Jimmy O'Hair

Back to School

This is the period around town when you see all the “Back to School” signs, as students and teachers prepare for another year of education. The summer break is over, and it’s time to get back down to the business of educating. That means new grade levels, new instructors, new classes, new materials, etc., so there’s a sense of excitement and anticipation in the air. In today’s Jimmy O’Hair cartoon strip, Jimmy is back on campus preparing for the new academic year. Jimmy is going for a degree in English literature and creative writing, so a big part of his life is school. He and Lola are trying to figure out what classes they are going to take, and there are some interesting choices! While this comic strip goes for laughs, it is really not that far from the truth. Last year, CNN detailed some of the more bizarre academic courses being offered at some of the nation’s higher institutions of learning. They included courses such as “Popular Flops: Bad Movies” (Tufts), “Biology of Jurassic Park” (Hood College), “Invented Language: Klingon and Beyond” (UT Austin), “Wordplay: A Wry Plod from Babel to Scrabble” (Princeton), and “Sociology and Fame of Lady Gaga” (University of South Carolina).  So who knows, what Jimmy and Lola are discussing may be coming soon to a campus near you. Another way that learning can be fun after all!