High School Reunion, Interview With Cyndi and Elena
 The one thing that seems it will stick with us all our lives is our high school experience. It helps shape who we are as individuals and where we're going in our lives, and sometimes even where we end up. I thought I was unliked in high school, but as I grew older I found I wasn't unliked, just unknown. Alright, the long hair with middle part and glasses meant I was a little on the dorky side as well.
I thought it would be interesting with the premiere of High School Reunion just a few days away to look at two very different individuals from Chaparall High. I conducted email interviews with Cyndi and Elena. Cyndi was "The Nerd" back in school and had nicknames like "Four Eyes" and "Toothpick Legs." Yet in her 20s, she became an exotic dancer, a secret she will reveal to her other classmates at the reunion. Elena was part of the popular girl clique, The Summer Girls. She's still with the In crowd and on VIP lists at the hottest clubs. She was joined by another "Summer Girl" at the reunion.
Laura What was your driving force in going to the reunion? Were you hoping to show you changed or were you wanting to see if everyone else changed?
Cyndi My driving force in going to the reunion was mostly to show how I had changed. Physically I had changed, but more importantly I had changed on the inside. I knew I wouldn't allow my classmates to make me feel unworthy or invisible again. I wanted them to have the opportunity to know the great person and friend I am, and who they missed out knowing in high school.
Laura Back in high school did you secretly wish to be one of the Summer Girls or were you comfortable back then with who you were?
CyndiBack in high school, I actually didn't know the Summer Girls. I did always wish to be a cheerleader and a part of that popular crowd. The Summer girls claim to be so popular, but I saw the world revolve around all the cheerleaders. That was one of the interesting parts of the show – there were the Summer Girls, the cheerleaders, and me. I was never comfortable with who I was in high school and that is the biggest change I have made since graduation.
Laura I just about died when you had to room with the Summer Girls and don't know how I would handle it. I still find myself falling back into nerdy shy girl mode when I see one of the popular girls I went to school with, even at 45 years old. In the end, are you glad you roomed with them or was it just a cruel mistake through and through?
CyndiI was happy after the initial shock wore off.  I looked at it in a different way. After I thought about it, I wondered how I would have felt if I wasn't put in that room. If I wouldn't have been put with them, it would have been more like high school -- separated from the elite girls again. I reevaluated the situation and came to the conclusion that no one would be more deserving of the master suite and living along side the Summer Girls than me. It took me years to have the self confidence to know that I am just as deserving as they are. I will have to say that having Rachelle in there also softened the blow, not to mention the room and bathroom were just awesome which made living with the Summer Girls a little easier.
Laura Let's talk about you becoming an exotic dancer. Was the decision to do that tied to residual feelings left over from high school about who you were vs. who people thought you were?
CyndiThe decision to become a dancer was not an overnight thing. It stemmed from many factors. How I was perceived in high school was slightly related. It felt nice to finally be recognized and appreciated for being beautiful, having a good figure, and for being a great entertainer, when I was teased in school for being skinny, scrawny, having stringy hair, glasses and being shy. Mainly my decision revolved around caring for my two daughters as a single mother. I wanted the income to take care of them, but I also wanted to be with them. Becoming a dancer provided a way to work part-time hours to be with my girls, but to have well over a full-time income to take care of them on my own. How it helped me gain my confidence and the mental pay back to all those people in high school was an added bonus!
Laura Are you still an exotic dancer?
Cyndi No, not for the past 9 years.
Laura Who do you wish was at the reunion and wasn't?
Cyndi I wish my friend Danielle DiMaio was there and maybe more of the crowd that remembered me. That would have been nice to experience everything with them. The only person I can say that I wish wasn't there would have been John. He really set me off sometimes. Even the Summer Girls being there gave me a good experience in the end.
Laura This was your 20 year reunion. Had you gone to earlier reunions?
Cyndi No, this was the first one.
Laura Obviously you can't divulge at this point your complete experience on High School Reunion, but were you left wanting to go to the next reunions, such as 25, 30, 40, etc.?
Cyndi Definitely, I think I keep getting better with age and I have made relationships with a lot more of my classmates than I thought I would so another reunion would be great.
Laura One last question. What would your advice be to young girls who are currently the quiet nerdy ones disappearing into the background?
Cyndi Thank you for asking me this question ... this was my other driving force of going to this reunion. I wanted to be a role model for any young girls out there in the same situation I was in 20 years ago or for women still dealing with this weight on them from the past. High school is tough; there are always those elite popular girls whether they are the cheerleaders, "Summer Girls", or any other name. The most important thing is to be you. Don't be invisible, don't disappear. If you don't fit in, carve a new shape. If you don't fit into the popular cliche, make your own. Don't let them make you feel less because you're not them, or you don't have the right clothes or the right hair. I obviously don't look like a "Summer Girl", but I love who I am, and I have stopped disliking who I am not. Women, teens and even young girls compare everything that we are not instead of looking at what we are. When you are younger it is easy to let other people decide who becomes popular and who is the "nerd". My advice to these young girls or even women, don't let anyone make you feel inadequate or less. Find your place, bloom where you are planted and hold your head up high. Place yourself where you want to be, don't let others figure it out for you. And if you’re the popular girl, give that nerdy girl a chance, she may be the best friend you'll ever have. Sorry this is so long, but I have learned a lot since being that nerdy, awkward girl and I want to save one other girl from having to find herself after graduation.
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