Today was the first day of school.

And with that, the emotional turmoil, and sense of bewilderment, that accompanies that hectic early-morning rush to so and so educational institution.

THankfully, in my case, it wasn't so bad. I did indeed rush to school, but not to start lessons, but to queue up to sell my old textbooks.

In SMU, we have a system. Every first week of a new term, all students will make a pilgrimage to a School of Business classroom to deposit their textbooks. Said textbooks will be adorned with little slips of paper on which a price is marked. For cut-rate prices, these books will be sold to the next batch of students eager to lay their hands on these dog-eared, slightly tattered copies. All the collection, recording of particulars, packing of books, and sourcing of books for purchasing is done by SMU Verts, the school's environmental club.

So it was, once again, that I found myself queuing like a blardy idiot to dump my stuff.

After 2 hours, I felt a sense of triumph as I stood in front of the counter. Smiling and sweaty, I hoisted my burden (a bulging plastic bag) and plopped it unto the table. Some books were rejected, others were taken in.

So it was that I left, bag much lighter, feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.

However, a stream of thoughts popped up in my head.

Why have such a system? Wouldn't it be much easier to have a book-drop? Why not allot days to deposit books, then days to sell? After all, that would ensure that all or most of the books would be available to students should they need to buy them.

Those little slips of paper could also be replaced by some sort of electronic system. Slips of paper are notoriously unreliable, being flimsy and easily lost.

In fact, now that I think about it, the most important question of all...

If it involves the welfare of the whole school, why depend on a CCA with limited manpower to take on the task? Shouldn't they be given additional help? Where's the student association when you need it???

So I pondered to myself as I wandered around. Its funny how you notice things you otherwise wouldn't have thought of had you been in the middle of a school term. It's as if the four months have opened my eyes.

Or perhaps its cos I still feel slightly out-of-place in a somewhat familiar but alien environment. You do remember passing these places, but it seems more like a feeling of deja-vu than a solid memory.

These feelings always fade after the first week. But while I'm still fresh, I want to keep my eyes open.

Welcome back, SMU.