When school starts every year, there is a feeling. Or maybe it’s an attitude. Maybe it’s an overall experience. I’ve thought about it a lot.

What is it, exactly?

Kids file into school on that first day and they all look the same; a little excited, a little fearful, and a little elated. Depending on the kids, one of those feelings can supersede the others.

I have always noticed the smell associated with the beginning of school. Back in the old days when I was in school, the smell of tar signaled the beginning of school. You see, new tar was put on the roof at the beginning of every year.

Then there’d be the smell of new school supplies, freshly waxed floors, new clothes, new sneakers, and polished wooden desks.

Smells are still the same. There are a lot of new things that smell good. Shiny new plastic things. Sharpened pencils. Brand new boxes of crayons and markers. Fresh new tablets of paper. Erasers. Dry erase markers. All signify the beginning of school.

The gym is waxed and shiny. There are new hairdos. Some boys are wearing a little after shave, though they have yet to grow their first whisker. Girls wear a little makeup for the first time and have their nails done.

This is middle school.

Still, I walk around on the first day of school and notice things, especially as I get older. Regardless of how short the summer has been and regardless of how much myself and my colleagues have wished for a couple more weeks of respite, we have bright looks on our faces and are happy to be back in one another’s company.

We smile. We give hugs. We make irritating small talk and someone invariably asks “How was your summer?” Ugh.

My pet peeve. But curmudgeonly behavior aside, I notice a little giddy-up in our steps.

If even a little, we are happy to be back in the swing of things.

I look at my new students. Shy. Eager. Bright. Their faces hold a variety of emotions, but all of them focus on me as if to ask “OK, what’s going to happen this year?” They all look the same, though. Even with their own circumstances to consider, students have that same look, that same posture, that same countenance when school starts.

I’ve tried to consider all these things: the smells, the looks, the attitudes, the atmosphere. I’ve thought about how kids are looking for the same thing with each new school year. They are looking for something new. They are looking for a new friend, a new chance, a new beginning. Students wish for better grades, new understandings, new experiences.

Still, taking all of that into consideration, I could never put my finger on how to sum up the beginning of the school year.

What is it? I thought about all of it, the big picture. And finally, it dawned on me.

The overall, summing-up word that covers all the feelings, smells, and attitudes of the start of a new school year?

Hope. Yes, that’s it. Hope.