How many of us have imagined at some time in our lives of going back into the past to high school–but bringing with us the self confidence and knowledge that we did not have the first time around? I, too, imagined that scenario just a few years after graduating high school.
Due to feeling shy and awkward, there were many people I did not even attempt to get to know and later wished I had. And, having low self-esteem, I let things said by negative people bring me down. It would have been so nice to “do over” high school with the confidence I had gained in just a few short years of working and supporting myself after graduation.
It’s interesting to see how powerful those school experiences and memories can be. How important our “place” was to many of us. Some people look forward to high school reunions (especially those first few reunions) so that they can show their classmates how they’ve blossomed into a very attractive person, or how successful they have become.
In later years, as we mature, the approval of others becomes less important. The focus is now more on others rather than on ourselves. We are grateful to become reacquainted with our classmates, and to form new friendships with the classmates we did not know before.
Whether we hung out together or in the same group doesn’t matter anymore. We have become a group over time, even if we have not seen each other for over 25 or even 40 years. We are a group of people with shared memories. We may have not made the memories together years ago, but we have much more in common with each other now simply by having had the same teachers, listening to the same music, experiencing the same current events, going to the same places such as favorite pizzerias, local nightclubs, county fairs, the shore, and even places that don’t exist anymore. We shared a time, even if we did not know each other then. Today we share memories. Today we are connected.
Kim Doyal said:
Love this Dora! 🙂
It’s amazing how many people I’ve connected with from high school through FB that were maybe only acquaintances in HS. You’re spot on with how things shift as we get older… now it’s just about quality people doing their thing.
We all have our stories, have gone through ups & downs and are doing the best we can.
🙂 Great post!
Diane Spencer said:
Read your blog and I agree . I knew alot of my classmates from valleyview on into knolls. It’s like we were all one big family on a journey through life’s road. Like you and many others, there’s times where I wish I could back and redo some things, but it’s those ” things” that made us who we are today. I’m just grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to reconnect with many of my classmates over the years, even if I don’t talk to them everyday. So here’s to our “lost” youth and simpler times. Peace out y’all.
Dora said:
Thank you for sharing your experience, Diane! I attended Copeland Middle School and after graduation we were split up — about half of us went to Morris Knolls and the other half went to Morris Hills. So it took me awhile to adjust as a freshman. Sophomore year was much better. I graduated in 3 years, as a junior — something I am glad I decided to do.