High school life, oh my high school life

It’s hard to believe that I graduated from high school 20 years ago.

High School for me was a time when there weren’t too many distractions – no Internet, no cellphones, no music players… so yes, there was also no social networking and definitely no Facebook, Yahoo Messenger or Twitter. We had cassette mix tapes, TV, Nintendo Family Computer and rotary telephones to entertain ourselves with. I still remember being on telebabad mode during evenings, talking the night away with friends I had been with earlier that same day. Sometimes I wonder if people still use the phone to just talk. It seems that these days, phones are maintained purely for utility and/or business. I know I use it to order water or pizza, to ask about any assignments my kids could’ve missed, or to call the repairman because of some broken down appliance… but to simply dial a friend’s number and talk? No, not really…

One evening back in early 2010, our batch president called for a dinner meeting. It was the start of planning for our platinum reunion which we were celebrating in 2011. Our batch consisted of well over 300 students since we had seven sections with an average of 50 pupils per class. The big question was how do you locate everyone and reconnect after 20 years? Like dust in the wind (whoops, wasn’t that a 70’s song?), we were all scattered across different cities, islands and continents.

Then it hit me. I had about a hundred or so high school friends on Facebook, including a few teachers. I went to create a private Facebook group for our batch and added all the batch mates and faculty members I was Facebook friends with. In turn, everyone started adding batch mates they were connected to. Soon we had close to 300 members, which included our teachers. I found myself on Facebook Chat with people I had not seen in nearly two decades. Some of them were thousands of miles away. But it wasn’t just Facebook that bridged obstacles like physical distances and memory gaps. Since a number of us were abroad, it was decided that a Skype session was going to be set up during the reunion. Our batch’s Honors Class (or Star Section, for the more politically incorrect but more often used term) was going to take care of the technical aspects (i.e. geekery) that it entailed. And so for the next several months it was all about texting, private/group messaging and chatting in order to get the word out to all the alumni and faculty members of Grace Christian High School Batch 1991.

Thanks to the hard work, perseverance and dedication of our organizing committee, our Platinum High School Reunion came into fruition last July 9, 2011. RJ Ledesma was the unanimous choice for host. If anyone personified or symbolized the 80’s which we all loved so much, it was RJ and his Royal Tru Orange commercial. The Side A band was officially our entertainment for the night with a repertoire of 80’s hits guaranteed to get everyone hitting the dance floor (or up on stage for that matter) before the night was over.

Although I was aware of all the plans and the program, I honestly did now know what to expect come reunion day itself. I heard that tickets were sold out but I couldn’t help but wonder who were actually attending. I took off work early come reunion day so I had ample time to get ready.

I stepped into the ballroom of Crowne Plaza Galleria at about 6:30pm. I was early because I knew parking would be a nightmare if I had arrived any later. The familiar and strangely comforting sound of 80’s music was playing. It felt a lot like coming home. Our batch president Willin Chan of Party Perks had outdone herself with the monochromatic theme that we had all originally agreed upon. There were even models wearing our high school uniform for photo ops. The reunion may not have taken place at our Alma Mater, but it was unmistakably high school all over again.

People started coming in by 7pm. A steady stream of batch mates and teachers gradually filled up table after table in the ballroom. Digicams, cellphone cams and even DSLRs all surfaced for non-stop picture-taking. Everyone was only too happy to be there at that exact time and place. Through the power of technology (mainly via the internet, Skype, a sound system and a video projector), even our overseas batch mates and teachers were able to share a few precious moments with us on what was to be a truly memorable night.

High school life may not have been perfect, but the one thing it was is real. It was that point in time before we all started to become someone else. I consider myself fortunate and blessed to have had the chance to go back to that time, even if it was just for a few hours, when we weren’t politicians, performers, doctors and entrepreneurs among many other things. We were just ourselves, simply resuming where we left off in the last day of high school. For whatever its worth, John and Carol are really still John and Carol, my classmates from the good old days… days that I somehow thought would never end.