I've been retired, as in not teaching undergraduates, for almost a decade now. I miss the students. I miss some of my colleagues. But what I miss most is the beginning of the school year. It's a new start—new students, sometimes new content, a few new colleagues, the usual spate of new administrators, maybe a new building, a new classroom or two, or some much-needed new furniture. Nearly everybody is happy to be back, especially those students who spent the summer behind the deli counter or the end of a weed eater in the hot sun.
