SHAFFER: Say no to high school class reunions
I harbored an immense dislike for the majority of my high school graduating class.
So, when I got invited to an informal class reunion on Facebook, I let out a small laugh while swiftly clicking the "Not Attending" RSVP button.
I graduated with the class of 2007 from a small school in a small village with a "community feeling."
The phrase "community feeling" meaning, of course, 70-something graduating teenagers who all knew way too much of each others' business.
I spent first grade through senior year of high school in the same community education system, graduating with many of the same students I had first enrolled in elementary school with.
Throughout my 12 years of school, many of these students bullied me at worst and ignored me at best. Despite my four-year commitment to my school's cheerleading team, I was still one of the awkward, unpopular students who spent lunch hour eating in the library.
The highlight of my high school career was the day it finally came to an end. I had been counting down the days until I was able to move out of the high school drama and onto CMU's campus, a place where I was quickly able to make new friends and become actively involved with many organizations on campus.
So, why dwell on the past? I am one of those people who will probably never make an effort to go to a class reunion.
Not only that, class reunions are pointless in today's technology-driven society.
I can use Facebook to check and see which classmates lost weight, gained weight, came out of the closet, had children or ended up in jail.
Those students who were friends in high school still get together post-high school to hang out.
Nothing has changed, aside from the fact that my classmates and I are all 21 now, and can get together in bars instead of barns.
If I showed up to one of these gatherings, it would more than likely be a repeat of high school for me — gossip and drama.
So, sorry, high school. When I said goodbye in June of 2007, I really and truly meant it.
