This year, I have to attend my 10th high school reunion. For some reason, the thought of meeting everyone from my class gets me excited yet nervous. How does one prepare for the reunion? I mean, it was so long ago. So many thoughts race through my head. About five years ago, I kept in touch with all the people that I cared to know or the gossip network was pretty strong that I knew what was going on. However, after a few years out of college, I realize that I lost touch with all the people that I knew (with the exception of two or three) and that I miss them. Actually, I don’t necessarily miss them but I fondly reminisce about my teenage years. Perhaps, that is why I started CampusNut.com—so that I could feel like a teen again.
The fear comes in when I think about what I have done the last ten years since I received that high school diploma. How does one measure success after high school? In high school, the pecking order was very simple. The jocks and the cheerleaders (well, not our cheerleaders because they were so uncoordinated and ugly) came first. The cool misfits and the rich kids came in second. Then came the nerds. According to this pecking order, I come in last. Since that time, I can argue that I have made significant achievements to move up the social ladder. I am tall and decent-looking. I have a college degree from one of the best colleges in the world. And I have successfully started three businesses. However, when I go back to school, do we revert to our high school pecking order or can we start from a clean slate? What is the protocol? Even bigger than this fear is that I do not and probably will not have a date for this event. Are you supposed to bring a date? Do people bring their significant others? If I don’t bring a date, am I perceived as a loser? It is bad enough to go with the nerd crowd but a nerd crowd with no dates?
I also think about my close friends with whom I lost touch. After we departed for college, we all promised to stay close but, as the years went by and we developed different social circles, the friendship is more a memory than an actuality. While I miss these friends, I think about how immature we all were and the close friends that I developed during the last ten years have more in common with me. I also think about rivalries and bittersweet memories. I think about a former close friend who always chose to give rides to freshmen girls than to drive me home. He was immature so I dumped on our friendship. I guess that made me immature, too. I also recall this girl who turned me down to the senior prom (you know who you are. You can run but you can’t hide). Also, there is this kid named Sam who was my high school rival. He not only beat me in every subject (except math), but followed me to college; if you were to ask him, he would tell you that I followed him. Too bad he doesn’t have a website to voice his dumb opinions.
Funny thing is that the four years of high school are the most memorable. Ten years after I last set foot, I can still recall everything. Heck, I even have dreams that I’m in high school again. I have nightmares about the time that I got detention from the principal for skipping out of school for a week. So as my reunion approaches, I should look at my reunion as an opportunity to exorcise my inner demons and resolve my rivalries, friendships and lingering bitterness. After all, we are all supposed to be adults now.
If you are interested in reading my undelivered Valedictorian speech, click HERE.
