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VOICE ONE:
School reunions are a chance for Americans to get together withpeople they may not have seen in years. Some have not seen eachother in half a lifetime. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmermann. We look at high school and collegereunions this week on the VOA Special English program THIS ISAMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
Two women were attending a reunion of their high school class.They had not seen each other for more than forty years. Each hadmarried and had children. Each had worked at several jobs. Yet theyimmediately told each other: “You have not changed at all!”
And they were not alone. Reunions are a chance to go back intime, briefly, to relive days fresh out of school. There areten-year reunions. Twenty-year reunions. Fifty-year unions. In anygiven year, thousands of Americans attend a high school or collegereunion.
VOICE TWO:
People sometimes go long distances to get to these events. Somepay a lot of money to travel and stay in hotels. Just planning thevisit can take time, especially if the person wants to do somethingspecial.
Take the example of a woman from Bethesda, Maryland. Shegraduated many years ago from a high school near Chicago, Illinois.
This summer, she decided to hold a smaller reunion of her ownduring her high school reunion. She wanted to gather several of herfriends in the same hotel so they could talk as they had asteen-agers. The women were from all parts of the country.
Her plan required several long-distance telephone calls and atleast forty e-mail messages. But it was worth the time. The womenvisited the houses where they had lived while in high school. Theyremembered each other’s boyfriends and families. They stayed up latefor two nights as they exchanged stories about their lives. It waslike they were girls again.
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VOICE ONE:
Reunions can be a lot of fun, but also a lot of pressure.Sometimes people feel they must improve their appearance before theygo to a reunion. This is true of both men and women. They may try tolose weight. They may change the color of their hair. Or they maybuy costly new clothes.
People may feel they have to prove to others how successful theyare. Then, if they talk too much about their success, others accusethem of “bragging.”
People at reunions often talk about their children andgrandchildren. They may talk about them for a long time. Most peoplewho are parents and grandparents also carry pictures. So it iscommon to overhear former classmates saying things like, “I thinkthat baby looks just like you.” Or, “Oh, your granddaughter isbeautiful!”
VOICE TWO:
People who attend high school and college reunions sometimes tryto make business connections. They try to get former classmates toinvest in their companies or buy their products. Some people ask oldschool friends for a job.
Political candidates are no strangers to high school and collegereunions. For example, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticutattended Stamford High School in his state. He completed his studiesin nineteen-sixty. Since then, he has attended seven of the eightclass reunions.
In January of this year, Senator Lieberman chose the school asthe place to make an important announcement. He announced hiscandidacy for the Democratic Party nomination for president intwo-thousand-four. Many members of his high school reunion committeetook part in the event.
VOICE ONE:
There are all kinds of reunions. Former students organize many ofthem. People who have planned a reunion say it sometimes requires ayear or more of hard work. But, this way, the people give their timeto make the preparations. So it can cost less than a reunionorganized by a business.
But the former students can also hire a reunion planner. Forexample, a company called Reunions by Design organizes high schoolreunions in the eastern states of New York, New Jersey andConnecticut. It searches for members of a high school or collegeclass.
It places news of the coming reunion in newspapers and on theInternet. It mails invitations. It organizes hotel rooms for peoplewho live far from the school. It also prints memory books. Thesebooks tell a little something about the lives of the formerstudents, including where they now live and work.
VOICE TWO:
Many different kinds of reunions take place. Some may be formaland cost a lot. This kind usually takes place in a hotel. A bigdinner is served. A band or orchestra usually plays.
Other reunions are informal. This kind of party is often held inthe high school or college itself. The people who went to schooltogether share a meal. Then they may dance to music just as they didyears before.
Reunions can even take place in the home of one of the formerstudents. That is what happened several years ago with thegraduating class of nineteen-sixty-nine from Wellesley College. Thatis a women’s school in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Their classmate Hillary Rodham Clinton held the reunion in theWhite House while she was first lady. Missus Clinton is the wife offormer President Bill Clinton. She is now a United States senatorfrom New York.
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VOICE ONE:
Many high school and college reunions take place at the same timeas an event called homecoming. Schools plan this event to invitetheir graduates to return for a visit. Homecoming almost always isheld in the fall.The schools plan events for the returninggraduates. There usually is an important football game or othersports event that former students can attend. And there usually is aparty called an open house. Teachers or professors welcome backtheir former students.
VOICE TWO:
Some activities are the same at all reunions. For example, peopleusually bring their old high school or college yearbooks. They lookback through all the pictures of the people they went to schoolwith. They read over the notes they wrote to each other back then.The usual message is something like, “Good luck. I will think of youin the future.” Former classmates at reunions look at the picturesand try to identify people as they look today.
The main program is usually led by one or more speakers from theclass. They tell jokes and remember stories about their classmates.They introduce former teachers. They introduce classmates who fellin love with other classmates and got married.
Reunions are also famous as a second chance for love.
VOICE ONE:
The people who organize reunions may show films of when everyonewas a teen-ager. If the students were in school a long time ago,they laugh at the clothes they wore.
And there is something else people do at reunions. They almostalways sing their school song.
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VOICE TWO:
Mental health experts tell us that the high school and collegeyears can be difficult for young people. They may feel they are notbright enough or good enough looking to succeed in life.
A member of the graduating class of a high school in the Midwestmade a videotape of some of the students at his class reunion. Heasked them to respond to questions like “What do you remember most?”
VOICE ONE:
Those who spoke first said they thought the teachers wereexcellent. Or they said they learned a lot. Or they fell in love forthe first time.
But a woman who became a newspaper reporter in Colorado said shefelt very unhappy in high school. She said she felt ugly, and thatshe would never succeed in life. After that, a number of otherpeople admitted that they also felt that way as teen-agers. Theysaid they were glad that was behind them now.
VOICE TWO:
Retired diplomat Patricia Barnett Brubaker lives in the state ofMaryland. She has attended many reunions of her class at VassarCollege in Poughkeepsie, New York.
She and her classmates always marched in a parade duringceremonies at their college reunions. But now they are more thaneighty years old. So, at their sixtieth reunion, they rode in a car.Says Missus Brubaker: “I just thought it was wonderful that we gotthere.”
VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson — who just got backfrom her high school reunion, where she was the woman with thatsmall reunion of her own. Our producer was Caty Weaver. I’m SteveEmber.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week for anotherreport about life in the United States on the VOA Special Englishprogram, THIS IS AMERICA.