You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.

Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

I want to take you back to a time in the early 90s when I was in third grade.

Third grade Molly loved school.

I loved school. My teacher was the beloved Miss A who made school

fun. We got to keep pet rocks on our desks. Mine was named Rosie. Good morning, Rosie.

We read funny books out loud.

Once upon a time, there was a little old woman, and a little old man who lived together in an old house.

They were lonely, so the little old lady decided to make a man out of stinky cheese.

And rotated through classroom jobs.

My favorite classroom job was a weather reporter, where you got to announce the weather forecast to the class every morning.

Today will be cold, with a 25% chance of snow.

One day, we switched desks.

It was good because I got to sit next to my friend Maggie, but our desks were as far away from the whiteboard as you could be and still be in the classroom.

One day, Miss A was writing on the board with an orange marker, but I couldn't see anything.

Excuse me, Missy, but I think your marker's out of ink.

But the marker wasn't out of ink.

It was working perfectly well. I just couldn't see it.

Ms. Ae told my parents that she thought I needed glasses and she was right.

I went to the eye doctor, got my prescription, and picked out some frames and waited for the glasses to be ready.

When I finally got to wear my glasses for the first time,

I was amazed.

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