Did you hear it?

That collective sigh of relief so loud it could be mistaken for the wind. Parents everywhere, finally free.

It’s back-to-school week.

But here’s my confession: I get disproportionately excited about September.

Not because I’ve escaped INSET days or finally get peace and quiet over a cup of tea. (Although both rank highly.)

It’s because September feels like Christmas — only the metaphorical stockings are stuffed with shiny stationery and the promise of learning something brand new that makes you think in a different way.

Weird, I know. But that vicarious possibility? That's enough for me.

Kids, whether they like it or not, get a chance at a blank slate. We adults? We try the same thing in January, calling it “resolutions.” Except by mid-month most of us have already faceplanted into a tub of ice cream or abandoned our shiny gym memberships.

For some, this September marks their big exam year. I’ve seen students spend their summers quietly gearing up to run at this year with everything they’ve got. Amazing! I’ll be cheering from the sidelines all the way to GCSEs and A-levels.

For others, the new timetable brings less joy. I’ve seen the creased-up face at the realisation that the weeks ahead include some of their least favourite subjects. The English Civil War. A 19th-century novel that weighs more than the school bag it’s carried in. And wondering whether electrolysis will ever mean anything that's relevant to them.

And honestly? We all have a subject that doesn’t exactly make us leap out of bed at 7 a.m.

But here’s the thing: “boring” is a lie.

Everything worth knowing has a secret side — you just have to know where to look.

Electrolysis isn’t just a chemistry class headache. It’s the reason aluminium, once rarer than gold, became a mass-produced metal. So mass produced that we can now toss foil on our leftovers without feeling like kings.

It’s also why salt isn’t just for seasoning. Electrolysis splits it into caustic soda (the chemical backbone of everything from soap to paper) and chlorine, the stuff that keeps swimming pools safe.

And without electrolysis, we wouldn’t have fuel cells, clean energy, or even the rockets that get us off this planet. In other words: boring classroom experiment? Hardly. Life would be very different without it. I dare you to look around right now and find a single item that hasn’t had electrolysis somewhere in its production line.

The English Civil War. Sounds like a bunch of powdered men in tights shouting at each other, right? But it was far more than a costume drama. It was the turning point that shaped modern democracy — the reason you can gripe about politicians on social media without ending up in the Tower.

One key change? Parliament gained control over government spending, including the navy. And they didn’t just fund it. They made sure sailors were well paid and well trained. England had smaller ships than the Spanish or French, but thanks to better training and discipline, our crews could reload and fire faster, giving us a decisive edge at sea. That advantage helped Britain project power, expand trade, and eventually build the empire that would fuel its Industrial Revolution.

And 19th century novels? Yes, they’re long. Yes, some sentences are so winding they’d get lost on Google Maps. But they’re also gossip columns in disguise.

Jane Austen wasn’t just writing love stories; she was dissecting social class, gender, and economic dependence in ways that still resonate today. Austen made readers notice the invisible rules shaping women’s lives, and her work quietly paved the way for conversations about social mobility, gender equality, and personal agency that still exist today. In short: she taught us to question the society around us, all with a sharp wit and a few well-aimed dinner-party insults.

🎥 Bridget Jones' Diary is basically Austen updated for the 21st century, with modern dating dilemmas, social awkwardness, and all the same commentary on class and gender.

Dickens didn’t just entertain; he exposed the horrors of child labor, poverty, and inequality during the Industrial Revolution. His vivid storytelling made the public care and pressured governments to reform workhouses, schools, and labor laws. Modern social advocacy, charity campaigns, and even storytelling with a purpose owe a huge debt to Dickens’s ability to turn empathy into action.

🎥 Les Misérables channels the Dickensian focus on systemic injustice, human suffering, and moral awakening.

Shelley didn’t just write Frankenstein; she invented the template for modern science fiction. Beyond the monsters, her work asks questions about human responsibility, ethics in science, and the dangers of unchecked ambition — debates that are still alive today in AI, genetic engineering, and tech ethics. Without Shelley, speculative fiction and our cultural conversations about science and morality might look very different.

🎥 Ex Machina is inspired by Shelley’s questions about creation, ethics, and human responsibility in science.

The point? These novels aren’t dusty relics. They’re lessons in human nature, society, and responsibility. They've shaped the world you live in.

That’s why they’re well worth studying, even if they don’t always feel like a page-turner.

Boring subjects are never just what they seem.

They’re secret doorways. To ideas, inventions, freedoms. To finding yourself in someone else’s story, or discovering the world around you has been formed from a remarkably mind-blowing multitude of chemical reactions.

Back-to-school is the reminder: everything is a beginning if you choose to see it that way.

Even electrolysis.

Even a dusty Civil War.

Even that fat Victorian novel your teacher plops on your desk.

It’s all a chance to notice the ordinary open into the extraordinary.

So while the kids shoulder their backpacks and parents enjoy a rare hot coffee, maybe we all take a note from September instead of January. Start fresh. Look twice at the “boring” stuff.

September isn’t just the start of school.

It’s the start of what might just change everything.

If you let it.

Nici

P.S.

Got a subject, topic, or “boring” thing that makes your kids groan every time it comes up? Hit reply and let me know. I might just sneak it into a future newsletter and show you why it’s secretly awesome.