What happened to the 'popular kids' from your high school?

[Anonymous]

I've lost track of most people from HS but my mom occasionally updates me on the comings and goings in my hometown.
Popular Girl 1: moved to SC, graduated from our state U, works in medical device sales, and has metastatic breast cancer. She was insanely popular, but also a very nice person.
Popular Girl 2: moved to Nashville and is a very successful entrepreneur. She owns skin care studios. No real college, just cosmetology school but she's become very successful and looks amazing.
Popular Boy 1: quit college the first week, works on a farm.
Most people are involved with working normal, blue-collar jobs, raising families and, at this point, starting to enjoy their grandchildren.

[Anonymous]

girl 1 - valedictorian. became a nurse. married a plastic surgeon (also valedictorian). very wealthy. became SAHM and homeschooled 5 kids, who are all doctors or dentists now.

girl 2 - became a lawyer. married. no kids.

the boys ... none of the boys really stick out as popular to me. they all seemed kind of the same except the pot heads. pot head group all have kind of crummy jobs.

boy1 - area head of a homebuilding company, so he's doing well. married. several kids.

boy2 - was a caddy and is now a fishing guide. he turned out to be not such a great catch. never married and not gay (that i know of).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Played in the NFL but then went to prison.

Michael Vick?

No, this guy did something worse, got a longer sentence, and is still in prison.

[Anonymous]

Nerdy kids did the best for sure from my high school - in both careers and relationships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nerdy kids did the best for sure from my high school - in both careers and relationships.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many went to to Ivies; all went to college and became professionals. Good to see them at reunions; some have already retired (especially the ones who became teachers). Just had our 45th reunion.

The women gained weight' the men went bald. You know, people.

Maybe we went to school together! I went to a local Big 3 and also had my 45th recently. Most people in the class, popular or not, did pretty well. No Romy or Michele’s that I remember.

[Anonymous]

Small Catholic school in Pittsburgh:

one overdose

one arrested for selling drugs, prison, but a housewife at the moment

one expelled just before graduation for telling a pregnant teacher he hoped her baby would die, involved with Italian mafia family's illegal casino business, arrested for attempted murder when he tried (and failed) to blow up somebody's vehicle re: some kind of personal conflict (over a girlfriend?)

one who published a novel (not self-published, actually published, and blurbed by Stephen king) based on our dysfunctional Catholic school and its corrupt priest who was arrested after our graduation.

Good times!

[Anonymous]

Thinking of the 4 most popular kids in my small rural Virginia high school class: all are solidly middle class now. All went to college, which was not a given in that time and place. Two still live in the general region.
Most interesting is the most popular girl. She was not very academically inclined, partied more than most of us, and was in general a pretty frivolous person. She became an elementary teacher and is apparently FABULOUS at her job—wins awards, speaks at conferences, is truly beloved. I think the extroversion and confidence that made her popular in high school have contributed to her success as a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh, one thing I noticed is that a lot of the mid tier boys in particular went on to get super cushy jobs in finance and are richer than most of the HS smarties. Not surprising in retrospect. Can’t really say whether they were popular tho but they probably were.

Not entirely surprising - people think that Ivy undergrad, Ivy grad is the path to riches when it’s really state school business undergrad, get in with a big company in their management training program, state school MBA, C-suite exec at big company by your mid-late 40s. People on here were shocked that the UHC CEO who was killed went to, like, University of Iowa or something but that’s more the norm than Yale/Harvard MBA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh, one thing I noticed is that a lot of the mid tier boys in particular went on to get super cushy jobs in finance and are richer than most of the HS smarties. Not surprising in retrospect. Can’t really say whether they were popular tho but they probably were.

Did you go to a private high school or to a top public high school in a suburb like Scarsdale or Palo Alto where people were already relatively connected and savvy about things like finance jobs?

Most of the mid people from my high school that was outside of these areas did not fare that well or get cushy jobs, and the cushy job kids are the few who got out and went to law school/ivy/etc.

[Anonymous]

My bully was a 6’2 popular football player. I was a 5’2 girl. I don't know why he targeted me. He is now a corporate executive who spent much of his career living abroad with his family. He seems successful and happy. I hope he taught his kids better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently got dinner with an old friend from high school. We were reminiscing about our high school days and started discussing the 'popular kids' who made us feel so insecure at the time and were somewhat mean. We realized that very few of them ended up doing much of anything, for example:

Girl 1: Never graduated college, works various part time jobs.
Girl 2: Despite always having a serious BF throughout HS/College (who always gave her elaborate promposals, fancy gifts, etc.) is unmarried - posts ad nauseam about various men and her relationships that never seem to last long.

It makes me realize how silly it was to care about these things back then.

What are the popular kids from your school days up to now?

You sound mean. The popular kids from my school are doing well. The guys a variety of careers some making more money than others. The girls are varying. Some had a career and then stayed on with their kids and others still working. The kids who struggled socially all seem to be fine. The kids who abused drugs did not fare well. Some are dead and I know of 1 in prison for drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently got dinner with an old friend from high school. We were reminiscing about our high school days and started discussing the 'popular kids' who made us feel so insecure at the time and were somewhat mean. We realized that very few of them ended up doing much of anything, for example:

Girl 1: Never graduated college, works various part time jobs.
Girl 2: Despite always having a serious BF throughout HS/College (who always gave her elaborate promposals, fancy gifts, etc.) is unmarried - posts ad nauseam about various men and her relationships that never seem to last long.

It makes me realize how silly it was to care about these things back then.

What are the popular kids from your school days up to now?

Most popular girl is a tv personality married to another producer for last 30 years. Looks successful and happy.

Most popular guy is an MD working as an executive for a healthcare company.

Second most popular guy is widowed and still working for family business. Second most popular girl is professionally successful but thrice divorced and complains of loneliness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, one thing I noticed is that a lot of the mid tier boys in particular went on to get super cushy jobs in finance and are richer than most of the HS smarties. Not surprising in retrospect. Can’t really say whether they were popular tho but they probably were.

Did you go to a private high school or to a top public high school in a suburb like Scarsdale or Palo Alto where people were already relatively connected and savvy about things like finance jobs?

Most of the mid people from my high school that was outside of these areas did not fare that well or get cushy jobs, and the cushy job kids are the few who got out and went to law school/ivy/etc.

I know what you're talking about and it's true. Finance is a huge world, much better with many more niche areas than people may realize. It's not just Wall Street investment banking. And parents who work in finance can provide the knowledge to their kids for how to tap into this world and have a career that's relatively high paying without being too stressful. As long as you're competent. That's why so many UMC boys repeat their father's career because it's a pretty decent route to a good life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most popular girl in my Midwestern high school moved to Hollywood and became a wedding planner to the stars!

Most popular guy moved to NYC and acts on soaps!

Love both of those trajectories for them.

This too for my grad year! he has always had that "perfect for close-ups face."

Most popular girl still utterly beautiful, has lived in Europe for 20+ years and is very successful.