People have such visceral reactions to the idea of a HS reunion. You can see who was unpopular and who really struggled by their screeching.
I had a lot of good friends in HS, people that I had grown up with, partied with, competed with, dated, etc. It was nice to spend a few hours catching up with them (in person, not FB/Insta.)
You can tell who went to Hicksville High by the proportion of their classmates they view as friends
When you're in a class of more than 500, you mostly barely even know each other. When you live in a dense urban area, students constantly come and go, you "grow up with" very few. Little incentive to want to see them again
HS Dork Alert:
I guess you really didn't have any friends. I can see why.
Yes, I went to my 40th. It was a fascinating experience. I was painfully shy in high school, but known for being a distance runner, swimmer, and a math nerd. I shed the shyness through life, married, had kids, etc…, pretty much like everyone else there.
An example: I was seated at a table for a while with an overweight woman and we had a good time talking and laughing about things. I finally glanced at her name tag and was astonished to see it was our homecoming queen. In high school we would never have talked: I was too shy and nerdy and she was too beautiful and socially elite.
A girl I had a huge crush on in high school was there. She was thin and athletic in high school, but a huge gal now with six kids. I didn’t even recognize her. Another girl I also had liked didn’t show but had turned hyper religious - according to something she wrote. Even if I had started relationships with either, it probably wouldn’t have worked out. Put those old fantasies to rest forever.
Anyway, most people grew up. Everyone was nice. Nobody was bragging. Lots of gray hair, baldness, pot bellies, etc…. But nobody cared.
I've been to every one we've had: 10th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th and 40th (I'm kind of proud of being one of the few 6-timers). We've been fortunate because a few friends of mine have been the organizers of every one, stuck with it, and made each one really good.
I'm traveling straight up i-35 on Wednesday to attend my 20th highschool reunion. I am the president and organizer of the event, so naturally I must be in attendance. It's quite a job, as many alumni simply aren't interested in getting together, talking about old times, and seeing how our lives have evolved over the years. I reserved a banquet room at a major hotel in Oklahoma city to host our event. Some of my duties include managing funds, appropriations, mailing lists, updating contact info, and obviously planning and coordinating the reunions every 5 years. I've pretty much taken on this task single handedly, and ultimately have ended up financing the overwhelming majority of it as well. To me it's worth to gain the sense of nostalgia and reminisce on the concept of friendship between peers. We have all gone different pathways. Some my fellow alumni became doctors, lawyers, dentists, car salesman, plumbers, hvac technicians, barbers, and pastors. 2 if us became coaches. 1 at the highschool level and obviously 1 at the collegiate level.
Do you attend any of your reunions? Do you pay annual dues? Is it worth it for you? What strategies can I implement to generate a larger turnout for these get together that I assemble?
Thanks.
Our fifty five year one is coming up next month. It will probably be the last one. In all of those fifty five years there's only been one time, the fifteen year one, that wasn't scheduled at a time when I didn't have something else that kept me from going. If going had been a high priority I suppose I could have rearranged a thing or two but it's nearly a six hundred mile drive and I haven't stayed in touch with anyone. This upcoming one also conflicts with something else but there is something about it being the last one that makes me feel like I want to go.
I really doubt there's much you can do to generate a larger turnout. Lives change over time. People fall out of touch. Maybe you could survey your classmates to see what dates or times of year work better for them in terms of being able to attend.
Similar experiences to FunkyButt and Yersinia-- had a good time catching up, and the connections and bonds outweighed the past bad experiences and cliques. I also want real chat, not the heavily edited ones on social media posts.
Coming up on my 45th from a small (sub-100 grads) US Midwest high school and plan to attend. I made most of the previous ones. I had doubts about attending the first (10-yr), but had a great "dress rehearsal" six months previously, when we had a championship-team reunion-- even the worst jerks then weren't bad.
Sure, I attended my 50th. Had to go about halfway (literally) around the world to get there, but it was well worth it. Great to be back home!
A goodly number of people showed, and not as many of my classmates had died as I'd feared. (Working class student body, a large majority not going to college--that description often means deaths at younger ages.)
A small part of the fun is that I was the youngest member of my class--not always fun whilst in high school, but pretty neat at these later reunions. Oh, and the tallest member, so it was easy to know where to stand during group photos: always the center back.
I have my 50th high school reunion coming up on June 21tg. It is not too far away and I would like to go, but instead planning running the USATF masters mile race in Indianapolis that day with a couple of other geezers from my local club. My goal is to be within a minute of my high school time for that distance.
I keep in touch with most of my close friends from HS and have loose contact with a good amount of former acquaintances. I don't have Facebook, but will run into other classmates around town, at weddings, at funerals, other things like that. I don't really feel a need to go to reunions and see everyone else.
I haven't gone to one yet. It's a 4.5 hour drive to get back there and I'm not particularly close to anyone from those days. Social media allows me to know what the few I might be interested in are doing now. It seems the ones who do still live in the area see each other at times anyway and know what they're doing in their lives now. My parents are from a small town that has an annual summer celebration with parade and fireworks and other events over the weekend. A lot of people come back for that, like 50% or more. So it seems to help if you piggy back off a large event for the area you're from, if one exists.
I ran my 5000m pr the day of my 10th. Absolutely no regrets.
I don't live near my hometown now. I skipped my 20th as well.
The friendships I've held onto are really the only ones I care about maintaining, and I don't need a reunion to see those people. I don't really want to see the others. I can't see wanting to attend my 30th, but who knows.
My high school years were fantastic—I had a tight-knit group of friends and cherished every moment. Back then, I would’ve bet we’d stay close forever. I wasn’t in student government, but I ran with that crowd and felt deeply connected to them. My school, neighborhood, even my last name, shaped my identity and filled me with pride.
Looking back, it’s wild how much that tribal mindset defined me. But life moves on. I can’t recall the last time I spoke with most of those friends. I caught up with one last summer, and before that, it was a funeral five years ago. Everyone’s scattered, living their own lives.
There’s a 25-year reunion this summer. I might go if my schedule’s free, but I’m not rearranging my life for it. No hard feelings—it’s just that I’ve lived in so many places, made new friends, and had countless experiences since then. High school feels like a distant chapter, not the core of who I am anymore.
I graduated 40 years ago next month and have never been to a reunion. Oddly, I moved to within 3 miles of my high school, 4 years ago, yet I still have no desire to go.
I went to my 20 year last summer and it was great. I went to a smaller private school and graduated with 100 classmates. Graduating on the cusp of Facebook and social media has allowed for a fair amount of connection, on top of a lot of us seeing each other during the college years. Worth it for sure, but I guess it depends on your experience and situation.
In person is not going to happen - too far, among other things. But I would consider something like this:
"Telepresence Robots: These physical robots act as a "virtual presence" for a remote user. They typically feature a screen displaying the user's face and a wheeled base that the user can control remotely. This allows a remote individual to physically navigate the meeting space and interact more naturally than through a static video conference."
I did attend an online reunion for my college a few years ago. It wasn't bad. It was during Covid, and I multi-tasked while doing a lifting workout in my home gym. I kept the camera shut off.
I went to a small high school (graduating class of 50) and obviously the town was small maybe about 2000. I wasn't an especially good student but a fair athlete. After high school had some issues with college. So I never went to my 10, 20, 30, 40 reunions since I still felt a sense of embarrassment for how I acted. But given I became pretty successful (PhD and a college professor) I decided to attend my 50th. Traveled 3000 miles to get there. I'm still very fit and when I walked into reunion I thought I had come into an old-persons home. My gosh. I would say that 70% of the people there were using a cane, walker, oxygen tank, etc. Most people were very overweight. Like someone above had stated, the girls that I was in love with (they wouldn't have had anything to do with me) are very obese and simply old women. Inside I couldn't stop laughing. And everyone always says that people don't change (well I did) but a couple of the guys who were arrogant assholes are still the same. Bragging about how much money they have and what they have done in life. I never said a word about what I did other than to say I was in the field of education. The woman that organized the reunion said she can't wait until our 60th. I would estimate that at least half of of the class will be dead. It was a fascinating experience to say the least.
I went to a small high school (graduating class of 50) and obviously the town was small maybe about 2000. I wasn't an especially good student but a fair athlete. After high school had some issues with college. So I never went to my 10, 20, 30, 40 reunions since I still felt a sense of embarrassment for how I acted. But given I became pretty successful (PhD and a college professor) I decided to attend my 50th. Traveled 3000 miles to get there. I'm still very fit and when I walked into reunion I thought I had come into an old-persons home. My gosh. I would say that 70% of the people there were using a cane, walker, oxygen tank, etc. Most people were very overweight. Like someone above had stated, the girls that I was in love with (they wouldn't have had anything to do with me) are very obese and simply old women. Inside I couldn't stop laughing. And everyone always says that people don't change (well I did) but a couple of the guys who were arrogant assholes are still the same. Bragging about how much money they have and what they have done in life. I never said a word about what I did other than to say I was in the field of education. The woman that organized the reunion said she can't wait until our 60th. I would estimate that at least half of of the class will be dead. It was a fascinating experience to say the least.
Congratulations on aging well.
What leaves me wondering about your experience is what is going on in those people's heads (?).
Let's put it in real terms - do they notice how well you have aged, (relatively) and if so, do they care?
If the answer is that don't notice and/or care, maybe just some people have different priorities in life.
I'm traveling straight up i-35 on Wednesday to attend my 20th highschool reunion. I am the president and organizer of the event, so naturally I must be in attendance. It's quite a job, as many alumni simply aren't interested in getting together, talking about old times, and seeing how our lives have evolved over the years. I reserved a banquet room at a major hotel in Oklahoma city to host our event. Some of my duties include managing funds, appropriations, mailing lists, updating contact info, and obviously planning and coordinating the reunions every 5 years. I've pretty much taken on this task single handedly, and ultimately have ended up financing the overwhelming majority of it as well. To me it's worth to gain the sense of nostalgia and reminisce on the concept of friendship between peers. We have all gone different pathways. Some my fellow alumni became doctors, lawyers, dentists, car salesman, plumbers, hvac technicians, barbers, and pastors. 2 if us became coaches. 1 at the highschool level and obviously 1 at the collegiate level.
Do you attend any of your reunions? Do you pay annual dues? Is it worth it for you? What strategies can I implement to generate a larger turnout for these get together that I assemble?
Thanks.
School reunions aren't such a big deal in England, but I've hardly seen or heard of the people I went to school with since the day I left, 63 years ago.
On the other hand, people I ran with in a club at the same age (from different schools), I'm still in contact with on Facebook.
That said, my sister did fly back from US to go to her 50th (I think) last year. She definitely would have been the fittest there having placed in the World Masters Indoor Champs this spring...