After a decade of singing “Breaking Free” at the top of our lungs in the shower and remaking that famous “HSM” pose when jumping into the pool, Disney has finally organized a reunion between the High School Musical cast members. The former Wildcats reunited on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 in light of the first movie’s 10th anniversary.

“It’s so crazy to me that 10 years has gone by and I see this cast and I feel like it was yesterday,” says Vanessa Hudgens, who played Gabriella Montez in “HSM”.

Hudgens and fellow cast members Corbin Bleu (Chad Danforth), Lucas Grabeel (Ryan Evans), Monique Coleman (Taylor McKessey), and Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay Evans) all gathered in the East High gym to host the showing of High School Musical. Of course we missed our favorite boy, Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), who could not attend because of his new movie.

During commercial breaks, the cast looked back on their Wildcat days, including their original auditions and the blossoming of their friendship.

“The blow up on twitter after the announcement of ‘HSM10’ was insane, and after we found out that [Efron] would not be there, it got even crazier,” says junior Alexandra Risko.

The cast went on to tell us about how grateful they are to have been a part of such a project, and how humbled they are that they inspired an entire generation.

“People come up to us and tell us we were their childhood. That’s so crazy to think about, but it makes being a part of all this all the more amazing,” says Bleu, who smiled ear-to-ear around his fellow peers.

It all started with a movie. The original “High School Musical” became a global phenomenon that tells the story of a small town high school and two very important students who will change the fate of the school forever.

Troy Bolton, the basketball star and heartthrob of East High, is never the same after he gets picked to sing karaoke on New Year’s Eve with the quiet and brilliant Gabriela Montez. They bring down the house and, at the end of the night, exchange numbers, but do not think much of it until Montez shows up after winter break as a new student to East High. They end up trying out for the musical and making it to callbacks against the hopes of the school’s biggest stars, Ryan and Sharpay Evans.

When Montez and Bolton’s friends both find out, they are outraged. How dare the smart girl and the athletic boy do something besides what they know! *cue “Stick to the Status Quo”* How dare they fall in love! *cue “What I’ve Been Looking For”*

Of course this eventually gets to Bolton because he is already insecure about his singing, and he goes on to say the the musical and Montez do not even matter to him. Montez hears this and is heartbroken, but eventually they make up and devise a plan to make it to the callbacks on time. The movie ends with them singing the famous “Breaking Free” and falling even more in love.

The movie went on to have two sequels, the third being debuted in theaters rather than on the Disney Channel. The movie ended up winning an Emmy and its soundtrack won an Emmy.

“The reunion was what I needed in my life… It made me remember why I loved the movies and the [“HSM”] cast so much, ” says senior Lauren Winfough.

We can all, including the cast members, say that the reunion brought all aspiring Wildcats back to East High. Even though they ruined our expectations of what high school actually was, High School Musical was a blessing to all of us.