College alumni associations do more than just ask for money, believe it or not. They’re there to act as a liaison between you and your old school, a bridge to connect you with all of your former classmates. Plus, with the advent of college alumni websites, you can also reconnect with more friends than ever before! College alumni associations help set up college reunions, as well as other important functions.
Upon receiving her college reunion invitation, Gretchen Reuben, a New York Times international best selling author, hesitated about attending. However, she thought about the scientific evidence that showed how people tend to regret things that they don’t do, rather than things that they wind up doing. She wound up having a blast, and enjoyed the special interactions with people whom she hadn’t seen in years, but felt like only just last week they’d seen each other.
With the advent of social networks, some people feel like they have no need for the reunions set up by college alumni associations. Jenna Wortham, a writer for the New York Times, writes that social media “deflated some of the mystery of returning to collegiate stomping grounds and seeking out exes and old professors.”
But there is still something to be had with actually going and talking to former classmates. Everyone is older, which usually means that they’re more mature. This leads directly to a better experience than just passively looking at pictures or reading status updates. Reuben writes, “That’s one advantage of being older … people tend to have better manners and behave in a more friendly way, and they seem to be less high-strung, generally. And that really does change the atmosphere.”
College reunions set up through the college alumni association are great experiences. Alumni are more likely to regret not going than they are to attend. Facebook and other social networks don’t defeat the purposes of college alumni associations’ reunions, which is to see how people are and how they’re doing. If you have any questions about the reunions that college alumni associations set up, feel free to ask in the comments.