Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Recess

The stage was set. The teams were lined up on opposite sides of the playground. Each team had arranged itself strategically, placing strong boys by some of the smaller girls and making sure there were no weak links in the chain. Everyone was ready for battle. I called my team together. We huddled and tried to decide on the best course of action. As we reached a verdict, we shuffled back into our already determined positions and in unison screamed those ominous thundering words, “Red Rover, Red Rover, send Lauren right over!”

In second grade when people asked me what my favorite subject in school was, I thought I was funny and always chose to answer with a wise crack comment like recess or lunch. Sure I liked school, but I was more worried about having fun than learning my ABC’s. But what I didn’t realize was that recess was more than just running around, playing hide and go seek, and climbing on the jungle gym for that short twenty minutes. I believe that the only things you really need to know in life to be successful are learned during elementary school recess, everything else is just fluff.

Red Rover taught me that’s its always best to stick together, especially when something or someone is running right at you, either figuratively or literally. The tighter you squeeze that other person’s hand the stronger you both become. It would be impossible for a single person to hold back someone sprinting full speed ahead from breaking through a line, but with people on your side it’s hard to lose. Life is hard and it can throw curve balls so hold onto to your teammates because we’re all in this together.

After playing duck duck goose I realized that in life we need to expect everything. While the “it” person was walking around the circle trying to decide who to tag every person in the circle was secretly plotting which way to run and what he or she would do if tagged. You never know what is going to happen in life and it’s basically all just a waiting game. Like Lou Holtz said, ninety percent of life is just reacting to things that happen to you. When you get an opportunity, although it probably won’t be as obvious as someone tapping you on the shoulder and yelling goose, learn to take that chance and run with it; take every situation for what its worth and get everything you can out of it.

Whether your game of choice is hop scotch, jumping rope, freeze tag, piggy back races, or chalk, you learn something (good or bad) from every situation. The value of hard work, individuality, teamwork, following directions, etc. are all principles that can be gained by simply playing together on recess. There are certain things that can’t be taught in a classroom and those are the things that are really going to define you as a person. In the end no one is going to care if you knew the quadratic equation or memorized the Declaration of Independence, what matters is the friends we make along the way and how we treat people. I believe that everything I really need to know I learned during recess.