Q: Dear 100 Hour Board reunion members,
Are you going to (or did you go to) your 10 year high school reunion? Why or why not? What about college reunions? What about you has changed the most in the past 10 years?
-hs class of 2006!
A:
Dear 2006,
It's only my five year reunion this summer but I will continue to pretend high school did not happen, and I will never return.
Similarly I will not return to BYU. I'm all about looking forward.
Ten years ago I was twelve, so.... I was obsessed with Neopets and my dolls were divided into the Taliban and the Americans (no joke). The Taliban dolls were all about forcing the American dolls to go to boarding schools and dress like proper young ladies, and the American dolls would have none of that and often flounced around in the nude.
Perks of being a kid during the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, I guess.
-Concorde
A:
Dear hs class of 2006,
I did not go to the 5 or 10 year reunions. They were not well attended, likely due to poor planning and notification. The 15 year reunion is this year (class of '01) and I received an invite via Facebook but won't be going as I just went to Virginia for my sister's wedding and a guy's gotta eat... So basically no. I'm pretty sure I won't be going to any college reunions. I know they happen, but at BYU they have never been very popular. I think they tend to be more of a thing with smaller colleges and prestigious universities. I went to a freshman ward reunion the year after my mission and left with the impression that they are a very weird type of reunion, and should not happen. I am more comfortable with smaller groups for reunions, like this one (The Board Reunion). I can associate with people I already know, and the people I don't know are likely ones that I find interesting so there will be something to talk about. Invite me to a small interesting group for a reunion any day. Perhaps the thing that has changed the most in the last 10 years was how I viewed myself and learning to be OK with me. Yeah, vague.
Have fun storming the castle,
-Il Guanaco
A:
HS,
I didn't go for several reasons. The first is that I tried to make a list of people that I really wanted to see and had a hard time remembering anyone's name. The line from a mediocre Barenaked Ladies song kept coming to mind:
Do you know everyone you ever swore you'd love for life?
I don't know them anymore.
I know their names,
I'd recognize them on the street.
And I don't love them.
And that's pretty much how I feel about the class of '03. It's not even that I had a bad experience in high school. Everything was great 10 years ago. It's just that so much has happened and I've had so many experiences so much more important than high school that it didn't make a lot of sense to me to fly across the country to see a bunch of people that I don't care enough about to send a Christmas card to anymore. Consequently, I feel more or less the same way about Barenaked Ladies.
The second reason is that the planning committee made an enormously stupid plan. Their idea was to meet up at a pub on Saturday night to have drinks and then go to a pro baseball game the next day. Well I'm thoroughly uninterested in bringing my kids to a bar to babysit them while I watch people drink, and a baseball game means I'm stuck sitting next to the same few people for 4 hours instead of being able to do the one thing that reunions are all about: socializing and catching up with everyone. I mean, what's wrong with going to a park for a BYOF picnic or something? Everyone shows up to a kid-friendly place and gets to talk to whomever they want for however long they want and then they leave whenever they want. That's a much better idea. Maybe the 20th will be better. But I'm betting not.
-The Man with a Mustache
A:
Dear Human,
In my AP Psychology Class, my teacher had us all write letters to ourselves for our 10-year reunion. I want that letter. I also want to see all of the people in that psychology class, and I know they will all be there for the same reason. So yes, I will absolutely be there.
Sincerely,
The Soulful Ginger
A:
Dear person,
I graduated in 2008. On the one hand, I have many good memories of high school. On the other hand, many of my friends were younger than me, and I've fallen out of contact with most of them anyway. I still play Age of Empires with one of them every once in a while and interact with a couple others on Facebook, but I don't think I'll have enough motivation to travel all the way from California to South Dakota just to see a bunch of people I don't know all that well for a couple hours.
Ask again in Reunion Week 2019 and I suppose I'll be able to tell you for certain.
-yayfulness
A:
Dear fellow 28-year-old:
It was actually my 10-year high school reunion that inspired me to apply to my masters program in English Literature. (It's also across the street from my grandma's house and I wanted my friends and teachers to meet my boyfriend, so it made sense to go.) At the campus picnic (which was catered, so that's a point in the "why" column), the chair of the Math department asked me why I hadn't returned. I had worked as a math tutor there five years ago, and it was the best job ever. I said something about loving the idea but not having an advanced degree. It was one of those life-changing moments when you realize what you should do with your life.
So I buckled down and applied to the M.A., with an eye to teaching at the secondary level and writing, and I couldn't be happier with my career trajectory. It's quite different than what I would have expected a decade ago, but I'm excited to move out of state and leave the tech industry, at least for now.
I already feel more loyalty to my graduate institution (CU-Boulder), so I may participate in reunions for the class of '18. My boyfriend and the MOA are about all I need from Provo.
---Portia
A:
Dear hs class of 2006!-
I made no effort to go to my 10 year reunion, because I had basically no interest in it. I actually really enjoyed high school; I was a huge nerd, but one with a tight-knit group of friends that made everything awesome. Those people would represent almost my entire interest in a reunion, but I'm already in touch with them (and none of them were interested in going either).
We'll see if anything changes by 2024, but I have my doubts.
-Foreman
A:
Dear 2006,
I graduated with the class of '05, and didn't go to my reunion. I already had my plane tickets to go home for my sister's wedding, and the reunion was like, the day after I left, or the day before I arrived or something. I forget, but either way I couldn't make it work. If I had been in town I might have gone, but there's no way I was going to drop a grand on plane tickets just to feel like an awkward teenager again and pay for everyone else to enjoy an open bar.
If I had gone I'm sure I would have hung out with my band nerd and seminary friends and had an okay-ish time, but none of them have made the life-long friends list, so, eh. If I was going to do a reunion I'd want it to be with my college friends, not some formal, forced, class get-together. Four years ago a bunch of us road-tripped and met up in Arizona to go to Baked Alaska's wedding, and I'd love to do a repeat of that. (Uffish, Whistler, krebscout, L'Afro, this is me proposing we get together next year for Baked Alaska's 5-year anniversary. Meet me in Arizona. I'll be the one with a red rose and black glasses.)
-Genuine Article
A:
Dear hs ~
Class of '01 here. 5-year reunion didn't happen. 10-year reunion I was pregnant and moving and was too tired to make a 4-hour trip with a 2-year old. 15-year reunion is supposedly this summer, but no one (including myself) wants to take charge and make it happen, so I'm guessing it won't happen.
Colleges have reunions? Well, my 10-year would be next year, so if anyone wants to let me know what's going on, it could be fun to see my graduating class in ANES again.
Thank you for asking this question and making me feel so old. [sigh]
~ Dragon Lady
A:
Dear HS Class of 2006!,
I totally went to my ten year reunion last summer because I had no excuse: it was at a tavern five minutes from my house.
Sure, it was awkward, but I was expecting that and it was cool to catch up with some old friends again and share stories. My husband isn't a huge fan of crowds, particularly when he doesn't know anyone, so he opted to stay home with the kids and I happily went by myself. I arrived two hours late, and it was still another hour after that before people really started to arrive so I just hung out at the bar (with my Sprite) and made small talk.
Due to the convenience, it was worth it enough for me. Even though I currently live where I grew up (I even bought my childhood home from my mom), I rarely see fellow classmates from my school days. Post-high school, I pursued a fairly stereotypical Mormon life: went to BYU, did some traveling, got married young, had kids young, husband has a doctorate degree and I stay home with the little ones. Being from New Jersey, such lifestyle choices are a rarity and many of those that I know from school who are still in the area live in their parents' basement. Those that don't live in the area, including almost everyone I would have considered a friend back in the day, left long ago for the big cities.
So, yes, through it all, I'm glad I went. It just wasn't a big deal and it was nice to reminisce with people I haven't seen in ten years.
-Sky Bones
A:
Dear hs class of 2006!,
I also graduated from high school in 2006, and as luck would have it my reunion is this coming weekend! Unfortunately that will be juuuuust too late for me to tell you about it here, but you can always email me.
I had been going back and forth on whether I will go, but you have inspired me. I live in my hometown again, so distance isn't a problem, and I actually loved high school. I went to a magnet arts school and enjoyed it immensely. Still, I'm not very sentimental, and going back is a weird experience for me. My girlfriend, who I went to both middle and high school with, is not going, so I will be going alone.
My life is incredibly different than it was 10 years ago. I was the ubermormon back then, president of everything, following all of the standards and the rules as perfectly as I could while still being friends with all the interesting types that art schools attract. I was also believed to be straight and I was a little more politically moderate. I was also the valedictorian and, unless you went to middle school with me (hoo boy) nobody knew about my mental health struggles. Now I'm returning as a 28-year-old social worker/seventh grade math teacher who wants to do neither, a non-Berner liberal fortified in Utah, an agnostic atheist in a relationship with a woman, a person whose single biggest task of the last 10 years has been learning to be mentally and emotionally healthier. I'm very proud of some of those things and less proud of others, and since I went to one of the most decorated high schools in the country a lot of my classmates are very successful. Going back will be an interesting experience.
- The Black Sheep
A:
Dear HS Class of 2006,
Wow, there are a lot of us '06ers here. I'm actually helping plan my high school's 10 year reunion for this summer. I debated whether or not I wanted to volunteer, then figured, "Eh, why not? At least if I help maybe it won't be totally lame?" That, and I knew I wouldn't go unless I got involved. It's not that I disliked high school, in fact it was pretty fun at the time, I'm just a different person now and I haven't kept close contact with any of my high school friends. I'm afraid few people will come and/or the reunion will be full of slightly awkward small talk. I hope I'm wrong and everyone has a really nice time!
I've never participated in BYU's alumni week. I guess I could, but I still hang out with my best friends from college, so right now there's no hugely compelling reason.
Besides the obvious answers of getting married and having kids, I think the way I've changed the most in the past 10 years is I've developed my own opinions and world views outside of what my parents taught me. I'm much less quick to judge someone than I used to be, and I make a conscious effort to remind myself that most of the time I don't know the whole story and it's none of my business anyway.
--Maven
A:
Dear '06,
I am from the class of 2003. No, I didn't, and I won't attend any in the future. I keep in contact with those from high school with whom I want to keep in contact, and deftly avoid those with whom I don't. I have no interest in reigniting old contacts, and I am keenly anxious to avoid opening old wounds. I was party to a lot of high school drama, and whether or not the other parties have gotten over it, I don't want another ten years of second-guessing my decisions during the worst and most confusing three years of my life.
As far as college, I have a lot of good contacts from college. I invite choice friends from the MESA program over for barbecues fairly regularly. I had a much better experience in college than in high school. I got a little better at choosing good friends.
Dr. Smeed
A:
Dear HS 2006,
I don't think that my high school had a 10-year reunion. (I went to a tiny private high school and we weren't always that well organized.) Even if they had held a reunion, I was living over 1,000 miles away at the time and getting ready to move another 1,000 miles (in the other direction), so going home for a high school reunion wouldn't have been a high priority or a financial possibility.
My high school has since closed, but a number of alumni might be holding an all-class reunion next year. I'm torn as to whether or not I'll attend—it'll probably depend on who else is planning to go.
What's changed the most about me in the past 10 years? Hmm. I have a graduate degree, I've moved across the country a couple of times, and I'm now in a faculty position at the university where I work.
- Katya
A:
Dear Three Years Older Than Me,
I always thought that I would go to my high school reunions because I had a lot of great friends and I had a great experience in high school. However, two things are going to preclude me from going, probably. First, my class' committee in charge of the reunions gave the most half-hearted effort possible for our 5-year reunion. It was basically "bring five bucks for pizza." Secondly, I've been to a couple of events recently where I've come in contact with people I knew in high school and it was SO AWKWARD. I already keep up pretty well with all of the people that I genuinely care about keeping in touch with, so there's not a lot of incentive for me to go and have terrible acquaintance conversations at a cruddy event.
-Inverse Insomniac
A:
Dear Fred,
I skipped mine, and, quite frankly, never intend to go to a high school reunion. I already see and talk to the people I still want to remain in contact with (like, I legit see them; I just had Menchies with one of my high school pals today). I don't foresee any college reunions in my future, either, but I hear the Education Department at my university does host gatherings periodically if I happen to change my mind.
As for changes in the last 10 years? Well, I was approaching 20, had never been on a date (and therefore never been kissed), I was preparing to "enjoy" my third year at the Y, and I think I was majoring in landscape management at the time (but it could have still been math or maybe archaeology). Now I've not only experienced the horrors of dating, but I've managed to teach abroad, travel to a few different countries, get married, graduate, find a job, and do other fun things all before my 30th birthday! I feel like I'm finally starting to catch on to this whole adult thing and I'm rocking it!
-Azriel
A:
Dear no, you may not have drinks with loose lids,
I was Senior Class President at my high school (2007), so yes. I'm the Broseph planning it. I actually applied for the position because I didn't think the other person running would do anything, and I seem to be correct in that assumption. We only had about thirty-five people attending at our five-year reunion (which was pretty casual and pretty lame, admittedly) but will we have a tenth? You bet your fancy pants we will, and it's gonna be legit. I'm not under some illusion that everyone will come and be like "hooray shooool," but I feel strongly about providing an opportunity for people to attend instead of making that decision pre-emptively for them.
Because for all the talk I hear about "I am already in touch with all the people I want to be in touch with from high school," how often do we actually meet up with these people? A reunion is a chance to hang out with both the people I like and the people I would like to see occasionally but don't care to see all that often. It's a planned occasion.
It's like a Board party. In theory, I can already meet up with writers whenever I want, but you don't want to miss a Board party because these people are interesting.
On that note, dear alumni: If social media already provides all the interaction and impetus you need and desire for you to keep in touch with your old friends from different walks of life...
...why are you participating in Board Alumni Week? Sure, it's not the same as making time in your schedule to hang out with a few people you know and like a lot and a bunch of strangers you never met or whose names you never bothered to learn—oh, wait.
Here we are.
Shots fired,
--Ardilla Feroz
A:
Dear friend,
My graduating class ('08) didn't have a five-year reunion, and I'm kind of guessing we won't have a ten-year reunion either. But if we do, I'll go. It'll be nice to see people and coo at everyone's babies and see what everyone's up to.
To answer your second question: are college reunions a thing? Like does BYU have a big party for everyone who graduated in 2014? That sounds overwhelming and I probably wouldn't go. But I would almost certainly go to a reunion for everyone from my major. There were nine of us who were together for most of the time, and only three that ended up graduating (everyone else changed majors) so it would be a small, intimate gathering of people I have a lot in common with. I already know that I like all nine of those people and our professors, so it would be a positive experience.
Many things have changed about me in 10 years. I'm much more secure in some ways, and more neurotic in others. I've learned how to manage stress more effectively, and become much lazier. I'm less outgoing, but better at maintaining meaningful relationships. I also think I have a much better grasp on basic social skills and I'm less likely to lie about my accomplishments to impress people. I've found a meaningful career and clarified what I want out of life, but I have a much looser grasp on what I believe and why. I've tackled some really hard things that I didn't think I could handle, and I've learned how to say no when necessary. It's been a good decade.
Peace,
-Stego Lily
A:
Dear reader,
I didn't go to my ten-year high school reunion. Only a few of my friends were going, and I didn't want to fly out there for one event that was drinking at a bar. If the reunion had fun activities like this Board reunion, maybe I would have been enticed to go. Also, I do keep in touch with some of my high school friends--two of them visited me last summer and I occasionally e-mail them.
-Whistler
A:
Dear hs,
I graduated in 2002. I did not go to my 10 year reunion. I loved high school, and if I hadn't been living thousands of miles away from where I grew up, AND IF THEY HADN'T HELD IT AT THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER, I would have considered flying out. (Seriously? It's like the holiday season, which is awful by itself, but also just far enough away from the actual holiday that you can't combine it with a trip home.) I desperately wanted to go, when I was actually in high school (to be fair, many movies make high school reunions look very amazing), but my main reason was to see what everyone was doing now, if they looked the same, who they married - find out the basics. The basics are readily available on Facebook, so I didn't need to pay all the travel expenses at such an awkward time of year to attend a reunion to learn those details.
If I had been living close by at the time, though, I would have gone.
-Olympus
A:
Dear 2006,
I didn't go and I don't regret it.
I was living in a different state so going would have been an expensive hassle.
It was right around the same time my husband was graduating from his MBA program, we were moving to a different state, my brother-in-law was getting married, plus we'd just been in Thailand for a couple of weeks, and it was just one more thing.
I also didn't want to pay for the open bar.
None of the people I'm still friends with were going.
I'm pretty sure it was just a big PAAAAAAARRRRRTYYYYYYY and that's just not my thing.
The Board reunion is the only reunion for me. And I'm mostly just here because I still have the button.
- Lavish
A:
Dear Lavish,
Let's be honest. We all know that I still have the button. Seriously.
- Brutus
A:
Dear 2006,
I didn't go to mine either, and I definitely don't regret it. First, it was held at the Moose Lodge in the small town in northwest Ohio where I went to high school. I know I'm from a small town, but I feel like they could have found some place classier. Second, Facebook exists. I have no real need to catch up with random people I knew fifteen years ago. My parents have moved away so I really have no need to return to my hometown. For the most part, I have kept in touch with everyone from high school that I wanted to keep in touch with.
It's a little embarrassing to admit, but the biggest thing that has changed about me since high school is my weight (I'm literally the biggest change). When I graduated high school, I was a puny 120 pounds (I was running 60+ miles a week) and now I'm closer to 240.
I sure hope this helps. Please don't hate me.
- Brutus
A:
Dear ought six,
Frig no. Screw that noise. I already keep up with those that I want to stay in contact with.
- Commander Keen, skipping his 10 year reunion later this summer
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