My 25th High School Reunion

I waited a while to write this post because I wanted to let the events of the last few days sink in fully. You you see last Saturday I attended my 25th high school reunion. Now I am not a fearful or anxious person by nature, but I have to admit that the thought of returning to my old high school unnerved me. High school for me was like it was for most people, difficult. Typically it is a time in a young person’s life when they are struggling to determine the type of man or woman that they want to ultimately become. And yes in typical fashion, it wasn’t a fun time for me. As a result I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to go back and revisit those days. But since I am a firm believer in facing your inner fears and demons, and Des called me a wuss if I didn’t go, I went and hoped for the best.

To this day I am still very close with some of the people that I hung with in high school. I know that I will be boys with Des and Jeff (and a few others…..”WHERE YOU AT POPPA SMURF…… WHERE YOU AT KEV KEV”) until they stick me in the ground. But it is funny how 25 years of distance colors your perceptions. My memories of high school were mostly negative. Heck, except for my interactions with my boys, they were all negative.

As I looked back it was hard for me to not think about people like the guidance counselor, Mr. Goldman, who made my life a living hell (and I might add, offered no real guidance). Or the gym teacher, Mr. Synzezy, who told me to go back to Africa if I didn’t like how blacks were treated in the US. Or the teachers and school administrators who failed to understand why a young man, such as myself, might throw himself deeply into athletics after his father was murdered outside of their family store. And finally, just remembering my many irritating interactions with some of the condescending students and parents at my private high school was enough to make me hesitate about going back. The school which, while fairly low budget by NYC private school standards, was still somewhat imposing to this kid from Harlem.

In considering whether or not to attend, I figured that the only people that would be at the reunion might be people that I didn’t want to see. Like some, I figured that I was already in contact with everyone that I wanted to speak with from high school. However in focusing on people like Goldman, Synzezy, and some others, I forgot about alot of the other people that were really cool.

Video from the event – Shot by Jonas