Back in Time
Last night I attended a “Young Alumni” event sponsored by my high school and two other neighboring high schools. It is a cocktail reception held annually to give alumni a chance to network and reconnect. It was held at a bar and restaurant, Liberties, in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. Considering three schools invited all graduates from classes 1995-2003, the turnout was only mediocre, but it was still nice to see old faces, old teachers and get some gossip on old high school pals. And this is coming from a girl who did not want to attend at all.
I have maintained contact with a few of my close friends from high school, but I generally lost touch with most of the girls from my larger social circle (except for the occasional friend request or message sent via Facebook). My best friend now teaches at our high school and that is how I ended up at the event. Besides her, I had not seen most of the other people since graduation five years ago.
I should probably interject here that my high school is small, all-girls and private. I graduated in a class of only 67 girls. As for the turnout last night, start with 67, subtract the girls that never did anything even when we were in high school, subtract the girls that have moved away from the area, subtract those still in school and subtract those who had scheduling conflicts and (as you probably assumed) there were only about 10 of us there from the class of 2002.
Even with such a small group of us there, someone knew someone who knew someone, and we figured out where most people were, what they were doing, if they were still dating so-and-so, etc. Some of the girls are married or engaged, some have kids, some never finished college, most are working somewhere in or around Philadelphia, some have moved across the country. But generally, everyone is doing well and on the road to success and that was good to hear. It is a reassuring thought to know that all these girls are happy, driven and going somewhere - these are the people I shared my awkward, unsure teenage years with. And, of course, everyone is in awe of everyone else’s jobs, lives, etc.
So, in the end, it was great to reconnect and I am happy I decided to go. And with our five year reunion rapidly approaching, I am excited to see for myself what the rest of the class of 2002 is doing.
-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive
