High School Reunions: Three Questions

[Sparkly]

1. When's the last time you went to one?

2. Why?

3. What was it like?

I've got one coming up mid-August. I think I should go, just for the learning experience, even if it's awful. I haven't lived in that state for decades and have no relatives or connections there; and my high school years weren't particularly happy, either. So I fear nostalgia for the good that's gone, and fear sadness at reviving anything bad.

Please share your experiences, or even decisions about going or not going.

[SW FL Dem]

1. I went to my 20th about 10 years ago.

It was actually a pleasant experience. In high school, I was either considered a nerd or ignored. I guess I was a late bloomer, I attended my 20th with my hubby and my adorable 4 year old who was my dancing partner for the evening. I had a successful career and actually looked the same or better than I did at graduation. I had very little in common with most of my classmates. I went on to college and grad school, most of my classmates married right out of high school. It was something I needed to do for myself. I got the positive feedback I never got in high school. Since then, I never looked back. My 30th was this year, I don't know if there was a reunion, if they had it, I didn't attend.

[Lowell]

2. I went once

it was to my 25th. The people who were assholes in school, were still assholes. I didn't care for it too much. This October my 40th (Class of 65) is scheduled. I'm going to Biketober Fest instead.

[yorkiemommie1]

5. i have a 40th coming up in December

.... i'm pretty sure i'm not going. yeesh. our 8th GRADE people had a reunion last month! most of these people have been together since kindergarten so i can understand their close bonds.

[Longhorn]

3. My class had a tenth and a 30th.

I went to both and had a great time. My husband's class had a tenth, 20th, and 30th and we've been to all of those as well.

While some people don't change, most people do mature and it's great to make those adjustments in our minds. I wouldn't want to be judged my entire life by how I behaved in high school. A reunion is an opportunity to get a glimpse of the whole person. I didn't feel like everyone was trying to show off or one-up each other at any of the reunions but especially the older we get. We live in the same city as my husband's school so we actually have current friends and acquaintances in his class, making the reunions even more fun.

[shanti]

4. i've only been to one

my 20th, back in 1993. i went with my old hs best friend, and wanted to see what everyone looked like, but i'll never go to another one again. it was sort of fun seeing some of my old group of friends, but they all had their husbands/bf's with them, and i had no one (having recently divorced). they were pretty stuffy too; i had not remained in contact with anyone after that time.

this was in orange county, so there was a lot of bragging about financial status, etc....JUST LIKE HIGH SCHOOL.

the one memory i have is that most of the women were (now) blonde and most of the men were bald and/or overweight. the women looked in better shape than the men! i'm not even in contact with the friend i went with....

been there, done that, won't ever do it again!

[livetohike]

6. I went to my 10th in 1980 and my 25th in 1995

The 10th was alot of fun. I graduated with over 600 students in my class and we had a good turnout for that one. I had lost touch with everyone by then but one old friend, so it was nice to see people and catch up on things.

The 25th was boring. There wasn't a very good turnout. I think it is because the planning committee held the reunion at a country club and the cost of tickets was pretty high. The people I had hoped to see didn't show up and sadly, some of my classmates had died in the intervening years.

I probably will not attend another reunion. High school seems so long ago now :-(.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. I went to my tenth in 1978

It was satisfying to see that most of the people who were so mean to me were living limited, boring lives, while I was attending an Ivy League graduate school and had just come back from living in Japan.

[Totally Committed]

8. This one's easy....

1. When's the last time you went to one?

Never.

2. Why?

I didn't like most of the people I graduated with, or my hometown very much, so why bother? ONce I was out of there, I was OUT OF THERE!

3. What was it like?

N/A

TC

[yorkiemommie1]

9. we went to my husband's 50th this summer

i was really apprehensive because the 25th was AWful....people bragging and trying to one-up each other.

the 50th was entirely different. people had moved on from trying to show up. Heck, they were just trying to MOVE. everyone was very nice and we enjoyed ourselves.

[orleans]

10. that's funny

"Heck, they were just trying to MOVE."

maybe i'll consider my 50th (but i doubt it--)

[old mark]

11. Old post, revisited.

Never been to a reunion, never plan to go. (graduated in 1965, class of over 400)

I really did not like my high school, and never looked back after I graduated.

I was not happy then, and recall little I want to relive.


mark

[raccoon]

12. Ditto to everything you said, except I graduated a few years later and had a much smaller class. nt

[Why Syzygy]

13. I went to the 10 year

in 1982 for the school from which I graduated. It was fun, at that age. There were a lot of people that I had known in elementary school, as I returned to that city. I attended three different high schools. Had the most friends at the one I attended freshman and sophomore years. I never went to a formal reunion for that school. However, a friend from eighth grade and I kept in touch until 2003. I started emailing out stuff about Howard Dean. She kept writing back, "God bless George Bush". Finally, I wrote and told her she was a lot more intelligent than that, what's on your mind? Turns out she had turned into a rabid right winger. She unloaded a boatload of resentments she had been holding onto. One of them was the fact that I didn't attend a mini reunion she had organized. The problem was that after I left the school, she went on to be friends with people I couldn't stand, who she had included in her reunion. I had no desire to see those cruel people. Found out she was one of them. Pity.

[old mark]

14. NEVER have never will. Graduated in 1965, kicked the dust off my shoes

and never went back.
I hated every day of high school, have no desire to reflect on the old days or return to the old school. Sucked then, still sucks now.

mark