Reunions Will Be a Part

Reunions will be a part of people's lives as long as there will be schools. People get nostalgic about their college or high school years and in most cases they only remember the good times and laugh about the harder ones. Human nature drags them to reunions every time because of various reasons. While some are enjoying meeting old friends again, others are just keen to show off. My first high school reunion was a source of fun, remembering good old times and, of course, it had its bitter side as well. Envy is just as human as generosity is. Some of us changed and grew up of the insecurities and frustrations characteristic to adolescence, while a few others still had a lot of steam to blow off.

First we gathered in an old classroom and one of our former teachers called us by name, as they used to do it during class. The first wave of nostalgia was shaken off pretty soon once we started to talk among us and remember about pranks we used to play on each other or field trips we took together or even about our chemistry teacher, a sweet old lady who reached the remarkable performance of making us freeze with fear as soon as she appeared in the doorframe. It definitely gave us a jumpstart and helped us get over the initial awkwardness of having to communicate with people we have lost track of since we graduated.

After having passed over the effort to think of something to say, we started paying attention to each others' physical appearance and clothes. We were all dressed up and trying to impress, of course. Most of us had changed quite a lot. Because we were good kids and fortunate enough to attend a good school, most of us were quite satisfied with what we became. It was like a catharsis for me and I think for most of those who were there. This first reunion did us the favor of enabling us to go back into the past and recharge our batteries.

Beside the cathartic side, reunions are reasons for touching base once in awhile and regaining a sense of reality thorough the contact with what we used to be. To forget is only human, but the process of transformation from an adolescent to an adult is about building on a solid base and becoming aware of what you are and who you want to become. Success is not always smiling upon us and failure should make us become tougher and better prepared for future trials. After all, we have survived our toughest years: puberty. There is nothing more frightful for someone but to have to relive his or her puberty years all over again. Reunions help you laugh at yourself and at your fears and adolescence nightmares like not having the right leather jacket or the coolest hair.