Sticker Thursday

Elementary, quite possibly my most favorite time in life. Things were simple then. School would involve naps, playtime, RECESS, and occasionally we would get some homework.Even when we were assigned some homework it would be okay because when we showed it to the teacher she would give a sticker. A sticker! Back then this was everything I strived for in school. Just a simple piece of paper; one side containing some type of adhesive and the other a colorful cartoon character with an uplifting phrase.Who couldn’t like getting one of those with every assignment? But alas it had to come to an end.

When I moved on into intermediate school, stickers were a thing of the past. Now the only thing teacher placed on our homework were grades in red ink. There was nothing left to look forward to in school. It was the same for junior high and high school.As I entered college I had all but forgotten about stickers. It wasn’t until one of my teaching assistants mentioned something about having Thursdays become sticker Thursdays that all the great memories returned to me.

But this last sticker I got was questionable as to what its intended meaning was. Most stickers say encouraging phrases like “Good Job”, “You Did Great”, or “Terrific”. The sticker I received seemed a bit depressing and down to me. Instead of saying how well I did it said “Way to Hang in There”.…? Is it just me or does that have more of a “sorry you did terrible” sort of feeling about it? Like the only reason I am getting this sticker is out of pity. I don’t know? That’s the way I took this sticker.

Grant it I am not saying take the stickers away, for that is my only reason for going to class on Thursdays. I’m just hoping my TA’s choice of stickers improves. Or if they are trying to tell us we are doing a terrible job, to just outright tell us. Not hide it in a phrase on a sticker