Positive high school experience

I read and reread the op-ed by Stephen J. Lyons with great interest (“Why I won’t be attending my 50th high school reunion,” Aug. 19), as his high school years and mine apparently were polar opposite.

I attended a large 4,000-student Catholic high school in Philadelphia’s western suburbs, graduating in 1969. I consider my high school years to be the most important of my life, for I developed many skills that served me well through my adult years — such as perseverance, collaboration, initiative, confidence and appreciation. High school was, in my era, the first encounter a young person had with the principal: “It’s up to you to make the most of it.” And that I did, by participating in various clubs, sports, student government, theater and musical groups.

Sure, there were bullies, divas and jerks in my class of 950 to 1,000 kids, but learning how to deal with and circumvent those individuals was another lesson that was of great benefit later in life. My 50th reunion was in Philadelphia in 2019, and it drew more than 600 attendees.

I was a principal organizer from 800 miles away, which was fun and gratifying. In advance, our Class of 1969 Facebook page was designed to invite class members to post their personal stories of the past 50 years and add pictures of family members, including grandchildren. Following our extremely successful reunion, several classmates volunteered their time to maintain a quarterly newsletter and a bereavement site for notification of class members that have passed.

Fifty-four years after graduating from Cardinal O’Hara High School, I keep in touch with dozens of my classmates on a regular basis by phone, digital methods and good old-fashioned personal contact. I feel for Lyons; in his op-ed, he uses words such as “disorienting,” “awkward” and “confusing” when describing his high school years.

To each his own, I suppose. I consider myself blessed that I made the most of high school.