High school. Those words conjure up strong memories in all of us. For some, it was marked by roaring good times, wild parties, and a hectic social life. For others, it was a time of awkwardness, social isolation, and low self-confidence. Still others may remember the intense pressure — to fit in with the right social clique, to earn good grades, to excel in athletics, or to be successful in the high school dating scene.
Regardless of your experience, you undoubtedly have a strong emotional reaction when thinking about your high school days. For all of us, it was a time of self discovery, a transitional period where we attempted to shed the person we were and create the person we wanted to become.
For many people, high school reunions are an opportunity to revisit those emotional moments of adolescence and take stock of who we have become. Some people attend to reconnect and catch up with old friends. Others come to show off the person they have become — somewhat of a self-validation for their years of tortured adolescence. Regardless, high school reunions provide us with a way to revisit our past and take stock of our present in one fell swoop.
There is a sizeable group of people who feel intense pressure to impress their former high school peers at these reunions. Despite going years without seeing or thinking about their high school friends and acquaintances, many people view these reunions as some of the most stressful and important social events they will ever attend. In her book “A Room Full of Mirrors,” Keiko Ikeda examines this phenomenon in great depth.
In order to make the strongest impression possible at their high school reunion, many people turn to their local cosmetic surgeon for a little assistance. Cosmetic surgery practices across the country have documented large boosts in business from people looking for breast augmentation, tummy tucks, liposuction, and facelifts to help them look their best at their high school reunion.
I’m not quite sure why so many people feel the need to impress a group of individuals who have been essentially irrelevant in their lives for anywhere from 10 to 20 years. For one night, these people come together again, only to go their separate ways until the next reunion rolls around in another 10 years. And most likely, you will not think about these people again until you go to your cosmetic surgeon for a touch-up procedure before your next reunion.
Surely there are more important people to impress — your family, your current friends that are actually involved in your daily life, your co-workers, other members of your community. However, when memories of high school come flooding back, many people seem to seek validation for what may have been the most awkward time of their lives.
In a sense, cosmetic surgeons across the country are providing these people with an invaluable service by enabling them to feel better about themselves in front of a group of people who could really care less. However, the more appropriate person to help us through this undeniably trying moment of our adulthood is probably a psychologist.
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