As the fifth-year college reunion approaches, we have been looking forward to it with equal parts excitement and unease.

期待已久的大学第五次聚会日益临近，我们激动满怀的同时又有些惴惴不安。

Of course there’s the enjoyment of reuniting with friends who now live all over the globe, and the chance to relive some of the messy fun of college. But the formal reminder of time passed also presents an opportunity to evaluate life decisions over the past few years, which carries the risk of regret and insecurity from comparing yourself to others’ formidable achievements.

诚然，能与现居世界各地的朋友们重聚、有机会重温嘻嘻哈哈的大学趣事自然不亦乐乎。但这逝去的时光也正式借机提醒我们去衡量一番过去这么些年的人生选择。相较他人的恢宏成就，重聚或带来懊悔与安全感缺失。

Reunions shortly after college are particularly popular, followed by a dip around the 15-year reunion mark. During this time, graduates often seem to be under family or career stress and struggle to make the commitment.

毕业没多久就聚会尤其受欢迎，次于其后的是15年聚会。此时，毕业生通常都处于家庭和事业的压力之下，挣扎着兑现承诺。

Then 25th-year reunion which marks a shift from previous reunions, during which alumni are more focused on their careers.

以往聚会校友们更关注事业，25周年聚会则是一大转折。

There’s a point around that age where people want to start to re-engage their minds intellectually. It’s also a time when people are more settled in their lives. They’ve raised family, built a strong career, and so they’re ready to re-engage back with some of their memories.

这一年龄段，人们会想要重新开动脑筋;也是这一时期，大家的生活趋于安定，养家谋生、事业稳固，想着要重新拾起某些记忆。

By the 25th reunion, everybody’s experienced something hard. They’ve had loss, disappointment, their path didn’t go the way they thought it was going to go. As people get older, they start to get it—that life is about much more than their title or what they’re making.

25周年聚会时，每个人都经历了艰辛。有失落、有失望，道路并未如计划想象一般。随年龄增大，人们开始明白，头衔和工作只是生活太小的一部分。

But while our perspectives on what matters in life may change, college friendships stay intact, even after classmates go decades without seeing each other.

尽管我们的人生观会变，但即便几十年过去了，大学友谊却完好无损。