Sunday, February 3, 2008

Kailua High, Class of 1988

Boy, am I starting to feel OLD! Most people who know me probably have no idea how old I really am, because for the most part, I still act like a 20-something. I am actually quite in denial about my age too, and honestly don't think about it much. So why am I thinking about it now? The primary reason is that this year marks 20 years since I have graduated from high school...TWENTY years! I still remember many events like they happened yesterday! All the high school dances, checking out guys from other schools (especially Pearl City), extracurricular activities like the Interact Club, and just how much FUN I was having. When I was in high school, the Safeway in Kailua on Hamakua Drive had just opened, as did the Kailua Zippy's. Prior to Zippy's opening in Kailua, we would drive to Kaneohe, or sometimes even Waiau (mostly because all the cute guys seemed to live in Pearl City), just to eat!

I also feel old at times when I find out how old some of the people are that work with me. Last year we had an 18 year old working in my office, and he didn't believe me when I told him that I was twice his age! I guess that's a good thing, but just the fact that I could be twice the age of anyone who's not still in high school kinda freaks me out!

So now I'm thinking about my 20 year class reunion. It's amazing how technology has made things so much easier. Ten years ago, I can't remember how, but our class president somehow managed to get in touch with a bunch of us to help plan the reunion. Now, since I haven't seen or talked to the class president since the last reunion, and I didn't have her contact info on me, I just googled her! Boom, her e-mail address pops up, and I can just e-mail her. Plus, I find a website, classreport.org, where a bunch of my classmates have already signed up to keep updated.

Some people dread reunions or just don't go because high school wasn't all that special to them. After hearing other people's high school experiences, I feel that I am actually quite lucky. High school was actually a great experience for me, and I realized that it really helped shape the person I am today. I am also grateful for my intermediate and high school experiences because it was what led me to meeting the people who are my closest friends today. While I have met other people after graduation that I am friends with, I know that my oldest friends are the ones that I really feel a special closeness with, even if we only talk to each other once or twice a year. I have classmates where I can not talk to them for years, but when I do talk to them, it's like time never passed at all.

Another reason I am looking forward to my class reunion is seeing the people I never really knew in high school. You know, the ones where you know who they are, but don't think they know who you are? At my last reunion, I was amazed that people in different cliques really did know who I was, and it was interesting to hear people's perceptions of me (most of them thought I was a bookworm -- although I was in advanced placement classes, I was also a slacker!). My 10th year reunion was a chance to get to know people that I didn't really know while we were in school, and also a chance to see how people changed over the years.

Anyway, I'm sure I have bored most of you to death, and promise that my use of this blog to share my innermost feelings will be quite limited. This post was partly a way to procrastinate the continuance of my Alaska trip report, which most of you have probably given up on! Thanks for hanging in there.

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