My high school reunion is coming up and I’m conflicted on going. I was bullied a lot and really hated it, but part of me wants to go to show the people who made my life hell that I still kinda made it in the real world. Would you go if you were in my shoes ?

OP, don’t waste a moment of your time. I was bullied so badly in high school that I attempted at one point… obviously I survived my attempt, but the therapy I went through after helped me reframe my thought process and showed me how it doesn’t matter what those people think of me.
Flash forward to a decade later - I’m thriving and loving life. I skipped both the 5 and 10 year reunion because I had no desire to go “show off” or prove something because those people don’t determine my worth. I still get random adds on social media from my high school bullies every once in a while and they look at my LinkedIn every month or two and at this point its just weird.

I was bullied a lot in jr high, very introverted in high school. A friend talked me into going to my 10 year. Many people were very welcoming. it was actually nice catching up with some people. Half the homecoming court never left town, had retail jobs. One group who thought they were better than everyone else still thought they were and stuck to themselves. The rest of us ignored them. The biggest nerd from HS was obviously a tech millionaire without saying a word about it. Overall made me feel good about where my life was headed. Have never been back to another.

Skip it. Why spend a night doing something you don’t want to do, to prove something that doesn’t matter, to people you probably never see anymore?

no, fk them

You should only go if you sincerely care about re-connecting with people you cared about from that time of your life. Otherwise, going for the sake of “stunting” on old classmates might be a waste of your time. Also, consider the potential risk of embarrassing yourself after having drinks at the event.

If I were you, I would make peace with the fact that you are thriving now. I sincerely hope you find happiness and move on from those days. Living well is the best revenge.

Most of them will won’t even have heard of your profession or company. And anything you need to say to clarify won’t go well. If you are just trying to make people jealous it will backfire.

Make ‘em weep

It sounds like you still care what they think about you.

Agree. If the intent is to reconnect and catch up great. If the intent is to shove it in their faces, take some time to think about why that feels important.

The correct answer here is that this sounds like it would be really satisfying but it won’t be. Figure out how to add more light to the world instead

Nope. Even if they’re jealous they’d probably find a way to make fun of you if they’re still immature and haven’t grown up. Skip it. Living well is the best revenge.

I found my bully years later on Facebook. I didn’t get the satisfaction I thought I would when I confronted him. He didn’t even remember how much he bullied me and he apologized. It would have be petty of me to have shown him how well I was doing because we grew up in a poor neighborhood. That ain’t me!

Go if you have the intention of catching up with old friends and having fun. Otherwise don’t go and put all of that in the past.

I wouldn’t go in your shoes, but I would buy really expensive shoes then go.

Consider what gives you deeper satisfaction, and do that.

Also, people are assholes at 14-17 and most grow out of it. You might be pleasantly surprised re-connecting with folks!

Skip it and do something fun instead. High school sucked in ways I can't even describe. I've yet to attend a reunion, but always look up old friends when I'm in town.

If peeing your pants Is cool… consider me Miles Davis

No, sounds toxic. Just move on

No, move on. Unless it will help you get closure

I was bullied in jr. High and high school. I haven’t gone to any of my high school reunions. I have no desire to fly across the country, take time out of my schedule, and relive the “good old days” when they really were not. What I can do, and have done, is enroll my son in martial arts and give him the confidence I didn’t have to deal with bullies.