Well, this isn’t going well. No new blog entry in eleven days? Hmm.
So! I’m going to post an excerpt of something I posted on LiveJournal this morning. Hey, the LJ entry was almost 600 words, which is a lot more effort than I usually put in1, so I felt I should share. Plus it’s too hot to write two original posts in one day!
I went to a farewell party for R, a friend from high school who’s moving to Canberra to attend the ANU. Here, I saw about forty people from high school who I hadn’t seen since I left (over a year ago), including a bunch of squealing bitches I thought I’d got away from. But also, some cool people who I actually liked.
No-one from high school has really changed. Those who had no job then, don’t have one now, and those who didn’t even have their Learner’s Permit? Still don’t. It’s kind of disappointing — for me, people who actually bother with getting ~*Life Skills*~ are way attractive. People with no ambition, less so.
I’ve never really missed high school, nor the people there, despite the fact that the only people I interact with from it are those who I see at uni, or have seen once or twice at a birthday party or on the train (such as R, who works at Officeworks not too far from my uni). From what I can tell from invitation lists on Facebook, they haven’t really made many new friends either. I guess I’m different in that my group of friends seems to get recycled every few years. It’s an organic process, though — I’m not all “you guys are totally boring now. I’m making new friends” — it just happens, apart from a select few who stick around. I think for once in my life, I’m actually satisfied with all the friends I’ve made through uni, work, online endeavours, etc., though.
It’s almost impossible for me to avoid most of the people in my graduating class in high school because half of us went to my uni, and the majority of the rest went to the other uni that’s also around the City. I guess it makes it convenient to keep in touch if anything. And it also means I never really notice if they’ve changed since high school ’cause it’s still a gradual process — I see them semi-often so nothing is confronting. But still, Life Skills are attractive.
I find that when it comes to friends, I have a steady few who I’ve been friends with for a long time, and then close friends who go through the same organic process you mentioned.
I went to a private school, so I feel like the chances of my former peers becoming burnouts/making nothing of their lives are fairly slim. It’s just a question of how successful we are all going to be. That said, I still wonder how some of my peers finished high school and emerged with a diploma in hand!
Thanks for the comment on my blog!!
I agree with your feelings about high school. I didn’t care for many of the people I went to school with. They were proud of 800s on the SATs, if that gives you any idea! Where I come from, all people do is get pregnant and do nothing with there lives. I’m so glad to be out of there!
It hasn’t even been a year since I’ve been out of high school, so I haven’t seen too many major changes in the people I knew from there. I have noticed that the people who stayed in the city and are going to the state university back home are mostly keeping the same groups of friends while people who moved out-of-state are meeting more people, so I’m glad I got away. I do miss high school, though. Just a little.
My friendship circle goes through pretty much the same process as yours and Jen’s. I keep in touch with those whom I’m closest with, and then for the rest, I just keep making new friends and expanding my circle of acquaintances. I don’t know if I would be able to stick with the exact same few people for forever because some people get annoying after you’re with them for too long, and it’s always good to meet new people and see things from a fresh perspective.
[...] Contact « The Day I Saw People I Didn’t Know I’d Ever See Again [...]
[...] Saw a lot of people from my old high school at a party, and realised the more things change, the more they stay the same. [...]