealing. I was struck with an undeniable longing to walk away from being a grown up and go back to school. I suppose you could say I was pining for my youth even before I hit 30. Terrible, isn’t it?

Then I remember my frustrating and embarrassing experiences with long division and algebraic expressions.

But mathematics aside, if I was afforded the opportunity to return to my old schools, I would have quite a few of them to visit. As a military brat, I attended six different schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.

To preserve my own memories, and in the event you might have a surreptitious connection to me, I will name them all: Goodnight Elementary School (Pueblo, Colo.), Schweinfurt American Elementary School (Germany), Beachwood Elementary School (Tacoma, Wash.), Mann Middle School (Tacoma, Wash.), Central Middle School and Dover High School (both in Dover, Del.).

Attending school in the First State (Delaware, for the uninitiated) was a unique experience, especially after returning from the Pacific Northwest. Many of my fellow students had lived in Delaware most of their life and had never traveled west of the Mississippi.

It seems that for both teachers and students, education can be a dangerous endeavor, because in order to educate or to be educated, you must take risks.

The risks materialize when: you try to straighten out a student if an assignment isn’t done well, when you introduce students to controversial ideas or human experiences that we’d rather forget, when you extend friendship only to have it rejected, when you don’t measure up in the eyes of your peers.

Today, most people are still awed when I disclose my unusually long list of former schools. They ask how I overcame the difficulties of adjusting to something new so often.

For me, the key was the infectious enthusiasm, pride and an appreciation of my teachers for the experience at hand, regardless of whether it was a new one or not. I think those things will see you through just about any situation, no matter what your age. It’s a lesson I’m still learning.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or