tomorrow is my 10-year high school reunion. actually, the alumni weekend starts today and ends tomorrow night. i have mixed feelings about attending. i know some of my friends will be there, and since most have moved away it will be fun to see them again. i also know that most of my classmates who treated me like crap in high school will be there too. they hadn’t changed at our 5-year reunion, so i’m doubtful they will have changed by now.
i hated high school. i was the new girl, having just moved from maryland, and even though i thought it would be easier moving at the beginning of high school rather than in the middle, it was hard to fit in. everyone had their groups from elementary school, and even though i had several very close friends, many in my class kept me on the outside. in fact, they kept a lot of us on the outside. every school has that group of girls who think they’re too cool for school and they make the lives of anyone not in their group hell. if you don’t wear the right clothes, if you’re not rich, if you’re not gorgeous (at least how they view gorgeous) then you’re nothing. that’s how those girls acted in high school, and that’s how they acted five years ago.
five years ago, i was a little excited about my reunion. but, i immediately felt out of place once again when our class gathered together and the “popular” girls still refused to speak to me and my friends because we weren’t as “cool” as they were.
i hope they will have grown up by now, but i have a feeling they haven’t. i’m sure tomorrow will be the same as it was five years ago. but that’s ok. i’m going to go, introduce my husband to my friends and their husbands (who also happen to be friends of mine), and i’ll even get to see my brothers and their friends. that’s one reason i’m glad we’re five years apart in age. we’ll always have the same honor years for alumni weekend, which will be fun.
if the snobby girls want to be rude again, it’s ok. it doesn’t matter anymore. i’ve grown up, moved on, and while they’re still partying, i’m settling down and trying to start a family. i’m exactly where i want to be.
Well no doubt you’ll be the prettiest one there!
Joe is so sweet! 🙂
You’re right – they probably haven’t changed. But you know what? Those girls are miserable. People who aren’t friendly to everyone are constantly trying to portray themselves a certain way – and that is just exhausting! Who wants to talk to someone who can only have a superficial conversation? I’ve been there before, and I feel all “Excuse me, you have no idea how cool I am!” They have no idea how cool you are!
On another note, I’ve run into some girls who would not have been considered popular in high school (and neither was I; I was somewhere in the middle) – and these girls are very unfriendly to me, which makes me wonder if I somehow unknowingly was unkind to them or made them feel the way others have made me feel. So I try not to worry about how people will respond, but rather just be very friendly to everyone, forgiving past rudeness I’ve felt and hopefully making up for any I may have communicated to others.
All that to say, I hope you’re pleasantly surprised tomorrow – and I hope you have a great time!
Stop calling them the “cool girls”…if they’re that bad, call them the “snobby girls” or the “stuck up girls”…b/c they don’t sound very cool. Oh, and if you see our mutual “friend” there…don’t tell him you know me, lol.
You know, I was *so* pleasantly surprised at my 10-year high school reunion. I thought that the same cliques would still be in existence, and yes … some people didn’t come over to talk with me and didn’t even smile when I smiled at them and said hi. But a *lot* of people who were considered *so* freaking popular in high school actually came over to talk with me and were *so* friendly! I thought, “Wow, they never would have come over to talk to me like this in high school.” I was kind of nerdy and quiet/conservative … editor of the high school newspaper … considered smart, etc. But I was *so* pleasantly surprised. I actually had a *lot* of fun. I was amazed at how many people were married and had a child by then ~ and a few girls were pregnant at the time. I got to catch up with my best friend for *so* many years, and that was TERRIFIC! I hope you have fun!
I am not planning to go to my reunion (it’s not until 2009). Not because I think anyone would be mean to me, but I just don’t care what most of my classmates are up to. Is that weird? Those who I cared about even vaguely, I know about through Facebook. The rest, who cares?
People *do* change, and I truly hope those girls have ~ not only for your sake, but for theirs. I’d hate to live my life always looking down my nose on others. What a terrible view!
I didn’t go to my 10-year reunion because, like Laural, I have been in touch with all my classmates who I truly like and care about. I’ve seen other classmates when I go back to Rome, and sadly, the ones who were stuck up in high school still looked the other way when I smiled. I don’t understand, but it doesn’t make me feel like lesser of a person anymore, thank goodness.
You have your life together, and you have plenty to be proud of. Don’t let them rattle you. Besides, like Joe said, you’ll be the prettiest one there – inside and out!
Shoulders back, head up and strut it like you deserve! They should be so lucky to have YOU talk to them. Stoopid snobs!