How to write a "First Day of School"
First day of school in stories
I often think of literature for younger readers as stories of firsts. For humans coming of age, there is often a right-of-passage-ness to many of these firsts: first time without parents, first time outside your city, first time without friends, first crush, first kiss, first horrible grade—the list is endless. Firsts are challenging experiences even for adults, not to talk about children or teens who have not yet developed the dexterity required to juggle a wave of new experiences. And in the mixed bags of firsts, there is no bag more mixed than a first-day-of-school experience.
My two most recent novels for younger readers (The Haven Trials is middle-grade, and Lucas on the Line is young adult) both feature first-day-of-school openings. In Haven, 10.5-year-old Cece Alao goes to her first day of junior secondary (middle school / Year 7) in Lagos. In Lucas, Lucas Sinclair goes to first day of high school (senior secondary / Year 10) in Hawkins. As much as these two experiences differ age-wise and geographically, in writing both, I learned that first days of school aren’t really that much different. Most encounter the same cornucopia of feelings—even university freshmen! Here’s what I learned.
Butterflies and questions
Every first day of anything is filled with a weird mix of excitement, apprehension, confusion and sensory overwhelm. Butterflies in your character’s stomach are a given, no matter how confident they are beforehand. Most kids/teens will raise as many questions about the mundane—Where’s the food court?—and the strange (to them)—Why does the hallway operate like two-way traffic? Mostly, they will direct these questions toward approachable authority figures—teachers, seniors, etc—or keep to themselves and attempt to figure it out.
If the characters have foreknowledge of the school (like both Cece and Lucas did), they will suddenly notice new things about a feature they’ve seen during previous visits (notice, notice, notice might be a useful theme of first days). Another lesson lies here: as an author, it’s okay not to answer every question on the first day. A little bit of mystery helps.
A conveyor belt (of barely retained information)
Another feature of first days: no one remembers anything. Your character will most likely attend some orientation assemblies and be shuffled between halls and classrooms to hear about curriculums and extracurriculars, GPAs, attendance and absences, textbooks and supplies, codes of conduct, locker assignments, uniforms and sportswear, timetables and schedules, staff and teachers names, etc. Mostly, they will tune out real quick, but because first-day energy is unrivaled, they will remain excited anyway.
Being shepherded through a conveyor belt of talkers and forms and overwhelming information doesn’t make for great storytelling, so take time to show your protagonist stepping aside to marvel at the things that interest them—the library, the computer lab, the football field. They may also take time to notice fellow students who look/act like them, and if they’re the brave kind, may try to make a friend. Remember, though, that this act of bravery does not always have to succeed, mwahahaha.
Parsing the social order
The one all high school movies are made of: finding one’s place in the new world order. Often, for storytelling purposes, we see kids immediately get “placed” within their social strata on the first day of school. In reality, though, it takes some time for kids to figure out where they belong. Some kids come with preconceived ideas of what groups they’d like to get in with and which clubs they’d like to join, but on the first day, they might mull this over without necessarily acting on it.
In fact, contrary to the High School Movie Industrial Complex™️, the social order doesn’t carry as much weight in the minds of new students as is often portrayed. Many decisions made on the first day don’t last, and that includes friendships forged or bonds formed. In Haven, Cece attempts (and fails) to make a first-day friend, but ends up making her first true friend weeks later. In Lucas, Lucas goes into high school with a bunch of friends (and a girlfriend) already in hand, but that situation shifts multiple times throughout the school year.
Many first days are ordinary/uneventful
Really, really booooring. To protect your readers from having to wade through first-day mundanities, you may do what I did: map out all the first-day-of-school events (across a chapter or many) and highlight those of most importance to the story’s plot, themes and character development. Events like meeting a key secondary character (as in Lucas) or interpreting the new environment through the lens of a familiar one (as in Haven). In these scenes/events, it is useful to slow down, zoom in and take time to unfurl interactions and introspection (without over-dramatizing them). Other unimportant events (say, locker assignments or first lunch) can be summarized or breezed past.
A peculiar fixation
Another thing I’ve learned: we all remember that ONE thing from first day of school.
I’m not sure what it is, but most of us come away with a strong, prevailing image/memory of the day. Often, it’s when something bad, embarrassing or hilarious happens. But sometimes, it’s an ordinary (and sometimes, good) feeling or image that sticks with us. Anything from the principal’s opening speech that reminds you of that one video of Nelson Mandela you saw last year, or the Welcome banner the senior students made that was very neon green and awesome. Sometimes, it’s a memory of kindness or help received, or exhilaration after doing something you didn’t think you could.
It could be useful to give your protagonist a prevailing image/fixation on their first day. Better yet if it intersects with something they care deeply about. It doesn’t always have to be bad stuff. Sometimes, good things happen to kids too.
Longing for home
After all is said and done, kids just want to go home.
Listen, first days of school are tiring. They make you miss home a lot, especially if your school situation means you’re away (e.g. boarding). After such a mentally taxing day, even the most independent of kids are always keen to return to a comfortable, happy place whose machinations they at least understand. Don’t shy away from examining this part of their day, especially if it’s of importance to the story. It’s also a low-key way to demonstrate your protagonist’s family dynamics.
Overall, every first day of school experience is a unique one. If you write for younger readers (MG, YA, even New Adult), chances are you’ll be writing a few first-day-of-school stories. Not all will adhere to what I’ve described here—who wouldn’t love a plucky protagonist who dares to skip school on the first day? The key to writing a believable and relatable one, I think, is to follow the feelings. Listening to a bunch of real-life people tell you about their own first day of school might help.
Which brings me to my closing question: What was your first day of school—any school—like? Why not share below, so we can together learn to tell better stories?
