Going back for more...

Classmates get classier as time goes on and bonds grow stronger with the passing of milestones

MOST of us have attended or at least been invited to a school reunion at one point or another in our adult lives. While the prospect of a class reunion is exciting for some, for others it can arouse a range of emotions from disinterest to sheer terror.

But for most of us, our first response to a class reunion is most likely to be curiosity.

Does the prettiest girl at school still have it? Is the class dag still nerdy? Did the ugly duckling grow into a swan? And who went on to achieve great things since leaving school? And was it someone you expected who would be a winner in the game of life?

School reunions also present a marker of time and for those who left school decades rather than years ago, the march of time can be confronting. When Vanessa Gorman approached the venue that was hosting the 30-year reunion of her all-girls class, she peered inside the windows and thought she was at the wrong function.

“What I saw was a whole lot of middle aged women inside – and then with a shock, I saw my own reflection in

I love having regular contact with my old school mates. It’s fascinating to see the twists and turns, sadness and joy of our lives over the decades.

the glass and realised I was in the right place!”

Lucy Ashley also left school decades ago and says she never misses a class reunion. “Most of our class turn up for them, still – even though we graduated in 1976. We also have a really active Facebook page so we all keep in touch through that. I love having regular contact with my old schoolmates. It’s fascinating to see the twists and turns, sadness and joy of our lives over the decades.”

And that’s the thing about class reunions, it’s possibly the only event you could attend where everyone is the same age, give or take a few months. There’s also a shared experience – childhood and adolescence. But for most of us, the emotional response to a class reunion is going to be a reflection of the emotional experience at school.

“I had a happy school life and I was lucky to form really close friendships that still hold up today,” says Lisa Doust who attended Willyama High School in Broken Hill. “All of my female friends were sweet and kind and really good fun, and our male friends really looked out for us.

“Our school reunions are incredibly happy events where everyone is thrilled just to be alive and to still have such strong and unbreakable connections. Because everyone was scattered far and wide after school, reunions provide the chance to reconnect and remember all the fun times and the heartbreaking events that united us for life.”

Louise Heather has recently attended her 10th anniversary class reunion and also loved the experience. “My core group of friends is from high school and we’ve stayed very close so it was a good excuse to get together. But it was also great seeing some classmates that I hadn’t seen in a while.

“While my experience of high school was great and I look back really fondly on those years, I also know school wasn’t a great experience for everyone,” says Heather. “I know that some of my old classmates didn’t really want to attend the reunion. They thought they had moved on in their lives and perhaps saw going to the reunion as taking