I’m no longer having those pesky problems with Algebra. That, and I’m not pregnant.
As with many guys, at my 20th reunion a few months ago the biggest difference was hair (as in “lack thereof”).
I’m in far better shape than I ever was in HS - a guy I hadn’t seen in 20 years said “You were never that buff in high school, were you?”
Mentally, I’m just much more secure with myself. Like many folks I was shy and not one of the “in crowd” back in the day. I’m over a lot of the former and really don’t care too much about the latter now. There was a general change in personal dynamics as well - everyone had really grown up so the old “cliques” were just not an issue. This was a big high school, we came in as freshman with 1100 students (about 750 graduated and hundreds were at the reunion).
My 10 year reunion is next week, the day after Thanksgiving. I’m not sure what’s so different about me either, except I do dress better. I think I’m in the same boat as Eva Luna, who said:
More self-confident, and I know who I am. Definitely had some identity issues back then.
Same for me, more or less. I’ve gained about 75 pounds since high school, but in a good way. I ran cross country track and was really, really skinny, a whippet-like 127 pounds and 6’2". I weigh about 200 now.
Also, I can grow facial hair now. 
Confidence and humor are definately 2000% better.
I actually make less money now than I did 24 years ago.
(That’s really depressing.)
Well - I just got back. Some things were the same - some things had changed. You be the judge!
Here’s Me 20 years ago (bottom left)
Here’s Me This Weekend (middle)
(My best friend is the top left of the first and right for the second)
I went to my 30 year class reunion a couple of weeks ago. No fewer than four people told me I don’t look any older than I did when we graduated.
I am FAR more self confident, outgoing and sociable.
I got fat. But so did everybody else.
In high school, I was obnoxiously immature, sort of spastic, and looking back, pretty much a pain in the ass. I was never mean, rather I tried to be people’s friend but with little self-confidence I didn’t really know the right way to act, so I took any kind of reaction as a positive one. I had friends but not as many as I thought I did, meaning lots of people were nice to me to my face but, as I matured and thought more about their behavior, I realized they were sort of making me the butt of jokes I wasn’t aware of at the time.
I matured. I became more aware of my behavior, how people perceived me and how I presented myself to others. I honed a more appealing personality, and now it’s just my natural behavior. Most importantly, I became much more self confident. I look back on what I was like in high school and just shake my head.
Our 20th was a few years ago, and I went back with my wife. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous, and probably the last “type” that anyone would expect the high school-me to be married to. I was generally amazed at how much smaller everyone seemed. I’m the same height I was when I graduated, and maybe 40 lbs heavier (I was pretty scrawny then), but in my memories everyone else was much taller because of my lack of self-confidence when I last saw them all. I just thought of myself as much smaller than I really was.
I was sort of pleased to see that the formerly cool, popular, good-looking kids are now extremely average looks-wise; some got heavy; some lost their hair; some of the girls that used to be hot and unattainable are now average soccer-mom types and nothing special.
Objectively-speaking, time has been much better to me than to many of the people I one thought were way above me on the social ladder.
When my mom went to her 50th class reunion, I couldn’t wait to hear how it went.
" Everyone looked so different and old. I haven’t changed a bit."
I prefer the line from Grosse Point Blank. " Everyone looks the same, just bloated."
If I ever went to my reunion, I would wear the above line on a t-shirt.
My next one will be the 50th. I’ve still got all my boyish charm, my stunning good looks, my ultimate cool and I will be maybe one of five who are still alive.
I’ve said this before, but part of me wonders if reunions will become obsolete thanks to Facebook. I pretty much know what the majority of my grade is doing (and how they look) thanks to the wonders of the internet. And, if they know my real name, they all likely know what I’m up to, too. I doubt anyone’s surprised.
That I had a date. (Went to my 30th last month. Had a jolly good time.)
I am definitely a part of the Facebook generation. In 2003, when I was a freshman in college, Facebook was just taking off. It was aimed at the college demographic; at the time, only those with college e-mail addresses could sign up.
When organizing our five-year high school reunion this year, a class officer and I utilized Facebook to help organize the event. We created an event and made our invitations online. It had it’s drawbacks, of course, but I don’t think Facebook will render reunions obsolete. We still want to see people in person and catch up over a few drinks. Nothing can beat that.
The biggest thing that’s changed about me is that I no longer care enough about what those people think to actually go to a reunion. Whereas my insecure adolescent self was desperate for their approval, now I don’t want anything to do with them.
Pretty much the same as Licentious Ectomorph. Someone managed to track me down and send an invitation to my 10 year reunion; pretty good trick considering that I’d been living in Japan for a couple of years already. I looked at it, thought about high school for a few seconds, realized that there was exactly one person I still spoke to from that time in my life — and he was a grade lower than me — and threw it in the trash.
I was slightly shy, bookish, did sports but not those that were valued as much as football and soccer, and didn’t really start to be social until around my senior year. Physically, I haven’t changed much. I’m sure anyone would instantly recognize my face. I’m much more self-confident, though, to the point of being an opinionated asshole sometimes. Walking into a crowd of strangers and walking out with new acquaintances and several business cards or other contacts is easy. Approaching women — even those completely out of my league — is not much harder; ask my smart and pretty wife 
I’m about as fit, though in a different way than high school. More muscle for one thing.
Things that haven’t changed: more of a dreamer than a doer, still on the more-broke-than-not side of middle class, still interested in stuff that practically no one else is and slightly too willing to talk about it.
If there is one, I might go to the 20 year reunion if I’m back in the States by then. Might be fun just to see what it’s like.
It’s been 45 years, and I haven’t been to a single reunion.
Everything about me has changed.
What’s changed the most? My ears! I don’t know if anyone would notice though. As a kid I had Michael Phelps-like ears, but not so pronounced. I mostly grew into them so they didn’t protrude quite as proudly. But when I was 19 I had a snowboarding accident. Actually it wasn’t so much “snowboarding” as it was “extended falling at a very high rate of speed with a plank attached to my feet”. Anyway, I nearly lost an ear somewhere on the slope.
While getting patched up, they sort of did an otoplasty. That’s the procedure that is usually done for cosmetic reasons for people who are afraid they look like Alfred E. Newman. I elected to have the other done because I looked stupid with one ear flatter than the other.
I’m not sue if anyone would notice. It’s definitely noticeable if you look at pictures of me when I was in kindergarten and pictures of me now, but by high school my head had really grown to fit my ears, so it’s less noticeable. My girlfriend saw a high school picture of me and though my ears looked different because of my haircut.
Well, I attended my 10 year reunion last night. For the two days prior, I started getting really anxious about going and almost decided not to. I perked up yesterday afternoon, tho, and decided I was gonna go, and I’m glad I did! I had a really good time, and it was a really warm and fuzzy time. The open bar helped. But I was pleasantly surprised at how many people, when they saw me, were like “omg Sara!!” It was nice to have people be happy to see me. The one person I was hoping to avoid didn’t show, so that made things a little easier. All in all, a good time.
Yay!
I went to my 10 year and ended up reuniting with a good friend who I had lost touch with - and we went to the 20 year together - so that was great.