Anonymous wrote:A student, music prodigy. Parents divorced before hs graduation, no college money, community college teachers sucked and destroyed my love of music. Got a BA with loans, was doing well in the mid-70's in DC in my 20's. Married wrong guy (abusive), stayed at home for 3 years and was mommy tracked. Now waiting tables at 37 trying to piece my life together after a horrible divorce.

I have hope my life will be fine and I will still be successful and happy. Just going to take some more work.

It will be. Just don't give up.

B+ student. I have not had a Hall of Fame career. But a number of great situations with some awesome people that were worth living.

Anonymous wrote:Graduated in the third quarter (B average without putting in minimal effort) at a prestigious private high school. Went to top state school, put forth little to no effort (but had a lot of fun), graduated with a 2.7. Worked on Capitol Hill for a few years, aced the LSAT, graduated from law school cum laude and now 10 years later and work in house as an attorney, make over $200k, have a decent work/life balance and lots of upwards potential.

Had to be tough (impossible?) to get into a top 14 law program with the GPA? You go to GW Law? Any advice in that regard?

C student. Undiagnosed ADD. GT program but nearly failed 8th grade. I have a life that many people would be very happy with, but it’s not what I wanted and I have no control over it. Finished a BA but only had unrelated jobs, not a career. C in undergrad too, so no grad school in my future. I feel stuck and powerless.

Anonymous wrote:C student in high school (a total slacker)
A student in college
A student in grad school
Very successful in STEM field

I suspect your SAT/ACT (and AP Exam) scores teased out some intelligence when you were getting Cs?

Graduated in the third quarter (B average without putting in minimal effort) at a prestigious private high school. Went to top state school, put forth little to no effort (but had a lot of fun), graduated with a 2.7. Worked on Capitol Hill for a few years, aced the LSAT, graduated from law school cum laude and now 10 years later and work in house as an attorney, make over $200k, have a decent work/life balance and lots of upwards potential.

I was an A student in HS, college, grad school. Highly perfectionistic. Was in a creative field and had talent but wanted stability more than I wanted to chase creative success. Pursued my other passion of helping people and now teach. Very happy now, married, two kids, time to pursue my hobbies and enjoy life. Not rich but comfortably middle class. I feel like I kind of escaped from a different path that would have made me less happy. My high achieving nature is still there and helps me succeed but I didn’t make it the centerpiece of my life and a, personally much less anxious and more happy now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A student. Got a PhD, very personally fulfilling but not so much financially. Will not be encouraging my kids to do the same, though it's a little sad tobsay that.

Same here.

Same

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A student. Got a PhD, very personally fulfilling but not so much financially. Will not be encouraging my kids to do the same, though it's a little sad tobsay that.

Same here.

I'm a college professor with an advanced degree in a medical field. I have three kids and one is absolutely destined to be a PHD. The other two will probably make more money!

A+ student athlete (3 sport varsity) in rigorous high school. I took the hardest course load.

Because my family was very poor I went to a state school (the one known to be for smart kids back then) and completely floundered. I didn’t realize how easy it would be. I had way too much time on my hands. I stopped going to class because it was so dull. My grades slipped.

I then transferred to the most challenging program I could find and was a 4.0 student again. But I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to be. Finished 2 and a 3/4 bachelor degrees. Towards the end I learned how to just get the mundane work done. I was 33. Had 2 kids by then. Decided to teach.

Anonymous wrote:A student, music prodigy. Parents divorced before hs graduation, no college money, community college teachers sucked and destroyed my love of music. Got a BA with loans, was doing well in the mid-70's in DC in my 20's. Married wrong guy (abusive), stayed at home for 3 years and was mommy tracked. Now waiting tables at 37 trying to piece my life together after a horrible divorce.

I have hope my life will be fine and I will still be successful and happy. Just going to take some more work.

You’ll be great.

A student, music prodigy. Parents divorced before hs graduation, no college money, community college teachers sucked and destroyed my love of music. Got a BA with loans, was doing well in the mid-70's in DC in my 20's. Married wrong guy (abusive), stayed at home for 3 years and was mommy tracked. Now waiting tables at 37 trying to piece my life together after a horrible divorce.

I have hope my life will be fine and I will still be successful and happy. Just going to take some more work.

HS: first half at public MOCO in GT classes, second half at a local non-competitive private. B+ avg.
Undergrad #1: Went to 2 different colleges before ending up at an ivy & graduating with a B+ in Architecture. Never used that degree - but took Japanese as my foreign language. Went to Japan to teach English, then NYC to work as a Japanese translator for a business publication.
MBA: went to a very prestigious program in France. Mediocre student.
Returned to NYC & worked as a Fortune 500 exec. Moderately successful before getting married to an attorney, becoming a SAHM & moving to DC.
Undergrad #2: After years of volunteer work, went back to school to become a nurse. Worked as an RN for 5y before retiring & expatriating.

Current: DH & I are both retired & still (barely) in our 40’s. Living in a sunny, lovely place that has a relatively low COL. Traveling, learning languages, helping DS w homework, hanging out w friends, taking on new hobbies (sailing, ceramics, etc). This is the life of my dreams.

Anonymous wrote:A student. Got a PhD, very personally fulfilling but not so much financially. Will not be encouraging my kids to do the same, though it's a little sad tobsay that.

Same here.

Wealthy


Reading in first grade is merely decoding at an early age and no indication of long term intellectual prowess. While you are at it get you eight year old on a travel lacrosse team, a scholarship to UVA, and a MLB signing bonus as well.