For those graduating soon, the concept of high school reunions usually pop up shortly after leaving college.
One has to wonder though, why should they go?
High school reunions are usually about ten years after a grades high school graduation, with more reunions happening either every five or ten years. Movies like “Beautiful Girls” (1996) and “Holiday High School Reunion” (2012) are usually centered around reunions with strong themes of trying to impress others, relive old glories, or get back “the one that got away.”
While they seem like very fun and entertaining events of seeing people you knew in high school a very long time ago, what’s the point of going?
A decade is long time, so ten year reunions have more of an appeal for people to go. Everyone will be around 28, usually with some sort of plan in life. Five year reunions, on the other hand, would be filled with people who either just graduated, people entering grad school, people who already have jobs, people never went to college, or a mix of all these things.
With ten year reunions you are actually an adult and have some semblance of your life figured out. Most people at the time are close to 30, maybe with their own home and preparing to have their own family. These are usually bigger success judging contests, but these events has more novelty with the fact that it has been a very long time since you’ve seen a lot of these people.
If you went you would talk to the people you either knew, didn’t know, knew of but never talked to, or people you simply didn’t like. So if you are a social butterfly, this is a really good event to go to.
There is the concept that you might have kept in contact with your friends from high school. You might see some people you had potential to be friends with back in high school and this could be the opportunity to become friends, but this isn’t always the case.
Those who had bad high school experiences would be inclined not to go. The smaller your grade was, the more of a reason not to go. Why would you go see those who did you wrong back in the day? Unless you are the kind of person to forgive and forget and willing to try again, there isn’t any real will to go.
People like me who come from a very small town with a graduating class of around 160 people have an easier time keeping in contact with our grades because there are few people I didn’t know. These reunions appeal more to those who come from bigger schools with larger grades. They have a lot more to gain from going, like meeting new people who never got the chance to talk to, or just getting a bigger chance to network with the advantage they you both graduated from the same school at the same time.
When it comes down to it, it is truly up to one’s own personal preference if they really want to go. Whether you really want to see some old high school friends, use it as an excuse to drink with old friends (hoping they have an open bar that is), or simply to network. They are good reason to good if you can ignore the contest of everyone judging each other. If you don’t want to go, then don’t go; there is no real loss here.
