Your School Reunion

So it's finally happened. They found you! Some school reunions are years in the planning. Often they are started by a group of classmates who are intrigued at what everyone else ended up doing in life.

Others are instigated by schools themselves. As a way of adding a portfolio of successful students to their roll call list or introducing their children to the school. After all, it wasn't so bad there, was it? Now the invite has come, how best to handle your school reunion? If you decide to attend that is. Most people who do go along with the flow find the event a nervous one, especially if they have fallen on bad times or school wasn't that great a memory to rekindle.

For a lot of people however it's refreshing to get back to their roots. Maybe you moved out of town or emigrated completely. Here's seven tips for when you attend your school reunion. Come on, how bad could it be? Embarrassments: When I think of school, I think of all the things that were either stupid or silly. This depends on how your school life proceeded. Remember that everyone in school goes through those embarrassing moments and you might recall just as many about them as they do about you.

Achievements: Failure and comparison is the worst of feelings. Let's look at it this way, if you ended up getting the invite, which you did, then you survived life and have created your own little bit of success. You may not be Bill Gates, one of those in the class might just be. But who are they to state whether you've become successful or not and if you might be again in the future?

Teachers: Say hello to them. Whether you wish to prove they were wrong about you or whether they were right. Teacher's pet or dunce, unruly child or straight A student, you are surviving life simply by returning. Celebrate your achievements and your life with those that guided you. Bring an apple for a laugh! Or a woopie cushion, yes I did too!

Love: Uh oh, kissed her, blanked her, fancied him. School is probably the worst place to fall in and out of love and probably the busiest we have ever been in doing so. You probably fancied half the class, most of the others did too. It's adolescence and hormones. Just don't make the mistake of recalling those events in front of everybody else. Be the person you are now and who knows, if they still harbour those feelings, you may be able to rekindle the past.

Friendship: Long forgotten but were best of mates? Or simply didn't know each other back then but find you gel on the night. Stay in touch, don't be abrasive and think it's geeky. These are people who probably know you better than your wife or husband. Get the contacts and move forward, keep the community going.

Enemies: Bullies? Or they just played a bad trick on you? Recalling attitude problems and that they may have got you into trouble? The best way to deal with this situation is simply to forgive. It will probably do you and them the world of good also.

You don't need to raise particular events, a normal conversation and a light hearted chat and both of you will understand each other better. All those years of hurt... swept away in a moment of niceties.

Settle: Relax, take it in your stride. Nothing can be worse than when you left school and entered the big world of careers and full time relationships. You went to school with these people for several years. All you need do is break the ice, after you do so once or twice it will become addictive. So much so you'll be wanting another school reunion to visit.