Our 10 year high school reunion is being planned, and I can't believe it has been 10 years to be honest. I sat looking at my senior yearbook and reminiscing about who I was, the choices I made and where I am now.
I still remember so many of the little things, being a gym assistant during my study hall, which if you didn't do this you missed out, chocolate milk and mac n cheese ( all the things they are taking out of schools now), the sound system in the HUGE guys locker room while female athelets got a much smaller pitful locker room with a portable boombox ( if we brought one), all of the dances and the fear of finding a date :)
I smiled at how we all looked, dressed, and at the though of who was "popular" and the kids who could do nothing but be mean and obnoxious to most for whatever reason. Maybe they were acting out because of their home, maybe it's because they didn't know how else to act, maybe it's because they were not taught how to treat people or maybe they just wanted to fit in... I realize how that could be intimidating at times, but now I just look back and am sad that I never stood up for myself or others watching the already fragile confidence of any high school student torn down a bit more.
I tried to fit in or at least blend in, but always felt out until I eventually found Christ the summer before my junior year. At that point I wasn't scared, and I didn't care because I knew that they could not affect my life unless I let them. I had my friends, my sports, my activites and my family and beyond that it just didn't matter. I made alot of mistakes during high scool, but I guess that is how we learn and grow.
It is sad now to see people commenting on our reunion with the same bitterness and sadness now, feeling that they are not liked and not appreciated as a person. I'm sure there are still a few that will bring on the jokes and the put downs, (though I would love to be wrong on this assumption), but it's only because they still don't know how to communicate and just get to know people. I hope that whoever does go to the reunion has fun and can put high school issues to rest. It's supposed to be a time to see how far we've come and to reconnect with old friends and maybe make some new ones :)
I think about all of the drama that was high school and that for me it is gone. I love keeping in touch with the few AW grad's that I appreciate and I love the life in Atlanta and the wonderful husband I now have. I can look at high school and smile about it, which is the way it should be...
