11. Haven

I missed my first two classes of the day. But I made it to the third.

The world looked different now. As soon as I stepped on campus and glanced around me, I saw strangers in a strange land, walking past, looking as if they had purpose. As if they had worth. I kept expecting them to glance at me peculiarly and ask what I was doing there. It all seemed so new and foreign all of a sudden.

Hiking my book bag more securely onto my back, I lowered my gaze and started toward the Family and Consumer Science building. As an Early Childhood Education major, I spent half my school day at the university’s preschool lab, where I fulfilled my practicum experience. Next semester, I’d move up to student teaching and actually get to assist in some of the teaching instead of what I did now, which was basically take kids to the bathroom, help pass out snacks, set up activities, and clean messes.

But that took place in the afternoon. So as I hurried toward my Early Literacy and Language Development cl