It seems like just yesterday that you were standing with your graduating class in your caps and gowns celebrating the end of your high school years. Now, suddenly, it’s been ten years or more and you’ve received an invitation to your high school reunion.
Are you having some high school reunion anxiety? This one goes out to everyone who had a rough time in high school and is in no hurry to reunite with their former classmates.
Some people love the idea of a high school reunion and catching up with old friends. For others, it can ignite a sense of dread with flashbacks of awkward school dances, group projects, teenage angst, and bullying.
It’s okay if you don’t want to go to your high school reunion, you don’t have to. You went through school, and now you’re an adult, and you can make these types of decisions for yourself.
Should I Go To My Highschool Reunion?
While you don’t owe anyone an explanation as to why you don’t want to go to your high school reunion, we understand if you would like some validation supporting your decision. If this sounds like you, then keep on reading.
Here are some reasons that someone might want to skip their high school reunion. Remember, you don’t need a reason to skip your high school reunion. You can just say “Nah, I’m not going” or even “I don’t want to” and you’re fine, that’s totally fine.
But if you want some reasons, maybe to tell people who are bugging you about it, or even just to validate your decision, here are some reasons to skip the reunion.
1. Distance to your old highschool reunion
If you’ve moved out of state or province, it might not make sense for you to make travel plans just to go to your high school reunion.
After all, you’ll have to take time off work, pay for transportation and accommodation costs, and for what? To hear your old classmates talk about “the good old days”? Pass.
But what about if you went to school with a celebrity? Did Steve Jobs go to college with you?
Then you may have had an opportunity to meet him at a reunion. That’s just a random example, but if someone notable or famous from your school was attending the reunion, would that motivate you more to attend?
Or even just an old friend! If you were a bit of loner or you just had a couple friends, there’s still probably some people you wouldn’t mind running into, and some people who would be happy to see you – but at the end of the day – it’s your call.
2. High school wasn’t a positive experience for you
You might have heard the old saying “High school is the best time of your life” and for some people it certainly is. Some people make lifelong friends, have a great time in high school, and leave perfectly adjusted and ready to take on the world.
For everyone else, high school might have been a tolerable experience or worse – it might have been some of the most difficult years of their lives and it’s okay if they aren’t in a hurry to go back to that.
If high school wasn’t a pleasant experience for you, you might be better off skipping the reunion so you don’t accidentally open old wounds. On the other hand, it could be a healing experience too, if you’re up for it.
3. You already keep in touch with anyone you’d want to see at your reunion
Not everyone manages to keep long-lasting friendships after high school, but if you are one of the lucky few who keeps in touch with their high school friends regularly, it might not make sense to go to your high school reunion.
After all, you already know what your friends have been up to and might see them daily anyway, so what would you be missing by skipping the invite?
For those you haven’t kept in touch with, there is likely a good reason for that, so going to your high school reunion probably won’t change anything in that department.
One of the positive effects of social media on teens and young adults is that it makes it much easier to keep in touch with friends from high school.
Final Thoughts on Skipping Your Highschool Reunion
Your high school reunion could be a great time or a complete dud. A lot can change in ten years, and you might be surprised by how much everyone has grown up.
However, it might be best to leave the past in the past especially if high school wasn’t a positive part of your life. At the end of the day, the decision is yours and you shouldn’t feel pressured to go to something you don’t want to go to. You don’t owe these people anything.
If you have a group of friends that also wants to skip it, you could plan a trip together somewhere instead, especially if your reunion would require travel. Wouldn’t it be a lot more fun to meet up with some of your old pals in the Caribbean, for instance?
