High School

They’re having the 20-year reunion for my high school graduating class this weekend. I never really considered going. It’s been 10 years since I’ve actually spoken to someone I graduated with. A couple of people have sent me a message or two on Facebook sometime in the last few years. Otherwise I haven’t seen or heard from anyone since the graduation ceremony. And I can’t say I’m that upset about it.

For some high school might have been one of the prime times in their life and they enjoy reliving it from time to time (hopefully not THE prime time in their life because there’s so much more life after high school). For others high school is a time they want to completely block from memory. I probably fall somewhere in the middle. It was good. I had a good time. I’ve got some fun stories from that part of my life. But I don’t feel the need to go back there at all.

I have followed the reunion planning with mild curiosity though. And as this weekend approached it became clear that I made the right decision to not go. The weekend would include the homecoming football game tonight followed by an after-party at a local bar. Tomorrow night they’re handing out commemorative t-shirts and having a semi-formal dinner and dance. Not too bad really. But everyone has been talking about the football after-party as sort-of the main event and being super excited about that. Because now they can all get together and party and get drunk just like they did 20 years ago, only now it’s legal. They get to relive their high school days without the fear of legal ramifications. From what I heard that’s about what the 10-year reunion ended up being as well – everyone going to a bar to get drunk together. As you might imagine, I wasn’t part of that scene 20 years ago and the fact that I could legally do it now wouldn’t change my participation.

I’d be interested in going back to see the school and how the campus has changed and how it hasn’t. Google maps shows there are several new buildings there now. And I’d really like to go back and talk with some of my teachers again and let them know what I’m up to now and how they played a role in that. The trouble would be finding those teachers now because according to the school directory they’ve moved on as well. But my classmates, especially if they’re going to get drunk again (although that made economics a bit more interesting when they’d come back from lunch drunk for that class), I really don’t need to go back for that.