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30 People Share What Happened To Their High School’s “Most Likely To Succeed” Student
Interview
Best Smile, Most School Spirit, Class Clown, Most Likely To Have Their Own Cooking Show, Best Style and Most Likely To Be In the Olympics. Voting for superlatives was always fun in high school. Sure, it was a bit of a popularity contest, but it was still entertaining to find out what your peers thought of you. Some titles were silly, while others were fun, but perhaps the most coveted was “Most Likely to Succeed.”
This award was an honor, but it can come with a lot of pressure as well. If you’re not headed to an Ivy League university with plans to attend law or medical school after, you might be letting your entire community down! But as we all know, who you are in high school does not determine who you’ll be for the rest of your life. Reddit users have been sharing what happened to their school’s “Most Likely to Succeed” students, so we’ve gathered some of their juiciest updates below.
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#1
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.
RELATED:
#2
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.
DennyS (denzoren) 5 months ago
Living up to expectations is never easy. Glad you're doing better.
#3
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.
Ranger Kanootsen 5 months ago
Voted most likely to succeed AND best hair?? That's much better than me. I won the "Most Likely To Be A School Shooter" by a landslide. :(
To find out how this conversation started in the first place, we reached out to Reddit user I_Have_No_Name_00, who posed the question, "Whatever happened to that student voted 'Most Likely To Succeed'?"
When asked what inspired them to start this thread, they told Bored Panda, "It's a topic that hasn't been talked about much on r/AskReddit."
#4
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 d**k..let him sleep.
That was until our AP Math courses and we got a new hot s**t 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.
#5
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.
We were also curious to know what happened to the "Most Likely to Succeed" student from the author's school. "There were two (for all superlatives; my high school voted one male and one female respectively)," they shared. "The girl went on to graduate from University of Maryland College Park; the boy I have no clue."
#6
They were twins and would get perfect or almost perfect grades in every subject. Did a ton of volunteer hours, too. They both got accepted into Cambridge University's medical program. I think only five or ten applicants from all over Canada were accepted. One's a neurosurgeon, and the other's a cardiologist now
#7
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.
Next, we asked the OP if they believe voting someone "Most Likely to Succeed" is a good idea nowadays. "To a certain extent, it's an outdated concept. Some who we think will succeed end up failing and vice versa," they shared.
And as far as what they thought of the replies to their post, the author says, "I was surprised at how many people responded."
#8
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).
#9
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.
#10
She went to Yale and is now a psychiatrist specializing in providing care to low-income communities.
She was the nicest person in the whole school and I'm so glad that her life has gone so well for her. Perfect grades, played every sport, lead in every school play -- everything you love to hate, but you couldn't hate her. A wonderful gal.
#11
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.
Metalhead Turtle 🇺🇦 5 months ago
Here's info on the Rust Belt, for anyone who's curious. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt
#12
She succeeded. She was a track athlete and an incredible student. Shes currently at Harvard and on her way to the olympics in 2028.
#13
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.
#14
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.
#15
She was offered a ridiculously high paying job before she even finished college.
She has a huge house and luxury cars and a good looking husband who worships her.
So... I feel like it worked out for her.
#16
She married the (now) second richest man in the world. Divorced him and is now the fourth richest human. Not bad
Becky Klebe 5 months ago
Mackenzie Scott? Jeff Bezos' ex-wife?(from wikipedia) She is committed to giving at least half of her wealth to charity as a signatory to the Giving Pledge.[9] Scott made US$5.8 billion in charitable gifts in 2020, one of the largest annual distributions by a private individual to working charities.[10][11] She donated a further $2.7 billion in 2021.[12] As of mid-December 2022, Scott had given a total of $14 billion to over 1600 charitable organizations.[4][13]
#17
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.
SheamusFanFrom1987 5 months ago
Wherever life takes you, makes sure you enjoy the ride i.e. doing what you like/matters to you.
#18
I was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after starting medical school. Still fighting.
SheamusFanFrom1987 5 months ago
Hang in there! You're tough and will pin leukemia's shoulders to the mat eventually.
#19
He got a scholarship to a prestigious British university, burned out, became an alcoholic, moved to New Zealand where he does something fairly lowkey, and as I understand is quite happy at last.
#20
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.
Steve Hall 5 months ago
Happiness is more important than wealth, but both together would be nice.
#21
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.
Kim Lorton 5 months ago
If there is nothing on her headstone except this, I'd say her life was well lived! She sounds like an amazingly kind and loving person.
#22
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.
#23
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.
Dumb teenager 5 months ago
Still sounds great to me. The guy successfully escaped all the pressure and it sounds like he’s living a good life
#24
25 to life for d**g trafficking. He was really successful with it though...
#25
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.
SheamusFanFrom1987 5 months ago
Hopefully he beats the odds and lives a long, successful, screenplay-filled life.
#26
Harvard, Oxford, army lieutenant, mayor, secretary of Transportation.
#27
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.
#28
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.
#29
I was voted that! I'm working in homeowners insurance, have a dog, and drive a 2017 Altima. So as boring as it gets!
Metalhead Turtle 🇺🇦 5 months ago
I don't have a dog, but from what I've seen with my friends who have them, dogs seem far from boring.
#30
Doctor successfully doing doctor stuff.
What do you think ?
Tempest 5 months ago (edited)
I graduated top in my class at school (out of some 150 students). Went to university and felt average among the other students (medical school). Still managed to graduate within the top few of my class (I think I was the second best student, not sure cause our uni decided to not reveal the exact standings but to simply honour the top achievers - about 10 students). Now I feel extremely lost. I’m confused about my future and at a loss of what to do. My family looks up to me and is always showering me with praise. I’m the first to go to medical school in my family so it’s understandable. It’s really tough to feel like I’m letting them down. Word of advice for any parents- please don’t place all your hopes on your child simply cause they were a top achiever at school. The pressure gets to them in the worst ways.
Yo Fako 5 months ago
That was me. One of the top three in my high school of 1500. Well, I took the wrong degree in uni, worked a series of menial jobs, got fired from half of them, got severe depression, tried to kill myself once, tried to be a novelist and failed miserably, ended up a school teacher (which I swore I would never do). Everyone thought I would be some genius that would cure cancer or something, but I'm an absolute nobody taking care of my kids and my disabled wife and I couldn't be happier.
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
Mine was a girl who I went to school with all my life, K through 12. Absolutely devastatingly intelligent, we both were sent to gifted in 1st grade. Our last names are close enough we always sat next to each other. The only thing I could beat her at was math, and not enough to even count really. Earned a PHD in astrophysics, tenured professor at a college in the state of Maryland. Also a triathlete. Not a lot of quit in that woman.
Tempest 5 months ago (edited)
I graduated top in my class at school (out of some 150 students). Went to university and felt average among the other students (medical school). Still managed to graduate within the top few of my class (I think I was the second best student, not sure cause our uni decided to not reveal the exact standings but to simply honour the top achievers - about 10 students). Now I feel extremely lost. I’m confused about my future and at a loss of what to do. My family looks up to me and is always showering me with praise. I’m the first to go to medical school in my family so it’s understandable. It’s really tough to feel like I’m letting them down. Word of advice for any parents- please don’t place all your hopes on your child simply cause they were a top achiever at school. The pressure gets to them in the worst ways.
Yo Fako 5 months ago
That was me. One of the top three in my high school of 1500. Well, I took the wrong degree in uni, worked a series of menial jobs, got fired from half of them, got severe depression, tried to kill myself once, tried to be a novelist and failed miserably, ended up a school teacher (which I swore I would never do). Everyone thought I would be some genius that would cure cancer or something, but I'm an absolute nobody taking care of my kids and my disabled wife and I couldn't be happier.
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
Mine was a girl who I went to school with all my life, K through 12. Absolutely devastatingly intelligent, we both were sent to gifted in 1st grade. Our last names are close enough we always sat next to each other. The only thing I could beat her at was math, and not enough to even count really. Earned a PHD in astrophysics, tenured professor at a college in the state of Maryland. Also a triathlete. Not a lot of quit in that woman.
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