subject: Nervous About That School Reunion? [print this page] High school reunions can be pretty intimidating no matter how successful and happy you are in life, but it is nothing to really worry about. We put a lot of stock into what people thought about us in high school and there tends to be a bit of a residual effect when the time has come to go to your first reunion. This does not have to be the case. There is no real reason to be too nervous.
How to cut back on making the reunion weird:
As stated above, life certainly does happen. Take this as an opportunity to not only enjoy yourself, but be honest with those that you are seeing for the first time in years. We all want to hear success stories, but not if they are either overblown or untrue. So, saying you invented white out is probably not the best way to interact with your old peers. Consider everything that has gone right in your life and tell them about it, instead of going on about hard times or untrue facts just tell your old friends about all the best parts. Think about it. Life isn't all that bad. Going into this with a positive attitude will only allow for a fantastic night.
Most people at the reunion are going to have the same experiences as you and impressing them only lasts until they realize you are lying. What's the point? The point of going to a reunion is really to enhance lifelong relationships, lying and over-bragging is not going to help with that.
Try not going into this with assumptions. Do not assume that the head cheerleader still looks great in the uniform; do not assume that you know where your peers ended up. Life happens and people change a great deal outside of high school. Really take the time to consider how much you have changed since Graduation Day. You have changed a lot, haven't you?
Life has had its ups and downs too, right? Well, that is more than likely the case for everyone else that you went to school with. This is exactly why going in assuming that the people that had it so easy in high school are still the same now is just the wrong way to go about it. Many of our assumptions in high school were incredibly wrong too, anyway.
Don't just talk to your friends
We all have the people we are most comfortable with. It is okay if you go there with your friends, but make sure you do try to mingle. There are going to be people that really are thinking about you and want to see how you have been. They may be acquaintances or you may not remember them right now. Or maybe some adorable little geek had a crush on you in high school and would like to see what life has brought you. Just make the time to really see who is there and maybe you'll leave with a few new good friends. School reunions don't have to be so stressful, just have fun!
