@mechajutaro said:

Nope; because being a "total winner" who rolls out of bed jacked beyond all belief every day of the year, never incurs damage or pain in a battle, never experiences heartache, and can always splurge on whatever indulgence he happens to lust after is a fantasy crafted by Hollywood at it's most intellectually bankrupt. Lest you think I'm being a killjoy: Read on

So what did you consider yourself in high school?

I did... I had one girl that picked on me quite a bit and even wrote me this letter telling me all the things that were wrong with me and how I might fix them. Cosmetic stuff... cause I was a tomboy. I didn't really care that much cause I had really good friends and I think she was just jealous and thought I was an easy target.

I ended up getting accepted to a very prestigious Art School to study photography and did very well right out of school. I shoot celebrities & fashion for very big magazines and commercial clients. Maybe 6 months after I had started working the phone rings in my studio and it's this girl. She told me she had heard from a mutual friend that I was doing really well in my career. She then said she knew we'd had our differences and that maybe we could put that aside and be friends?

Without any hesitation I replied, "No thanks, I'm good." she seemed actually surprised and tried rephrasing her request but I cut her off and let her know I had plenty of friends and was not interested and then I hung up. Seriously, that she had that kind of nerve astounds me still but honestly it was like a little gift. I could not have made up a more satisfying end to that story.

@HoneyWest said:

I did... I had one girl that picked on me quite a bit and even wrote me this letter telling me all the things that were wrong with me and how I might fix them. Cosmetic stuff... cause I was a tomboy. I didn't really care that much cause I had really good friends and I think she was just jealous and thought I was an easy target.

I ended up getting accepted to a very prestigious Art School to study photography and did very well right out of school. I shoot celebrities & fashion for very big magazines and commercial clients. Maybe 6 months after I had started working the phone rings in my studio and it's this girl. She told me she had heard from a mutual friend that I was doing really well in my career. She then said she knew we'd had our differences and that maybe we could put that aside and be friends?

Without any hesitation I replied, "No thanks, I'm good." she seemed actually surprised and tried rephrasing her request but I cut her off and let her know I had plenty of friends and was not interested and then I hung up. Seriously, that she had that kind of nerve astounds me still but honestly it was like a little gift. I could not have made up a more satisfying end to that story.

Awesome! Great story and thank you for sharing.

Yeah I myself was not on either extreme of the spectrum. I really dreaded High School and just wanted to go to college and move away from our town, so I never really tried at all in high school because I just wanted it to end as quickly as possible. In hindsight I should have tried much harder so that I could get into a better college, but no one ever really explained to me that it could be done like that. That being said, I know a lot of the most popular guys in my high school who tried so hard to be popular and jocks all still live in that crappy town and work odd jobs around the town, which is quite sad. They really peaked in high school. One guy dated most of the cute chicks, but now can't even get any girl to go out with him. I think its just a combination of Karma and god giving everyone an even playing field. You do reach your peak at different point of your life.

So its much better to reach your peak later on as an adult than in meaningless high school.

I would say me with along with a whole lot of other people reached our peak in the 2008 to 2009 bubble bursting in the economy. I actually had some luck after it for a few years but this is probably a whole other discussion that might be better suited on the Big Short movie lol.

@mechajutaro said:

I would say me with along with a whole lot of other people reached our peak in the 2008 to 2009 bubble bursting in the economy. I actually had some luck after it for a few years but this is probably a whole other discussion that might be better suited on the Big Short movie lol.

Pray that you really haven't "reached your peak"(an entire thread in The Sandbox could easily be devoted to the perniciousness of this concept.), Charm, as your still young and more than likely have a great deal of life ahead of you.

Thanks for your kinds words mechajutaro, yes I just wish I could do well again for my kids future, if I do happen to have kids of course. I just want the best for them if they wanted to go to college and such. I no longer care for "keeping up with the Jones" that was pretty much all I did in my 20's and early 30's.

Care to share you high school to current stories as well? Or the people you went to school with and how they turned out?

@mechajutaro said:

Care to share you high school to current stories as well? Or the people you went to school with and how they turned out?

Sure; I've already summarized my mid to late teen existence in a prior post. Just would add that I was both the target of bully or two at school intermittently(was nowhere near as tormented as so many are), was(alongside my little brother)the target of almost daily barrages of verbal and physical degradation at home,and subsequently dabbled in bullying myself a time or two. Mummy and Daddy provided remarkable mentorship in that department, it would seem. Had my share of tumult in early young adulthood, yet since making a conscious decision to take an honest look at myself and evolve by just about any means necessary a few years back, I've probably enjoyed genuine serenity, overall anyways, for the first time in the three decades and a few years that I've been on Earth. I'm nowhere near the proverbial "one percent" financially and while I still have many unrecognized ambitions, most aren't monetary and thus I've neither desire nor use for several mansions and a fleet of sports cars that will only be driven once or twice i.e. all the things we're brainwashed into believing to be a "good life." Eating well, looking sharp, and traveling this gargantuan chunk of earth we all home... I manage quite well in regards to those first two priorities and while I'd like to do more of the third, I haven't been a slouch in that department either, having gone abroad twice/seen a fair bit of the Americas south of the border on my own(I don't count childhood trips to see family in both Pakistan and Colombia as activities crossed off my bucket list, grateful as I am for the experiences)and visited fifteen states in our fair Union.

Left the state in which I spent much of my childhood at age 20 and have only returned twice since then, large gaps separating both visits. I'm not on Facebook and don't go out of my way to keep up with folks in HS, for the most part, thus my knowledge of folks from that era is minute. As of yet, no one I grew up around has won an Oscar, a Nobel Prize, or an Olympic Gold Medal, thus it's safe to presume most are also leading fairly down to earth lives, not too dissimilar from the rest of us in the 99%. Word of a few deaths has trickled down to me, as well as scrapes with the law/substance addiction on the part of a few more of former classmates.

Wow all very interesting. I personally experienced a lot of racism in junior high and high school so I was always getting in fights beating guys up who thought it was ok to be racist. Soon word got out that I could fight and sadly that was the reason why a lot of people changed their views and stopped being racist towards me or around me at all. It is kind of sad for what if I couldn't fight at all then what do I continue to get subjected to racist taunts, and bullying?

By the time I reached about sophomore year I pretty much earned everyone's respect or fear and no one wanted to F with me. I'm not bragging or boasting, I kind of again was forced to either beat these racist guys up or get abused until I graduated. The thing was I was not a big kid I was pretty average, but I was very quick and athletic so it helped me in fights of course and caught most of these racists/bullies off guard.

I did not excel in high school because again I dreaded it. The constant racism, the boring town, the very negative outlook. I wasn't a loser nor the most popular guy in school I pretty much was just getting by and praying for the last day to come as soon as it did. As soon as I graduated high school I kept my promise on moving away as far as I could and never looked back just like you.

So you have relatives in both Colombia and Pakistan? Thats pretty unique are you like mixed or something?

I feel you on the traveling. I've pretty much been spending all of my money on checking things off of my bucket list. I got a good chunk of it done but there are certain areas no one wants to go with me such as Brazil or India to see the Taj Mahal.

When I was about 27 to 30 I was really into fitness and health. I worked out very hard and was probably in the best shape of my life back then. Again I would say this was my peak, when I looked the best, felt the best and was making the most money back then before the economy went to hell.

Just like you, no one in my high school became famous, or accomplished anything really huge of note and again as the point of the thread those who were really popular in high school still live in that crappy town working odd jobs and such.