School Reunion
I went to 7 different schools. 4 primary schools in 2 countries and 3 cities. 3 High Schools in 2 cities. So when I have a school reunion, you could be pardoned for being a little confused about which school reunion I was talking about.
So anyway, recently I have looked through Facebook and made friends with some old school friends who I could remember. It's kind of good with Facebook, because once you've linked in with one friend, they are probably friends with other people you know, and so you can find your other friends as well.
Probably the most significant school for me was my final High School. I did the HSC there. It's the school I remember most clearly. I spent almost 3 years there (which was the longest time I spent at any school actually).
So, when one of my old school friends said she was organising a school reunion, I had a look in my diary, found room, and started to look forward to seeing them.
As the day drew closer, I got increasingly worried. After all, I haven't achieved a lot - I haven't travelled, I'm not "partnered", I'm not with children, I don't even have an amazing job. Compared to a lot of my current friends, I'm not particularly "successful" in the world's terms at all. So trepidation increased. But where it increased, courage increased all the more. I would go back. I would face the demons in my head. I would be happy with where I am and what God has given me.
So, 2 Saturdays ago, I drove up to Newcastle. I arrived about 3pm, and booked into my accommodation. It was relatively cheap, but I had my own bathroom so quite a luxury. Then I got ready and drove into Newcastle to go to the reunion.
When I got there, I met 2 old girlfriends. Neither had been my particularly close friends at High School, but they had been in my "group", so I knew them. They'd also written to me on Facebook.
After I met them, I met the rest of the people there. I didn't know anyone. Most of the people there had left my school in year 10, and that was the year I arrived. They were all in the lower classes, and of course I was in the top class, so I'd mostly never even met them. They had done so little... got pregnant from age 17, and now had 4 children, or had multiple children. They were still living in the same area.
I have never been more aware of what my mum repeatedly worried about when I lived in Newcastle - that I wouldn't meet people like me. These people weren't like me. They saw no real value in education. Their only goal was to build their house to house their children. They had very little in common with me or my life.
I made me so grateful that I did have friends at that school. Friends who were like me. Friends who went to university, who valued education, who valued school. Who didn't see their only goal as reproducing. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not me.
So, by 7pm or so (the reunion started at 4), most everyone except me was already or on their way to becoming extremely drunk. I had run out of people to talk to, as only 3 of my friends had come, and all the people I had hoped would come had not. So I left, and went home. And had a very bad night's sleep because it turned out that my room faced onto one of the premier "hoon" streets in Newcastle.
The next day I caught up with other friends who now live in Newcastle who I met in Sydney originally.
So it just goes to show, I didn't belong then. I don't belong there now. I'm so pleased that I could belong somewhat at that school and for my "group" of friends.
PS I have since talked to one of those friends who didn't come, and learnt a bit more about what some of my friends from school are doing now. I hope to see them at some point too.
So anyway, recently I have looked through Facebook and made friends with some old school friends who I could remember. It's kind of good with Facebook, because once you've linked in with one friend, they are probably friends with other people you know, and so you can find your other friends as well.
Probably the most significant school for me was my final High School. I did the HSC there. It's the school I remember most clearly. I spent almost 3 years there (which was the longest time I spent at any school actually).
So, when one of my old school friends said she was organising a school reunion, I had a look in my diary, found room, and started to look forward to seeing them.
As the day drew closer, I got increasingly worried. After all, I haven't achieved a lot - I haven't travelled, I'm not "partnered", I'm not with children, I don't even have an amazing job. Compared to a lot of my current friends, I'm not particularly "successful" in the world's terms at all. So trepidation increased. But where it increased, courage increased all the more. I would go back. I would face the demons in my head. I would be happy with where I am and what God has given me.
So, 2 Saturdays ago, I drove up to Newcastle. I arrived about 3pm, and booked into my accommodation. It was relatively cheap, but I had my own bathroom so quite a luxury. Then I got ready and drove into Newcastle to go to the reunion.
When I got there, I met 2 old girlfriends. Neither had been my particularly close friends at High School, but they had been in my "group", so I knew them. They'd also written to me on Facebook.
After I met them, I met the rest of the people there. I didn't know anyone. Most of the people there had left my school in year 10, and that was the year I arrived. They were all in the lower classes, and of course I was in the top class, so I'd mostly never even met them. They had done so little... got pregnant from age 17, and now had 4 children, or had multiple children. They were still living in the same area.
I have never been more aware of what my mum repeatedly worried about when I lived in Newcastle - that I wouldn't meet people like me. These people weren't like me. They saw no real value in education. Their only goal was to build their house to house their children. They had very little in common with me or my life.
I made me so grateful that I did have friends at that school. Friends who were like me. Friends who went to university, who valued education, who valued school. Who didn't see their only goal as reproducing. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not me.
So, by 7pm or so (the reunion started at 4), most everyone except me was already or on their way to becoming extremely drunk. I had run out of people to talk to, as only 3 of my friends had come, and all the people I had hoped would come had not. So I left, and went home. And had a very bad night's sleep because it turned out that my room faced onto one of the premier "hoon" streets in Newcastle.
The next day I caught up with other friends who now live in Newcastle who I met in Sydney originally.
So it just goes to show, I didn't belong then. I don't belong there now. I'm so pleased that I could belong somewhat at that school and for my "group" of friends.
PS I have since talked to one of those friends who didn't come, and learnt a bit more about what some of my friends from school are doing now. I hope to see them at some point too.
Interesting isn't it, how a few years down the track, we're really better off being ourselves, than trying to be the same as everyone else?
ReplyDeleteI haven't gone to a school reunion yet, and I enjoyed me time at school for the most part, but might go to the next one they decide to throw... we'll see.