Oh DCHS

Last night I ran into some old friends from high school (I know I moved back to my home town area, but I’m still surprised by all the people I see around that I have known forever).

I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t live here for such a long time, or if it is because I hold onto my first impressions (judgments is probably the more appropriate word but it sounds harsh, maybe I deserve that though), but I find myself thinking everyone fits the exact same stereotype that they did in high school.

Another friend of mine and I were talking about how we hang out with people from high school that we weren’t friends with in high school and about how different we were back then versus who we are today.

I am not the same person I was then at all. Not that I didn’t like who I was then, but I’ve matured and grown, and quite honestly I barely even look like I did in high school. The difference is enough that mere high school acquaintance will barely recognize me.

If I can have such a dramatic change from high school to today, why is it that I doubt that no one else might have changed? It took a girl that I barely knew in high school telling me how different her sisters are from the people they were in high school, for me to realize that it was ridiculous of me to make assumptions about who she is today because of who she was when she was 16.

I felt terribly guilty when this realization hit me. I am going to try to avoid those assumptions and attitudes toward people I knew practically a lifetime ago. I am going to let go of high school grudges (and who knows, maybe I’ll be really mature and even let go of recent ones as well).

I just don’t see the reason to assume that someone isn’t capable of change, and I feel that every one deserves a shot and changing from who they were. I would hate for someone to dislike me now because of who I was then and I don’t want to do that to anyone else.

Perhaps this is a naïve notion, but I’m willing to give it a shot.