Before I begin, I must preface that this news article is brought to you by the workings of a large iced dark roast coffee (black) and a large unsweetened iced green tea. This magical concoction of caffeine has offered a rush of thoughts and clarity to the regular thoughts that go through my mind.
About one year ago, Banes authored the article titled “14” dealing with the topic of how he began to enjoy the same interests he once had at the age of fourteen. An interesting example was how he started wearing the same style of clothes that he did when he was younger because it was comfortable. In the comment section, I responded with a quotation that a coworker once said, “At the end of the day, we all revert to our seventh grade selves.” The validity of this statement can not come closer to the truth.
I do not know what it is about getting older that leads me to act younger than my age. I work in schools and a majority of my days are spent interacting with young people. It is interesting to learn about the latest trends from middle schoolers whether it is a bottle trick, a mannequin challenge, making slime out of glue and detergent, or the latest obsession: fidget spinners.
Over the past year, I have reached a newly established level of celebrity as a substitute teacher with the students at the local middle school (which also happens to be the same one I attended). A morning stroll around the campus is met with random gasps and children putting their hands under their chin and saying, “Oh my gosh! She is my Favorite sub.” I have started to perfect the casual wave and smile while saying, “Oh, hey. :)”
One of the reasons I have been able to connect with the eleven to fourteen year old age group has so much to do with the fact that I am very much connected to myself at that age. Look, I still like to read and draw comics, I love making plush toys, I enjoy cute things, the money I earn ends up going toward fun stuff for me because I do not have any kids of my own. I even had a sixth grader once say to me, “Miss, you are more like a middle schooler than an adult.” Honestly, I have heard people mentioning this thing called “adulting”, but I might need to borrow the crib notes for it. In the meantime, I am just going to keep reading awesome webcomics and watching my fidget spinner collection grow. After all, it is the end of the day.
.::.
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At the End of the Day, We All Revert to Our Seventh Grade Selves
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, May 22, 2017
4 likes!
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dedasaur at 5:16PM, May 24, 2017
I have a fidget cube to help with my biting nails habits but my students have spinners hahaha. So I tried to see if I could spin it differently stating that in the future this might be the new yo-yo and they should try to use all the fingers (else they get carpal tunnel and being in school between the mouse and hours of drawings that is very likely to happen). And so I also used the spinner to ask them if they knew what laws of physics applied to them and we ended up talking about why the Earth spins and how the moon orbits around the planet and stuff and we had so much fun trying to replicate the Universe hahahaha
Ozoneocean at 8:24AM, May 22, 2017
It's important to be able to keep that ability to relate to kids! Especially if you're doing comics that are meant to have a wide ability to relate to a big audience.
Ozoneocean at 8:10AM, May 22, 2017
OMG, fidget spinners have become all the rage! Haha! First time I heard about them was a few weeks ago when I had to put designs on them as part of a job. After that they started coming up all over the place XD
Ozoneocean at 7:52AM, May 22, 2017
That's pretty cool Kim, Twilight Zone could be really quite clever at times.
KimLuster at 6:47AM, May 22, 2017
And those spinner thingies (in your pic) - I didn't even know about them until this weekend!! Sometimes I feel cloistered haha
KimLuster at 6:46AM, May 22, 2017
I'm remember Twilight Zone movie, the 'Kick the Can' segment... All the old tenants of a retirement home are magically transformed to their younger selves for while, and happily play... but they realize that they would relive the bad with the good if they stay young and so wish to be old again... acknowledging that it's okay to grow old, but always keep a young mind!! That stuck with me!!
bravo1102 at 12:54AM, May 22, 2017
It's not just being able to identify with 7th graders. With empathy you can link with anyone. Get into their shoes and walk around a little and get a feel for where they're coming from, not just middle schoolers. I'm often told "You get it" or that I'm the most (insert ethnic group) white guy they ever met. Besides I've been everywhere, done everything and have a drawer full of t-shirts. So I get it. That and my Betazoid lineage. ;)