Why I Went To My 10 Year High School Reunion

Can you imagine how intimidating it was being in high school with such gorgeous ladies?  And this is only a few of the beautiful women I had the pleasure of graduating with!

It was a stunning June day in 2013.  We lay on the beach in Antibes, France, soaking up the sun in the Cote D’Azure.  I brushed away a few crumbs from the heavenly pain au chocolate I’d just consumed at an impressively reserved speed.  Somehow we’d been on the topic of high school and I was grilling Adam about whether or not he regretted not attending his 10 year reunion.  He seemed quite neutral about the entire thing. “Do you think you’ll go to your high school reunion next year?” he casually asked me.  Without a beat, I replied, “Only if my friends go,” in the ditziest tone.  Apparently my unfiltered response was to revert back to high school me.  We both burst out laughing at my desperation, and went back to our ever important pastries.

Details of our 10 year high school reunion began to surface in a Facebook Group (how fitting) that summer and I became flooded with insecurities any time it was mentioned.  High school was such an odd and intense chapter for everyone (and if it wasn’t, then please, tell me your secret).  Thinking about seeing a bunch of those people all at once felt like unimaginable pressure.  As time went on though, the idea of it all became a little less scary.  I decided that the pros of attending outweighed the cons and that I simply had to go.  It was an event that would not be able to be made up if I’d decided to skip it.  And really, what was the worst that could happen?  If it really wasn’t any fun, I could easily leave and chalk it up to a lame night.

Spoiler alert, I had a great time!  There was a slight hesitation right before we walked into the venue.  It reminded me of that feeling you’d get arriving to school in a costume on Halloween, plagued with the thought that maybe no one else in the entire school would be dressed up.  I saw an old friend outside the front doors though and it all turned familiar and rather comfortable.  Maybe we just graduated with tons of great people, but it ended up being really lovely catching up with everyone!

There’s a lot of our grad class that didn’t come to our reunion.  Many friends that I spoke to about it kept saying that “they have people on Facebook, so they already know what they’re up to.”  And though I understand the reasoning, I have to disagree.  I see some photos and a couple annoying opinions on Facebook, but I don’t necessarily know about their lives.  I had some very real and amazing conversations with people about their successes and struggles.  Sick parents people were forced to move back home and care for.  Exciting new career opportunities.  People who’d moved away, and some who’d found themselves back again.  Relationships that lasted and some that didn’t.  We all told old stories and laughed (and laughed).  If anything, Facebook provided a great conversation starting point with some people.  I was all “how was that recent trip you went on?” and “you got married in Mexico, right?  Congrats, looked beautiful!” I interacted with some peers I never would have expected to, but it was a really rewarding experience in general.  The friend I went with even reconnected with a few pals that she’d lost contact with.  She revealed to me yesterday that our 10 year reunion rekindled her friendship with those ladies and they now hang out regularly.  I mean, how awesome is that?

I don’t regret going to my 10 year high school reunion at all (though, I could have done without those extra few drinks at the end of the night, but that’s neither here nor there).  I have always been social and genuinely loved briefly catching up with people I hadn’t seen in a decade.  It also, in a really strange way, provided me with a bit of closure.  High school happens at a weird time in our lives and so many life altering adventures consume our twenties.  It was empowering to go back there with a greater sense of self and converse with these people I was previously so closely tied to.  Now, we’ll have to see if I feel the same way when it’s time for our 20 year reunion!

How about you?  Did/would you go to your 10 year high school reunion?!