The questions in their old exam papers were like "a foreign language" but there were plenty of laughs and catching up when Dubbo students came together 50 years after their final year of school at the weekend.
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The Dubbo High School class of 1965 attended a reunion where reminiscing was the order of the day and a couple of surprises were in store.
At a dinner attended by 82 people, of whom 50 were ex-students, minds were cast back to the final year of secondary education.
Former student Wendy Gibbons, nee Budden, had found some old Leaving Certificate exam papers and brought them along, reunion co-organiser Jill McCann reported.
"She read them and they were hilarious because we couldn't answer any of the questions," Mrs McCann said.
"They were like they were in a foreign language."
Then 1965 school captain Dennis Wilson - now a barrister in Sydney - took the microphone.
"He made an impromptu speech and told some scurrilous stories, it was very funny," Mrs McCann said.
In 1965 the school was the only one at Dubbo, Narromine and Gilgandra to offer the Leaving Certificate, the final two years of high school.
"Seeing everyone have such a good time together, some hadn't seen each other for 50 years, it struck me that all those years didn't matter because we spent our formative years together," Mrs McCann said.
"It's given us a shared memory and it made it easy for us to pick up where we left off."
Gwynne Gleeson, Mrs McCann's mother and wife of Bill Gleeson who became school principal in 1965, also attended some of the weekend's activities, which included a visit to Dubbo College Senior Campus, where Dubbo High's honour boards, old photos and newspaper clippings were on display.
"Mum had a wonderful time talking to everyone, she has a fantastic memory," Mrs McCann said.
"It's lovely for her to see them - she was a great supporter of all our adventures at school, especially Astley Cup and Mulvey Cup."
Mrs McCann said the next chance for a big reunion was in April 2017, when festivities to mark the centenary of public secondary education in Dubbo are planned.
