Tonight was my ten-year high school reunion. The North Farmington High School Class of 1993 got together tonight to reminisce, and all that good stuff. I had a very difficult time believing ten years had passed by. I had wondered whether I would really end up enjoying it. I mean, most of the people I was close to in high school either went to college with me (and in a few cases, were also my roommates) or I kept in touch with through the years. But, as it happened, I did enjoy it, and find it interesting.
As the old saying goes, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Many people have, in fact, grown quite a bit and matured and done wonderful things for themselves. I even reconnected with people I hadn't seen, in most cases, since we were in high school. On the other hand, many of the shallow, "popular" types don't seem to have grown much at all. They still grouped in their little clique, and still, apparently, had plenty of inane catty things to say about other folks who were there.
Ten-year reunions, typically, have been something of a landmark in our culture. It's probably a testament to the general apathy and cliquishness (this may not be a real word, but if you don't like it, get your own blog) of my graduating class that only forty of 240 in my class ended up showing up. Maybe they're not quite the big deal they used to be, or maybe most of the people in my class were none too happy to leave their high school days behind. For my part, it was nice to catch up with the people who were there, and interesting to see how people had changed. Plus, I was something of a nerdy kid in high school (although not too socially inept --it was enough to be able to have friends in many of the "cliques" -- I was in no particular group, in all of them, and in one of my own) so it was refreshing to be able to show up quite a bit less nerdy and more self-assured.
It will be interesting to see, in ten more years, whether people shed their aversion to the class, or let their curiosity get the better of them, and more of them show up. On the other hand, maybe even fewer will show up next time. Who knows? I'll probably go either way. People seem to grow a lot more slowly as people ten years out from high school. In my own case, I only just finished law school last May, and only now do I feel like I'm finally embarking on my "adult life." Twenty years, now, may show even more dramatic changes. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
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