How did the people you know in high school turn out?

[Boglehead213]

I met one of the pretty girls from high school and she still looks good! She's in a job she hates though and seems a bit lonely and bummed out. Guess the stereotype of the pretty girl turning ugly wasn't true in this case.

On the other hand, one of the nerds became an investment banker and made BANK during the crisis and cashed out at the exact right time. He lives in a mansion in SF.

What about you guys?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boglehead213 I met one of the pretty girls from high school and she still looks good! She's in a job she hates though and seems a bit lonely and bummed out. Guess the stereotype of the pretty girl turning ugly wasn't true in this case. On the other hand, one of the nerds became an investment banker and made BANK during the crisis and cashed out at the exact right time. He lives in a mansion in SF. What about you guys?

I haven't gone to any of my reunions, but I do read the alumni publications. I have classmates who are members of Congress, well known authors, wildly successful businessmen such as a grocery store chain owner, several professors and teachers, a minister, a mayor, an insurance agent, a high school principal....

.... and then there is one who has spent her life in Key West, making jewelry.

[REWahoo]

25% of my HS class were deceased before age 65. Those of us who are still above ground I consider highly successful with the exception of one who is serving a term of 465 years in prison.

Correction: He was sentenced to a total of 1,225 years on 21 counts, but the sentences are concurrent so he'll be out in only 75 years - at the age of 135. Even better, he could be eligible for parole when he's 97.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo 25% of my HS class were deceased before age 65. Those of us who are still above ground I consider highly successful with the exception of one who is serving a term of 465 years in prison.

Yep, I would say that 465 years in prison qualifies as a serioius crash and burn...

We had quite a few that are deceased by now, also.

[justplainbll]

The one I see most regularly is a retired grade school teacher collecting a $69K pension. When we go to a restaurant he either asks for separate checks or goes through the bill with a fine tooth comb to calculate his share.

[FIREd]

Hard to tell, as I have not kept in touch with many HS classmates. I know that my best friend has become a teacher in China and another good friend has created a very successful venture capital firm. I have also heard of a few who became engineers.

[Midpack]

I know more about people I went to college with, but a few of my high school classmates gained some notoriety - one a large city much beloved news anchor, one a CEO of a major company everyone knows of and one (though not my class) US Speaker of the House...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack [...]and one (though not my class) US Speaker of the House...

One of mine (though not my class) is President of the United States of America. However, he is so much younger than me that I never laid eyes on him (even though Punahou goes from K-12). Oh well. Consequently I have no insights to provide.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boglehead213 I met one of the pretty girls from high school and she still looks good! She's in a job she hates though and seems a bit lonely and bummed out. Guess the stereotype of the pretty girl turning ugly wasn't true in this case. On the other hand, one of the nerds became an investment banker and made BANK during the crisis and cashed out at the exact right time. He lives in a mansion in SF. What about you guys?

The girl you saw still looks good. What about the nerd, how does he look?

Wow, I haven't seen anyone from high school in at least 30 years nor heard about anyone.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R One of mine (though not my class) is President of the United States of America. However, he is so much younger than me that I never laid eyes on him (even though Punahou goes from K-12). Oh well. Consequently I have no insights to provide.

Presently running for a second term...

[Lisa99]

I had a graduating class of 42 and the most successful is a partner in a software firm, so compared to some of you my class didn't make much of a dent in the world.

[MasterBlaster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo 25% of my HS class were deceased before age 65. Those of us who are still above ground I consider highly successful with the exception of one who is serving a term of 465 years in prison. Correction: He was sentenced to a total of 1,225 years on 21 counts, but the sentences are concurrent so he'll be out in only 75 years - at the age of 135. Even better, he could be eligible for parole when he's 97.

Your 25 % gone number was a suprisingly high number. I pulled up the Social Security Actuary table. That table shows that at 65 years old, 79.3% of the men are left and 87.2 % of the women are still breathing.

The actuary table also shows that 75% of the men remain at just under 68 years of age. For women that age is just over 74.

Life is short - enjoy the ride while you can !

[WhoDaresWins]

I have kept in touch to varying degrees with a small group of high school friends and I think they have all done well in life: 2 registered nurses, a retired big city police officer, a priest, a psychiatrist, an internist, an owner of a home health agency, a high school math teacher, and a mining engineer.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterBlaster Your 25 % gone number was a suprisingly high number.

We are an above average class...

Of the 19 deceased members of our class of 75 there are 11 men and 8 women, reasonably average statistically. Most deaths were due to typical illnesses or complications thereof - cancer, heart disease, diabetes. One guy was stabbed to death in prison, another was struck and killed by lightning while plowing his garden on a tractor.

[scrabbler1]

I did not stay in touch with anyone from HS (class of 1981) except for two people over the years. One is a partner in a NYC law firm. I have learned about a few others of the ~400 in my graduating class. One is the First Lady of my county, married to the county executive (who graduated from my HS a year before I did) and editor of the village's newspaper. Another, who was a bully and my biggest enemy in my childhood, committed suicide in 1994. Two others are teachers in our old high school. Others have had an assortment of occupations from what I read in an alumni compilation I got hold of about 11 years ago.

[pb4uski]

I recall observing at my last reunion about 5 years ago that (for the most part) the women were aging more gracefully than the men were.

[Amethyst]

A boy who bullied me and made my life miserable, and got terrible grades and never went to college, is now ER'd and does whatever he likes - his parents left money. And he is still thin, still has hair, has been married to the same woman since 1985, and has beautiful kid, to boot. I only hope he got some kind of comeuppance that nobody knows about, because otherwise I am going to stop believing in Karma!

Amethyst

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrabbler1 Another, who was a bully and my biggest enemy in my childhood, committed suicide in 1994.

[Avalon]

I doubt many of my old classmates would be very impressed with how I turned out.
I've only stayed in touch with two of my old buds. One went to work for Southwestern Bell right out of high school and retired at age 50.
The other enlisted in the Navy at about the same time I did and was wounded in the fire aboard the carrier Forrestal. He went on to be a successful freelance photographer.

[tmob]

I dont really keep in touch with a lot of my old classmates but this I have witnessed/do know:

- One pretty girl in HS turned into a pro dancer/video girl.
- One of my friends lost his mind and initiated a shootout with police(deceased)
- I was shocked to see an old classmate of mine on a tv commercial.
- Was even more shocked to see another friend (college) on a reality show.
- A few pro atheletes.
- A few doctors/lawyers.

As far as I know, the rest of my graduating class are of the working class.

[14thMed]

I'll get back to this thread in July after I attend my reunion.