[katiesue]

I’ll say it – I had a great time in High School. Oh I wasn’t a cheerleader or homecoming queen or anything. I had friends in all the different groups. I lettered in Track & Field Hockey, was editor of the school paper, was on Student Counsel. I also did lots of horribly stupid things. I was never where I was supposed to be, snuck out, oh all kinds of insane stuff but gosh it was a whole lotta fun.

Going to a smaller school – I think we were 800 students total, my class is 184 – the cliques were a little less defined. The captain of the football team was also in band. Cheerleaders were in plays. Since we were smaller you could play sports if you weren’t a superstar and have a decent chance at other activities as well. We also had some really great teachers. One of our English teachers was such a Shakespeare fan that senior year we all signed up for an elective class in Shakespeare in which we spent the entire year just reading plays aloud.

I also sort of lucked out in an odd way. My best friend, starting in 6th grade, spent the fall at another school. Then when we were sophomores got sent to boarding school. So I always had a best friend she just wasn’t ever actually there. I didn’t need to try and fit in with a clique because I had that connection. I hung out with whoever I wanted to. Also J went to school in Palo Alto which was an entirely different world from where we lived. So I got exposed to all kinds of different music, movies, even the beginning of the Aids epidemic. Stuff that I never would have if she hadn’t gone to school there. Also I must say the advent of MTV. We had one AM radio station. And at some point the Junior College had some sort of underground FM one. Your exposure to different kinds of music was really limited. And one movie theatre meant they only show one at a time. Lots of things never even played there.

I apparently had a totally warped view of myself. I always thought I was kind of a goober. I didn’t think I was ugly but not anything to write home about. I didn’t try all that hard in class. I just didn’t’ get it. Example in AP English I’d get up the day a paper was due about 4:30 and type it up, first draft/last draft. My grade would usually be a B+ (cause the teacher was an ass and knew I only just wrote it). My over achieving friends would do multiple drafts, have conferences with the teacher, and they would get an A-. I just didn’t see why I would bother with all that effort for a half a grade point.

I put together our 20th reunion and it was really fun. I learned that apparently I was popular, people did like me, who knew? Another oddity of the small town is a large group of us have been in school together forever. I think 20 started at Pre-School. So even if you weren’t bestest buds at some point in 14 years you had classes with almost everyone. Or you played Bobby Sox, or were in Campfire Girls, or swim lessons. I had a classmate call me after the reunion to say that he was glad he went. Most of his “buddies” weren’t there but he said it was so great to catch up with guys he was friends with in younger grades that he hadn’t really talked to in High School.

I’m now working on our 25th for next summer. I realize that reunions aren’t for everyone. I have a few friends who wouldn’t attend if you kidnapped them. And that’s fine. I know why they feel that way, although in one case good lord let it go – no one cares anymore.

One of the more interesting things in listening to conversations at our last reunion was it wasn’t really about high school. It was “remember in third grade when…” or “what about the time in cub scouts.” And people just catching up. I didn’t hear a lot of snarky “good lord look how fat she is” or “damn he’s let himself go”. More just what are you doing now, how old are your kids.