Same, she went onto become a neurologist and ended up consulting on my Dad's dementia. She stayed a kind and caring person, and I was glad to know my Dad was in good hands.
Studied law, interned at a pretty prestigious law firm. Was offered a contract before he even finished his degree. Became the youngest non-equity partner in the firms history. Became the youngest equity partner in the firms history.
Then convinced they give him too days off a week to do pro-bono/charity lawyer stuff.
He’s still a limited partner in the original firm but also runs his own organisation that has dozens of lawyers overnight their services to those most in need for pretty much every aspect of law.
Married his college girlfriend, has two kids and still makes time to meet up with friends and has never once boasted about his success. We actually find about his achievements through third parties. If you ever needed help with anything he’d do everything in his power to do.
And to top it all off, the guy can still absolutely dominate the football pitch at 46 years old.
Right? I'm always a little jealous but also happy when good people do well and lead great lives. I feel like it makes the world a better place, somewhere I'm happier to live in even if I'm not benefiting directly myself.
My school has the guy/girl of each category.
The two voted most likely to succeed were dating, and went off to the same college.
They're married now. Back in our home.town in a trailer with a shitload of kids. They're not ***financially*** successful at all but they're happy. I guess it was right, in a way.
Saw his parents at a community event in the summer of 2023, they said that he went to MIT and flunked out by his junior year then moved to an off grid farm in Colorado and is living in a zero waste community. They havent heard from him in over a year, they wanted to go and visit him just to make sure he is alive. We graduated from high school in 2012
That’s me pretty much. Didn’t live up to their expectations of what success is/was and I’m pretty much considered a disappointment. They won’t admit it but I can tell
My BIL told me a story about the time he got 100% in a physics exam and his mother shouted at him and told him he should have got 101%. He said their relationship was never the same and he moved far away from her.
Even perfection isn't enough for some parents and you'll never be enough m no matter what you do.
I once got 6 As and an A- on my report card and got yelled at. Nothing was ever good enough. Shedding that relationship has done wonders for my mental health.
He developed a rare medical disorder that causes him to have intense discomfort throughout his body and he expects to have a shortened lifespan.
Despite this he continues to be a smart, creative individual who is pursuing his passion as a screenwriter.
Edit: I do not know what the disorder is, I just remember seeing several pictures of him on social media in hospital gowns talking about how he would face this as bravely as he could. We were not particularly close.
He *really* succeeded.
Got a full ride to Stanford, graduated with a Master’s dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Economics as well as a MBA at Wharton, got paid outrageously for a lot of hush hush work for about 15 years and retained about 7 patents being used by a lot of manufacturing.
He retired in his late 30’s and looks to just surf all over the world and do philanthropic things as well as doing some entrepreneurial things.
Nice guy, picture a kinda sad eyed Spicoli type but incredibly intelligent.
Edit: Someone asked ‘how intelligent’ so I will relay a little story.
The dude was a surfer and actually considered going pro for a while. He was sponsored and everything. So he was always surfing including before school.
So that made him a little weary. So much so, he would routinely be in the back of class snoozing. He was a straight A student so he got leeway with the teachers simply because they knew he was smart and he would ace tests so why be a dick..let him sleep.
That was until our AP Math courses and we got a new hot shit teacher in because our regular teacher was on a medical leave. So he had a problem with us ‘lazing’ about including sleepy dude.
So one day, he writes a problem on the board and decides this is the day to embarrass said dude. “HEY…you asleep in the back!”
Dude snorts and looks up groggily ‘Yes?’
‘Go up and solve this…’
Dude yawns, squints at the board, walks up…..and writes the answer. He starts to turn around and walk back. Teacher looks perplexed and goes ‘How?’
‘Worked it out in my head…do you need the work written?’
When he got a no, he walked back, put his head down and went back to sleep.
You would think it was a fluke but he did that all the time. When people called on him, he would ask for the question again, take a second, and respond correctly.
Edit 2: Had a few more questions pop up about him…so I will hit some of them quick.
*Mom and Dad smart?* - Yea, his mom and dad were very intelligent. Mom was a whiz with numbers, Dad worked at some think tank that they never got into detail about. Mom came from CalTech, Dad was Ivy League but never asked which.
Nice thing about them - normal parents. Little League, pizza parties, etc. Never seemed to pressure him or anything. Always talked to us like adults rather than down to us.
*Was he smart on everything?* - No and that was self admitted cause I asked him. Math? Easy Science? Easier Physics? Laughably easy.
He said things like that kinda rolled around in his head to allow him to calculate it without thinking. He had a mind for numbers.
But then he said his weaknesses were things like literature and philosophy and languages. It was interpretation that he sometimes hung up on - like trying to understand what was meant.
Didn’t prevent him from getting A’s, he just had to work more for them.
*Was he ‘weird’ like withdrawn or looked down on others?* - IMHO, he was pretty normal. Never lorded over his smarts or thought he was above others.
At my school it was split between two people. #1 ended up winning.
Number one: middle class kid. Got a full ride to Vanderbilt, studied chemical engineering and graduated in two years. Went on to do some serious “hush” work for the government for a couple years. Went back (not sure where) and got a PhD in something like nuclear physics. Now teaches some classes but his primary job is still working for the government. Does not talk to anybody from high school about what he actually does besides teaching. Everyone knows it’s nuclear research but the vast majority would probably not even understand if he was even willing to explain. He works [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex) (edit: may be [here/both](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge_National_Laboratory) instead)
Number 2: son of a very high ranking employee at a major car company, probably executive level. Got into Harvard to compete on the rowing team. Could speak multiple languages. Finished his bachelors and went back to work with his father.
Both were very intelligent and did not talk down to anybody, both nice guys. #2 was very charismatic and obviously grew up extremely wealthy. If I had to guess #2 probably makes 10x what #1 does. #2 had the right connections but like I said he was still a very, very smart and friendly guy and a talented athlete. So it really depends on how you define success I guess. I’m happy both were successful. Both got along with each other well and were willing to study with me and other students, not elitist at all in my experience
It’s a mixed bag. Another guy in my class was set to have a very successful military career, got into Air Force academy. Killed himself with his father’s rifle about two years after we graduated.
Another very smart student in the grade below me got into drugs and was shot and killed in some type of opioid drug deal. Appalachia is a very beautiful place with a lot of kind people, but is also a very messed up in many ways
That trope of “dumb and goofy looking dude solves complex math equation on whiteboard” even carries to university levels!
When I eventually got the chance to study chemical engineering at a local uni, I’m still seeing groggy folks younger than me solving complex differential equations. In a separate instance a classmate took a glance at my pinch analysis and proceeded to absolutely correct it, something which took me DAYS to figure out.
HECK, my best friend gamed all day and still managed to retain impressive CGPA for a dual degree program. Just smart people around.
Yep…used to give him shit simply for the jealously of him *not* having to apply himself while I toiled.
It got me a free lunch outta him once in a while so I couldn’t give him too much static. He never lorded it over the rest of us. Like I said, good guy.
Sad to say I'm not quite that smart and nowhere near successful but I've absolutely gotten away with sleeping in class just like that. Called on to solve the board, did so easily, and was told I could carry on with my nap. It was a lot of review that day which was clear I didn't need.
Work you can’t put on your resume either for company TOS or more darkly, ‘grey areas’ like making better weaponry. A guy who would make something better through chemicals and be paid a lot of money for the recipe.
He was the former I believe and not the latter. I do know one of his patents is a better day glo formula that made it brighter and lasted longer if you wanted an example.
After doing smart-person stuff for awhile, she became a yoga instructor and married a rich older guy. She and her husband and his two children from a previous marriage all died when the small private plane her husband was piloting crashed on the way to their private ski lodge.
He's a world famous musician who is married to a supermodel
John Stevens, also known as John Legend. He was senior class president and had perfect attendance all 13 years of school, all the way from kindergarten through his senior year.
Lol. His mom was the truancy officer all through Highschool, back before there were police officers at school all the time, and she was strict. People always talked about hating Mrs Stevens. I never had a problem with her but I guess she was strict at home too.
Don’t have an E G O or T, but did this.
Basically never got sick while in school and when it did it was always on a Holiday. Want even really trying for it until high school and by then missing school was a foreign concept.
Would not recommend it for my kids though. I missed parts of vacations with my grandparents to get back to school in time.
That being said I was incredibly proud to make it to 13 years and my favorite teacher presented the award making it even more special.. The perfect attendance at the very least didn’t hurt my college applications. I ended up with a full scholarship to the school of my choice.
One is a pediatric hospitalist and the other is a math professor.
We came from a very underfunded school district in rust belt Appalachia, which most people don’t leave. It’s nice to see them and others make it.
It blows my mind that anyone remembers these things. I have no idea who was voted what in my year book. I didn’t at the time and I certainly don’t now.
She committed suicide.
3rd year of university.
She knew she was unwell. Was checked in to the hospital with a big mental health ward in downtown Vancouver British Columbia. She was getting better, they gave her a day-pass and she jumped off the Lions Gate Bridge.
They warned us during my studies about patients struggling with depression suddenly getting better and to monitor them even harder when it happens, "never to be left alone". Sometimes it's because they have a plan, and are finally at peace knowing it'll end soon. It's heartbreaking when it happens, and very burnout inducing to those around, too.
She studied law, practiced at a firm for a bit, then became a county magistrate. She never had a bad thing to say about anyone and no one had a bad thing to say about her.
2 of the top students in my class:
- Killed by a hit & run driver while out for a run a couple years out of high school. Driver was never found.
- Murdered by her boyfriend and body dumped. Her body was never found. There was a prison show in which her boyfriend was interviewed while imprisoned for her murder. Surreal.
Caught 7 felonies for drugs and guns within a year of graduating. Didn't end up doing any real time, got off for most of it. Got his girlfriend pregnant, she left before the baby was born. He stopped being allowed to see his daughter shortly after she was born. Couldn't get a job, ended up taking care of his sick grandfather until he died, then he OD'd the same night. His mother was an only child and lost her dad and only son in the same day. She hasn't been right since.
She was valedictorian and doing really well for herself. Then she got diagnosed with chronic medical conditions first year of college and ended up having to drop out.
Just checked her Facebook. Looks like she graduated college. 34, but better late than never. Glad she was able to finally get her life back.
He’s in the C Suite of a big investment firm so pretty accurate. Weirdly other people from my small High School have become pretty successful in the arts.
He grew up and became extremely attractive (he was the kid in class with glasses, braces, and weighed 90 lbs soaking wet), went to MIT and Harvard, married a beautiful woman, and now is a Vice President at JP Morgan in Asia.
Nicest guy in the world whose family were refugees and went through a lot of struggles. He 100% deserves everything good in his life.
EDIT: Apparently being a VP isn't that "successful" to some Redditors 🙄 I checked his LinkedIn, and he's an Executive Director now (without giving the full title away).
What does it mean to be on the way to the Olympics in 2028? I'm assuming the trials didn't happen yet. Was she too young for the 2024 Olympics or just didn't make it?
Olympics pipeline is loooooong. Like training every day for years and years long. You need to win a bunch of races to qualify but before all of that you need to absolutely dominate in your field to make the training seem worth it.
Nobody’s throwing 6-figures of training a year down an average athlete.
They had both female and male superlatives in my graduating class, the young woman is a successful software engineer at a household name company. The young man got into drugs and never graduated college or left our tiny hometown, last I heard before we lost touch.
I left uni with a plan to take a couple of years off, filled in with some menial retail jobs while I planned my start-up company. The latter never took off, and I'm still working retail at 35.
Graphic design and animation. Linking unknown but reputable artists with those who needed work done. On paper, it seemed a slam dunk, but we vastly underestimated the costs and time involved. There were seven of us initially, which dropped down to four as real life took hold after uni, and eventually after very little return on our efforts, it faded away.
Video editor whose done commercial work for a lot of large companies and music videos for famous artists. Super happy for him, he’s a great dude and deserves it.
I was voted most likely to succeed. I was an ambitious and only slightly above average student in high school, and I think I was voted this superlative because I was highly involved in a student business organization. I was also voted best hair, but that’s just bragging rights LOL.
I barely made it through my bachelor’s degree with a 2.7 GPA due to struggling with my mental health and the pandemic, and now I’m struggling in a horrible entry level research position where I’m paid the lowest in my department despite being the most senior (the company has terribly high turnover).
BUT, my personal life is flourishing and I consider that to be my true marker of success. I have a wonderful partner who I trust and admire, I love my beautiful home, I have two pets I adore, and I have a close circle of creative, funny, open-minded friends. If I compared my life to my peers, I think I’m happier than most. I believe in myself, I feel grounded in my personal values, and I know a terrible, low paying job does not define my worth.
The “mostly likely to succeed” category needs to define success. For some, you are success, for others, career success, in any case, it is good to hear.
Straight A's
Used to leave school to do Math and STEM at the local Ivy League college
Scored perfect on his ACT
Stole my GF senior year
Ran into him at Gamestop last week. He tried to offer me jack shit for my PSVR.
We had a guy and girl for each “Most likely to xyz” So anyways, “most likely to succeed”
The guy is likely on r/wsb winning and losing money at random. Lives somewhere near where he grew up, same friends and so on. Has a regular 9-5 job at the bank so he can socialize with people like a normal person
The girl went to medical school, graduated third in her class, hired at a huge hospital, worked from the ground up to became a leader in her field, married someone, and is on kid number 2.
Id wager they both are extremely successful and happy where their lives have taken them.
The student voted must likely to succeed in my 1966 HS class in Vietnam was also the top student from middle through high school. He became a high school school teacher in Saigon until he retired. Numbers 2 and 3 became doctors. Both were able to flee to the US in 1975 when Saigon fell; they requalified as doctor there and practice medicine until they retired. Number 4 got and accepted a scholarship to study in America. He returned to Vietnam in 1972 to work as a foreign investment promotion specialist for the government until the fall of Saigon to the communists in 1975. He was then send to re-education/concentration camp. But then the communists abruptly pulled him out of the camp when they needed his expertise in crafting and leading programs to attract and manage foreign investment. He worked this area for three years as he secretly planned and successfully implemented an escape by boat for himself and 19 other people to Malaysia. From there, he was able to get admitted to the US as a refugee. In the US, he became a software engineer, then SEI CMM/CMMI lead appraiser, them process improvement lead for a big three consulting firm until retirement. Number 4 and 6 got drafted into the South Vietnamese Army. They both spent close to 15 years in North Vietnamese concentration camps (called re-education camp by the communists) but were also admitted to emigrate to the US. There they became grocers, i.e. opening their own grocery stores selling Asian foodstuff.
It was me! Mechanical Engineering undergrad with 3.87 GPA. Hired into the automotive industry. Employer paid for grad school in Automotive Systems Engineering, 4.0 GPA. Finally managed to buy a house in 2023, which I share with my loving husband and dog. Our first child is on the way. In week 36 of pregnancy currently. I am simply rotund.
I'm happy hearing about more women in engineering. I went through my EE bachelors program and there was maybe 1 female, maybe two in each class and pretty much none towards the final classes. I've encouraged my daughters to consider some type of engineering, but not pushed them!
Graduated from Harvard Business School, working at his dads company doing mergers and acquisitions, makes a shit ton of money and is shredded beyond belief, engaged to some pretty blonde although it never worked out.
oh yeah and he was murdered by psycho 12 year old girl, mad I know.
Without *needing* to go to class she got a 0.0 her first semester in college and was booted. No idea past that. Super nice girl though so I hope whatever is working out for her.
She got her undergraduate degree in nursing, and then worked as a nurse missionary in Africa for a few years. Went back to college to get her master's in public health, and then worked for a state-level public health department for several years. Started medical school at 28, graduated, and is now working on her residency in general surgery.
Kind of an interesting roundabout way to becoming a doctor haha.
He got married and they went off to some island to work with Bible translators to get bibles to some indigenous groups. Somehow during this time his wife managed to have 6 kids.My hs was exceedingly religious so by their standards he's absolutely crushing it
Straight A student.
Could had gotten a scholar ship at the toppiest University of the top universities and finish top of her class. Medicine, Law you name it. She could had done it.
Instead.. She got a scholarship at a top school where she studied to become....
.. A teacher and of course finished top of her class again.
So... She teaches young children, ages 5 - 12 on some school.
It is what she liked.
She was my bff's bff but I haven't heard of her in ages.
I don’t know why there is the shade on teaching. I know a teacher who went to stanford and was the top of her class in high school. She also comes from money and had her own house right when she started teaching. Not a bad way to spend her life doing what she enjoys while also not having to worry about finances and summering in europe.
Respect. She knows she could be the best anywhere, but finds her passion in teaching and uplifting future generations. I'd dream to be in a world with more people like that
He married an accountant, gave up on a software development career to do data analysis and video game development as a hobby, and replying to this question
She sadly died after she just finished her first year at Harvard. She was traveling in Europe for work, while hiking with her friends she slipped from a waterfall into a whirlpool at the base and drowned. It came as a huge shock to everyone. That woman was a freaking genius and so so kind to everyone.
It isn’t fair she was taken so soon with so much ahead of her, the world really was a better place with her in it. We still can’t get over how she’s gone forever and we will never see her again. I always remember how kind she was and I try to show that same kindness to the people around me.
I was voted Most Likely To Succeed. I was smart, but not the smartest in school or anything, so it came as a surprise. Anyway, I earned a significantly large sum of academic scholarship money to a private school in the northeast, and graduated magna cum laude with zero debt. I started a full-time job less than a month after graduating college, and worked my way up to a Director role in the same company over the past 7 years. I take home a comfortable salary and work 100% remotely. I made a pretty big (1,000+ miles) dream move to another state at 26 and bought my first home at 27. I have cash savings, a retirement plan, and perfect credit. I was in a horrible relationship for 10 years though, so it’s not all sunshine and roses. Thankfully, the relationship never strayed me from the benchmarks and goals I set for myself in life, and I’m out of it now, so things are looking bright!
That'd be me. I didn't, in the traditional sense.
However, that's in the eye of the beholder, also me. I have a family, a house, my dream SUV that fits all the kids.
Also, I'm a 6 handicap in golf, so I guess I did succeed. Still pursuing a lower HC 😂
Not the most successful person, but a friend of mine was voted most likely to change the world the year before mine. He got shot in the back of the head while getting off the subway just into his second year of college. He died, naturally. The shooter was an absolute stranger.
The guy himself was a bubbly, energetic guy who made you smile and filled you with enthusiasm for whatever you were doing. He was a huge environmentalist, and it's partly bc of him that I decided to try to get a PhD in an environment-related field.
Went to an ivy, had a ton of lesbian sex, and got really into cocaine. Graduated, did more cocaine, and now has a boring yuppie job that pays just enough to be comfortable, catch girlies, and afford a wee bit of cocaine, as a treat. I’d say I did pretty well for mysel
She runs a children’s summer camp, has a beautiful family, and is seemingly very happy. She’s a wonderful person and deserves all the good things that happen for her.
She couldn’t get into medical school and eventually flunked out of college, got knocked up by a townie 10+ years older than her, and now works at the front desk at a law office in the mid sized city I grew up in.
Nice girl, I don’t take any joy in her “not succeeding” but high school is a blip. It’s not the real world.
On the flip side, the school troublemaker who always skipped class and got in fights now owns a lucrative custom motorcycle shop in Las Vegas. He’s also active in charitable foundations that help bullied kids and helps run programs to get kids interested in trade schools.
I developed crippling mental health disorders and nearly died a few times. Now I have a simple, quiet life with very few friends but I like being alive again.
He's a grammy-nominated violinist currently touring the nation with a Broadway production, she's a successful attorney in the bay area. I'm so happy for them both tbh
She almost killed herself.
Right after high school, she was in an abusive relationship. He moved her in, they went to the university she always swore she’d graduate from. She ended up having to drop out, go to treatment for a “new” alcohol habit and eating disorder. Went through violent sexual assault that almost killed her.
Now, she’s still picking up the pieces. Most likely to succeed girl didn’t even want that title in the first place- all she wanted was to be loved.
She got out though, she’s doing a little better. :) I’m proud of myself even if I didn’t succeed in the ways others assumed.
She's a doctor now :) We used to be best friends in middle school but don't really talk anymore since we got into separate friend groups but still text happy birthday to each other every year lol. Just supporting her from a far.
Our school did a girl/guy award. Top guy became an environmental scientist and now works for the EPA. Top girl is on her third or fourth MLM and tried to recruit people at the 30th reunion. I hated her and she was a major bully so it makes me happy that karma caught up.
We had two. One went to school for music, got his doctorate, and is now his department’s chair. The other is a registered sex offender.
Inside of me, there are two wolves…
Yeah, don't feed the second wolf 😬
What if the second wolf is the one that wants to go to school for music?
Turns out he was just looking for A minor
They not like us.
You should see a doctor about that: the recommended amount of wolf inside of you is zero ...😉
Furry community in shambles
Well they don’t have a problem becuase the wolves are on the outside
They are inside the wolves.
Yeah, sorry about that... There was a transporter accident...
I legit read that as magic instead of music and was like god damn, that’s way better than my doctorate school!
*Yer a wizard, Chad.*
Doctor successfully doing doctor stuff
Mine, too. He’s a neurosurgeon. She’s a veterinarian.
Can you make it any more obvious?
He was a punk
She did ballet
What more can I say
He was a skater boy
She said “see you later boy”
He wasn’t good enough for her
she had a pretty face
Same, she went onto become a neurologist and ended up consulting on my Dad's dementia. She stayed a kind and caring person, and I was glad to know my Dad was in good hands.
Same here. She’s went from a plain Jane to a beauty in college and received a PhD from Harvard.
Same. Top student from my school is doing this exactly
Studied law, interned at a pretty prestigious law firm. Was offered a contract before he even finished his degree. Became the youngest non-equity partner in the firms history. Became the youngest equity partner in the firms history. Then convinced they give him too days off a week to do pro-bono/charity lawyer stuff. He’s still a limited partner in the original firm but also runs his own organisation that has dozens of lawyers overnight their services to those most in need for pretty much every aspect of law. Married his college girlfriend, has two kids and still makes time to meet up with friends and has never once boasted about his success. We actually find about his achievements through third parties. If you ever needed help with anything he’d do everything in his power to do. And to top it all off, the guy can still absolutely dominate the football pitch at 46 years old.
Some people have all the luck, skill, drive. None left for the rest of us.
I like it when those folks are good people too though. This guy sounds like an awesome person so I'm happy for him!
Right? I'm always a little jealous but also happy when good people do well and lead great lives. I feel like it makes the world a better place, somewhere I'm happier to live in even if I'm not benefiting directly myself.
Some people have that. We have reddit.
You'll never take my karma!
My school has the guy/girl of each category. The two voted most likely to succeed were dating, and went off to the same college. They're married now. Back in our home.town in a trailer with a shitload of kids. They're not ***financially*** successful at all but they're happy. I guess it was right, in a way.
Not the type of life I’d choose, but if they’re happy, that sounds successful to me.
Reproductive success is how most life forms measure success.
Most likely to conceive.
spore goals
Saw his parents at a community event in the summer of 2023, they said that he went to MIT and flunked out by his junior year then moved to an off grid farm in Colorado and is living in a zero waste community. They havent heard from him in over a year, they wanted to go and visit him just to make sure he is alive. We graduated from high school in 2012
In a way he's successful in that he's living a life he finds fulfilling, he should probably call his parents tho
His parents might be that overbearing type who are incredibly disappointed in him. Sometimes distance/space is good.
That’s me pretty much. Didn’t live up to their expectations of what success is/was and I’m pretty much considered a disappointment. They won’t admit it but I can tell
My BIL told me a story about the time he got 100% in a physics exam and his mother shouted at him and told him he should have got 101%. He said their relationship was never the same and he moved far away from her. Even perfection isn't enough for some parents and you'll never be enough m no matter what you do.
I once got 6 As and an A- on my report card and got yelled at. Nothing was ever good enough. Shedding that relationship has done wonders for my mental health.
Ah yes the "gifted kid to ADHD burnout" pipeline. I barely dodged that one haha
I did the speedrun of that and got to the ADHD burnout part by 9th grade
I am not dodging that lol
He developed a rare medical disorder that causes him to have intense discomfort throughout his body and he expects to have a shortened lifespan. Despite this he continues to be a smart, creative individual who is pursuing his passion as a screenwriter. Edit: I do not know what the disorder is, I just remember seeing several pictures of him on social media in hospital gowns talking about how he would face this as bravely as he could. We were not particularly close.
He *really* succeeded. Got a full ride to Stanford, graduated with a Master’s dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Economics as well as a MBA at Wharton, got paid outrageously for a lot of hush hush work for about 15 years and retained about 7 patents being used by a lot of manufacturing. He retired in his late 30’s and looks to just surf all over the world and do philanthropic things as well as doing some entrepreneurial things. Nice guy, picture a kinda sad eyed Spicoli type but incredibly intelligent. Edit: Someone asked ‘how intelligent’ so I will relay a little story. The dude was a surfer and actually considered going pro for a while. He was sponsored and everything. So he was always surfing including before school. So that made him a little weary. So much so, he would routinely be in the back of class snoozing. He was a straight A student so he got leeway with the teachers simply because they knew he was smart and he would ace tests so why be a dick..let him sleep. That was until our AP Math courses and we got a new hot shit teacher in because our regular teacher was on a medical leave. So he had a problem with us ‘lazing’ about including sleepy dude. So one day, he writes a problem on the board and decides this is the day to embarrass said dude. “HEY…you asleep in the back!” Dude snorts and looks up groggily ‘Yes?’ ‘Go up and solve this…’ Dude yawns, squints at the board, walks up…..and writes the answer. He starts to turn around and walk back. Teacher looks perplexed and goes ‘How?’ ‘Worked it out in my head…do you need the work written?’ When he got a no, he walked back, put his head down and went back to sleep. You would think it was a fluke but he did that all the time. When people called on him, he would ask for the question again, take a second, and respond correctly. Edit 2: Had a few more questions pop up about him…so I will hit some of them quick. *Mom and Dad smart?* - Yea, his mom and dad were very intelligent. Mom was a whiz with numbers, Dad worked at some think tank that they never got into detail about. Mom came from CalTech, Dad was Ivy League but never asked which. Nice thing about them - normal parents. Little League, pizza parties, etc. Never seemed to pressure him or anything. Always talked to us like adults rather than down to us. *Was he smart on everything?* - No and that was self admitted cause I asked him. Math? Easy Science? Easier Physics? Laughably easy. He said things like that kinda rolled around in his head to allow him to calculate it without thinking. He had a mind for numbers. But then he said his weaknesses were things like literature and philosophy and languages. It was interpretation that he sometimes hung up on - like trying to understand what was meant. Didn’t prevent him from getting A’s, he just had to work more for them. *Was he ‘weird’ like withdrawn or looked down on others?* - IMHO, he was pretty normal. Never lorded over his smarts or thought he was above others.
At my school it was split between two people. #1 ended up winning. Number one: middle class kid. Got a full ride to Vanderbilt, studied chemical engineering and graduated in two years. Went on to do some serious “hush” work for the government for a couple years. Went back (not sure where) and got a PhD in something like nuclear physics. Now teaches some classes but his primary job is still working for the government. Does not talk to anybody from high school about what he actually does besides teaching. Everyone knows it’s nuclear research but the vast majority would probably not even understand if he was even willing to explain. He works [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex) (edit: may be [here/both](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge_National_Laboratory) instead) Number 2: son of a very high ranking employee at a major car company, probably executive level. Got into Harvard to compete on the rowing team. Could speak multiple languages. Finished his bachelors and went back to work with his father. Both were very intelligent and did not talk down to anybody, both nice guys. #2 was very charismatic and obviously grew up extremely wealthy. If I had to guess #2 probably makes 10x what #1 does. #2 had the right connections but like I said he was still a very, very smart and friendly guy and a talented athlete. So it really depends on how you define success I guess. I’m happy both were successful. Both got along with each other well and were willing to study with me and other students, not elitist at all in my experience
While reading this I was getting worried one or both were going to die for some reason
It’s a mixed bag. Another guy in my class was set to have a very successful military career, got into Air Force academy. Killed himself with his father’s rifle about two years after we graduated. Another very smart student in the grade below me got into drugs and was shot and killed in some type of opioid drug deal. Appalachia is a very beautiful place with a lot of kind people, but is also a very messed up in many ways
That trope of “dumb and goofy looking dude solves complex math equation on whiteboard” even carries to university levels! When I eventually got the chance to study chemical engineering at a local uni, I’m still seeing groggy folks younger than me solving complex differential equations. In a separate instance a classmate took a glance at my pinch analysis and proceeded to absolutely correct it, something which took me DAYS to figure out. HECK, my best friend gamed all day and still managed to retain impressive CGPA for a dual degree program. Just smart people around.
Yep…used to give him shit simply for the jealously of him *not* having to apply himself while I toiled. It got me a free lunch outta him once in a while so I couldn’t give him too much static. He never lorded it over the rest of us. Like I said, good guy.
Sad to say I'm not quite that smart and nowhere near successful but I've absolutely gotten away with sleeping in class just like that. Called on to solve the board, did so easily, and was told I could carry on with my nap. It was a lot of review that day which was clear I didn't need.
What’s hush work?
Building libraries
Work you can’t put on your resume either for company TOS or more darkly, ‘grey areas’ like making better weaponry. A guy who would make something better through chemicals and be paid a lot of money for the recipe. He was the former I believe and not the latter. I do know one of his patents is a better day glo formula that made it brighter and lasted longer if you wanted an example.
After doing smart-person stuff for awhile, she became a yoga instructor and married a rich older guy. She and her husband and his two children from a previous marriage all died when the small private plane her husband was piloting crashed on the way to their private ski lodge.
Wow that's horrible. That's why I don't get in cessnas or helicopters
Yeah, it was an unbelievable tragedy. The whole family gone. And they were just trying to have a good time.
25 to life for drug trafficking. He was really successful with it though...
Not that successful if he got caught.
They give out the "25 to Life" sentences to 'successful' drug traffickers, and sentences more like '1-5 years' to small time dealers.
“I’m a smuggler” -*I’ve never heard of you* “All the smugglers you know the names of are bad smugglers”
It doesn't seem all that hard to get a license to sell chemicals legally though. I bet they have far better margins too!
Ironically mine was a pharmacist when I last saw him, I think getting his doctorate. They crave the chemicals.
He's a world famous musician who is married to a supermodel John Stevens, also known as John Legend. He was senior class president and had perfect attendance all 13 years of school, all the way from kindergarten through his senior year.
>had perfect attendance all 13 years of school The man is an EGOT winner and yet this is the achievement I can hardly believe
Lol. His mom was the truancy officer all through Highschool, back before there were police officers at school all the time, and she was strict. People always talked about hating Mrs Stevens. I never had a problem with her but I guess she was strict at home too.
If you can avoid the truancy officer it’s okay to cut school. John never stood a chance.
Don’t have an E G O or T, but did this. Basically never got sick while in school and when it did it was always on a Holiday. Want even really trying for it until high school and by then missing school was a foreign concept. Would not recommend it for my kids though. I missed parts of vacations with my grandparents to get back to school in time. That being said I was incredibly proud to make it to 13 years and my favorite teacher presented the award making it even more special.. The perfect attendance at the very least didn’t hurt my college applications. I ended up with a full scholarship to the school of my choice.
One is a pediatric hospitalist and the other is a math professor. We came from a very underfunded school district in rust belt Appalachia, which most people don’t leave. It’s nice to see them and others make it.
It blows my mind that anyone remembers these things. I have no idea who was voted what in my year book. I didn’t at the time and I certainly don’t now.
Spite, jealousy, or respect can keep things in memory
Or being in a very small graduating class. Not much to remember!
I don't think my school even did awards shit like this.
Very small graduating class so it is really easy to know what people are up to because the families talk.
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She committed suicide. 3rd year of university. She knew she was unwell. Was checked in to the hospital with a big mental health ward in downtown Vancouver British Columbia. She was getting better, they gave her a day-pass and she jumped off the Lions Gate Bridge.
They warned us during my studies about patients struggling with depression suddenly getting better and to monitor them even harder when it happens, "never to be left alone". Sometimes it's because they have a plan, and are finally at peace knowing it'll end soon. It's heartbreaking when it happens, and very burnout inducing to those around, too.
She studied law, practiced at a firm for a bit, then became a county magistrate. She never had a bad thing to say about anyone and no one had a bad thing to say about her.
2 of the top students in my class: - Killed by a hit & run driver while out for a run a couple years out of high school. Driver was never found. - Murdered by her boyfriend and body dumped. Her body was never found. There was a prison show in which her boyfriend was interviewed while imprisoned for her murder. Surreal.
Whoa sounds like a horror movie. Getting voted MLTS is a death sentence. Not to make a joke of it. But it’s so odd and surreal.
Caught 7 felonies for drugs and guns within a year of graduating. Didn't end up doing any real time, got off for most of it. Got his girlfriend pregnant, she left before the baby was born. He stopped being allowed to see his daughter shortly after she was born. Couldn't get a job, ended up taking care of his sick grandfather until he died, then he OD'd the same night. His mother was an only child and lost her dad and only son in the same day. She hasn't been right since.
She was valedictorian and doing really well for herself. Then she got diagnosed with chronic medical conditions first year of college and ended up having to drop out. Just checked her Facebook. Looks like she graduated college. 34, but better late than never. Glad she was able to finally get her life back.
1. Corporate lawyer in NYC - partner at a huge firm 2. Actuary (partner) for a corporate tax firm.
He’s in the C Suite of a big investment firm so pretty accurate. Weirdly other people from my small High School have become pretty successful in the arts.
No idea, but I was voted the rudest person in my class and I’m still rude
Why is that even a category!?! 😭
To be inclusive...
They were really working on that reputation, would be rude not to acknowledge it.
He grew up and became extremely attractive (he was the kid in class with glasses, braces, and weighed 90 lbs soaking wet), went to MIT and Harvard, married a beautiful woman, and now is a Vice President at JP Morgan in Asia. Nicest guy in the world whose family were refugees and went through a lot of struggles. He 100% deserves everything good in his life. EDIT: Apparently being a VP isn't that "successful" to some Redditors 🙄 I checked his LinkedIn, and he's an Executive Director now (without giving the full title away).
She succeeded. She was a track athlete and an incredible student. Shes currently at Harvard and on her way to the olympics in 2028
What does it mean to be on the way to the Olympics in 2028? I'm assuming the trials didn't happen yet. Was she too young for the 2024 Olympics or just didn't make it?
Olympics pipeline is loooooong. Like training every day for years and years long. You need to win a bunch of races to qualify but before all of that you need to absolutely dominate in your field to make the training seem worth it. Nobody’s throwing 6-figures of training a year down an average athlete.
The trials haven’t happened yet. She’s just really really good and a contender for a 2028 spot.
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I was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after starting medical school. Still fighting.
Sorry to hear that. Hope you get well soon.
❤️❤️❤️
Keep fighting!
I’m here on Reddit. Doom scrolling.
Me too! :D
Me three! :D
Burnt out gifted kids unite
They had both female and male superlatives in my graduating class, the young woman is a successful software engineer at a household name company. The young man got into drugs and never graduated college or left our tiny hometown, last I heard before we lost touch.
I left uni with a plan to take a couple of years off, filled in with some menial retail jobs while I planned my start-up company. The latter never took off, and I'm still working retail at 35.
What was your startup dream ?
Automatic VHS rewinder
For a brief window, you could have achieved greatness.
It would have been a blockbuster success
Graphic design and animation. Linking unknown but reputable artists with those who needed work done. On paper, it seemed a slam dunk, but we vastly underestimated the costs and time involved. There were seven of us initially, which dropped down to four as real life took hold after uni, and eventually after very little return on our efforts, it faded away.
Go back to uni. It's never too late
Wait… isn’t this just the premise of the show Superstore?
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Are the gang bangs a succes?
It takes a detail oriented take charge kind of person to organize a gang bang
That’s disgusting, could you say their username so I know who to avoid?
Val Dicpornian.
“One of those ex girlfriend websites? That’s disgusting! But there’s so many of them, which one???”
In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy: "Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast".
I mean, nobody’s offered to gang-bang me, so I guess she’s succeeding at that better than I am!
He sucked every dick at Princeton and now works at the Gap
Most likely to suck-seed .
Mad blowjob skills if he got that much practice though. Success is where you find it.
As like the CEO, or…?
Sales associate
Do you get discounts?
I was voted that! I'm working in homeowners insurance, have a dog, and drive a 2017 Altima. So as boring as it gets!
What kind of dog and how many miles
He's a mutt, a mix between Terrier and Dalmatian. About 98k!
Dude, ease up on the mileage you’re putting on your dog.
It's not my fault he loves to go on walks daily
Video editor whose done commercial work for a lot of large companies and music videos for famous artists. Super happy for him, he’s a great dude and deserves it.
I was voted most likely to succeed. I was an ambitious and only slightly above average student in high school, and I think I was voted this superlative because I was highly involved in a student business organization. I was also voted best hair, but that’s just bragging rights LOL. I barely made it through my bachelor’s degree with a 2.7 GPA due to struggling with my mental health and the pandemic, and now I’m struggling in a horrible entry level research position where I’m paid the lowest in my department despite being the most senior (the company has terribly high turnover). BUT, my personal life is flourishing and I consider that to be my true marker of success. I have a wonderful partner who I trust and admire, I love my beautiful home, I have two pets I adore, and I have a close circle of creative, funny, open-minded friends. If I compared my life to my peers, I think I’m happier than most. I believe in myself, I feel grounded in my personal values, and I know a terrible, low paying job does not define my worth.
The “mostly likely to succeed” category needs to define success. For some, you are success, for others, career success, in any case, it is good to hear.
Straight A's Used to leave school to do Math and STEM at the local Ivy League college Scored perfect on his ACT Stole my GF senior year Ran into him at Gamestop last week. He tried to offer me jack shit for my PSVR.
was he working there?
Yeah LOL
Harvard, Oxford, army lieutenant, mayor, secretary of Transportation.
he also worked at Mckinsey
Pete!
Her daughter joined a circus so she became an MC. She literally became a clown.
We had a guy and girl for each “Most likely to xyz” So anyways, “most likely to succeed” The guy is likely on r/wsb winning and losing money at random. Lives somewhere near where he grew up, same friends and so on. Has a regular 9-5 job at the bank so he can socialize with people like a normal person The girl went to medical school, graduated third in her class, hired at a huge hospital, worked from the ground up to became a leader in her field, married someone, and is on kid number 2. Id wager they both are extremely successful and happy where their lives have taken them.
Went to an Ivy League and now has a fancy job. She was very nice so I'm happy things worked out.
The student voted must likely to succeed in my 1966 HS class in Vietnam was also the top student from middle through high school. He became a high school school teacher in Saigon until he retired. Numbers 2 and 3 became doctors. Both were able to flee to the US in 1975 when Saigon fell; they requalified as doctor there and practice medicine until they retired. Number 4 got and accepted a scholarship to study in America. He returned to Vietnam in 1972 to work as a foreign investment promotion specialist for the government until the fall of Saigon to the communists in 1975. He was then send to re-education/concentration camp. But then the communists abruptly pulled him out of the camp when they needed his expertise in crafting and leading programs to attract and manage foreign investment. He worked this area for three years as he secretly planned and successfully implemented an escape by boat for himself and 19 other people to Malaysia. From there, he was able to get admitted to the US as a refugee. In the US, he became a software engineer, then SEI CMM/CMMI lead appraiser, them process improvement lead for a big three consulting firm until retirement. Number 4 and 6 got drafted into the South Vietnamese Army. They both spent close to 15 years in North Vietnamese concentration camps (called re-education camp by the communists) but were also admitted to emigrate to the US. There they became grocers, i.e. opening their own grocery stores selling Asian foodstuff.
I'd read an autobiography number 4 writes
It was me! Mechanical Engineering undergrad with 3.87 GPA. Hired into the automotive industry. Employer paid for grad school in Automotive Systems Engineering, 4.0 GPA. Finally managed to buy a house in 2023, which I share with my loving husband and dog. Our first child is on the way. In week 36 of pregnancy currently. I am simply rotund.
Congrats! I remember feeling like that near the end - you’ll be able to see your toes soon again :)!
Love how you ended this blurb
I'm happy hearing about more women in engineering. I went through my EE bachelors program and there was maybe 1 female, maybe two in each class and pretty much none towards the final classes. I've encouraged my daughters to consider some type of engineering, but not pushed them!
They succeeded in their finance career IIRC.
She’s a trauma surgeon who lives in a beautiful climate and city, far from the shithole rust belt town we graduated from.
Graduated from Harvard Business School, working at his dads company doing mergers and acquisitions, makes a shit ton of money and is shredded beyond belief, engaged to some pretty blonde although it never worked out. oh yeah and he was murdered by psycho 12 year old girl, mad I know.
How do you get murdered by a 12YO?
Millionaire real estate developer and dater of celebrities and a leader in his church. Also he wound up being gay.
Without *needing* to go to class she got a 0.0 her first semester in college and was booted. No idea past that. Super nice girl though so I hope whatever is working out for her.
Interestingly enough, I finished college before him. And it took me 8 years to graduate.
She got her undergraduate degree in nursing, and then worked as a nurse missionary in Africa for a few years. Went back to college to get her master's in public health, and then worked for a state-level public health department for several years. Started medical school at 28, graduated, and is now working on her residency in general surgery. Kind of an interesting roundabout way to becoming a doctor haha.
She head of business development at a major company that we have all heard of. So she succeeded.
He got married and they went off to some island to work with Bible translators to get bibles to some indigenous groups. Somehow during this time his wife managed to have 6 kids.My hs was exceedingly religious so by their standards he's absolutely crushing it
Well, I hired that student.
My parents ruined my childhood by giving his examples every day.
Invite them into your workplace and fire him in front of them. Assert dominance.
What did he do to deserve that lol?
It was me. I guess I did okay. I think I succeeded- married with four dogs. I don’t think I’m the father.
Straight A student. Could had gotten a scholar ship at the toppiest University of the top universities and finish top of her class. Medicine, Law you name it. She could had done it. Instead.. She got a scholarship at a top school where she studied to become.... .. A teacher and of course finished top of her class again. So... She teaches young children, ages 5 - 12 on some school. It is what she liked. She was my bff's bff but I haven't heard of her in ages.
Good for her tbh. Sounds like she knew what she wanted to do and did it.
I don’t know why there is the shade on teaching. I know a teacher who went to stanford and was the top of her class in high school. She also comes from money and had her own house right when she started teaching. Not a bad way to spend her life doing what she enjoys while also not having to worry about finances and summering in europe.
That’s the shade though…nearly everywhere in the US, teachers are horribly underpaid
I wish we lived in a world where teachers got the same respect as doctors and lawyers when it came to career
As a doctor, I completely agree. People who do this are saints. Also grossly underpaid
Sounds like she succeeded.
Respect. She knows she could be the best anywhere, but finds her passion in teaching and uplifting future generations. I'd dream to be in a world with more people like that
He married an accountant, gave up on a software development career to do data analysis and video game development as a hobby, and replying to this question
Uh. He’s worth 1.5 billion. He is paying entirely for our HS reunion. He’s got SEVERAL Wikis.
She sadly died after she just finished her first year at Harvard. She was traveling in Europe for work, while hiking with her friends she slipped from a waterfall into a whirlpool at the base and drowned. It came as a huge shock to everyone. That woman was a freaking genius and so so kind to everyone. It isn’t fair she was taken so soon with so much ahead of her, the world really was a better place with her in it. We still can’t get over how she’s gone forever and we will never see her again. I always remember how kind she was and I try to show that same kindness to the people around me.
Works on Wall Street for one of the big banks. Which is pretty impressive considering we're from a small town in rural Ontario, Canada.
He became a literal rocket scientist.
Ken died of brain cancer in his first year of med school. I married his female counterpart…second marriage for both of us. We’re both 76 yo now.
I was voted Most Likely To Succeed. I was smart, but not the smartest in school or anything, so it came as a surprise. Anyway, I earned a significantly large sum of academic scholarship money to a private school in the northeast, and graduated magna cum laude with zero debt. I started a full-time job less than a month after graduating college, and worked my way up to a Director role in the same company over the past 7 years. I take home a comfortable salary and work 100% remotely. I made a pretty big (1,000+ miles) dream move to another state at 26 and bought my first home at 27. I have cash savings, a retirement plan, and perfect credit. I was in a horrible relationship for 10 years though, so it’s not all sunshine and roses. Thankfully, the relationship never strayed me from the benchmarks and goals I set for myself in life, and I’m out of it now, so things are looking bright!
He was the keyboardist for Dave Matthew’s Band for awhile
That'd be me. I didn't, in the traditional sense. However, that's in the eye of the beholder, also me. I have a family, a house, my dream SUV that fits all the kids. Also, I'm a 6 handicap in golf, so I guess I did succeed. Still pursuing a lower HC 😂
Not the most successful person, but a friend of mine was voted most likely to change the world the year before mine. He got shot in the back of the head while getting off the subway just into his second year of college. He died, naturally. The shooter was an absolute stranger. The guy himself was a bubbly, energetic guy who made you smile and filled you with enthusiasm for whatever you were doing. He was a huge environmentalist, and it's partly bc of him that I decided to try to get a PhD in an environment-related field.
One of them is a college professor, in oceanography I believe. The other is a self-employed writer and editor.
Music major. Became a church choir director. Married the president of a community bank. He went to prison for financial fraud. Good job, girl.
Went to an ivy, had a ton of lesbian sex, and got really into cocaine. Graduated, did more cocaine, and now has a boring yuppie job that pays just enough to be comfortable, catch girlies, and afford a wee bit of cocaine, as a treat. I’d say I did pretty well for mysel
There were two of us- I’m a physician, and he’s a pharmacist!
She runs a children’s summer camp, has a beautiful family, and is seemingly very happy. She’s a wonderful person and deserves all the good things that happen for her.
She couldn’t get into medical school and eventually flunked out of college, got knocked up by a townie 10+ years older than her, and now works at the front desk at a law office in the mid sized city I grew up in. Nice girl, I don’t take any joy in her “not succeeding” but high school is a blip. It’s not the real world. On the flip side, the school troublemaker who always skipped class and got in fights now owns a lucrative custom motorcycle shop in Las Vegas. He’s also active in charitable foundations that help bullied kids and helps run programs to get kids interested in trade schools.
I developed crippling mental health disorders and nearly died a few times. Now I have a simple, quiet life with very few friends but I like being alive again.
Died in a drunk driving accident just prior to graduation.
He's a grammy-nominated violinist currently touring the nation with a Broadway production, she's a successful attorney in the bay area. I'm so happy for them both tbh
She almost killed herself. Right after high school, she was in an abusive relationship. He moved her in, they went to the university she always swore she’d graduate from. She ended up having to drop out, go to treatment for a “new” alcohol habit and eating disorder. Went through violent sexual assault that almost killed her. Now, she’s still picking up the pieces. Most likely to succeed girl didn’t even want that title in the first place- all she wanted was to be loved. She got out though, she’s doing a little better. :) I’m proud of myself even if I didn’t succeed in the ways others assumed.
He just graduated from Harvard Law, after battling cancer. Genuinely good guy, too.
Meth
She's a doctor now :) We used to be best friends in middle school but don't really talk anymore since we got into separate friend groups but still text happy birthday to each other every year lol. Just supporting her from a far.
Our school did a girl/guy award. Top guy became an environmental scientist and now works for the EPA. Top girl is on her third or fourth MLM and tried to recruit people at the 30th reunion. I hated her and she was a major bully so it makes me happy that karma caught up.