People Share What Happened To The Smartest Kid In Their Class (19 Answers)

Article created by: Mindaugas Balčiauskas

Sometimes you get hit by a wave of curiosity, wondering where that one person from school is now. Social media has done wonders to allow us to keep in touch, even when we maybe would prefer to keep our distance, but sometimes it can be interesting to hear others’ experiences. 

A netizen wanted to hear others’ stories about where the “smart kid” from school ended up after everyone graduated. From brilliant careers, and weird turns to tragedy, the internet delivered, so prepare to sift through a multitude of human experiences, be sure to upvote your favorites and comment your own tales below. We also got in touch with therapist and neuroscientist Bobbi Banks to learn more. 

More info: Bobbi Banks | Instagram

• Read More: People Share What Happened To The Smartest Kid In Their Class (19 Answers)

#1

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#2

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#3

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#4

Dropped out of college to marry and support the much younger woman he got pregnant. Now (30 years later) owns a boardgame store with a large back room for mini painting and games and plays dad to half the neurodivergent kids in town. Still married to the same woman too. It's not a high flying life but he makes a difference to so many people. 
To make y'all feel better: He was 23 I think and she was 18, a big age gap when you're young. It was also in the Netherlands, were at least at the time (I've been gone a while) we didn't really care so much as long as it wasn't a 10 year difference or one of them was under 15. Teenagers have desires, it happens.

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#9

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#10

Died from a brain tumour right after he graduated high school. He was dang smart. Could play the piano upside down too.

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#11

He is currently an aerospace engineer who played a big role in the engineering of the Canadarm.

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#12

I believe he works for NASA. He deleted his Facebook a while ago (like the smartest kid in our class would do), but that’s what he was doing last I checked.

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#13

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#14

Disappeared into a shadowy government job. *poof* gone.

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#17

He was an idealist, became a priest and served in the Vatican, became disillusioned and left the church, got two masters degrees, and died by his own hand. He was a truly good person who couldn’t marry his ideals with the reality of the church.

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#19

She's a professor at Oxford University.

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He went to Harvard Law School then moved back and created a startup that helps make healthcare accessible in disadvantaged communities. Was a great guy then and great guy now. That was me. I'm now a stay-at-home dad of four wonderful kids and in a loving, sixteen year marriage. My wife is my best friend. While I may not have reached my full potential academically, I'm happy. Very happy. I realized that life is too short to care about anything other than living my life the way that I want to, not the way that I'm expected to. Smartest guy from my high school became an actual rocket scientist. Superstar pediatric neurosurgeon. Most confident person I’ve ever met. (Guess you’d have to be, to cut open a little kid’s skull and operate on their brain.) That was me! Or smartest as in best achieving academically. Went on to uni and studied history and a masters in medieval history, graduated both top of the class. Everyone expected me to do a PhD but I found academics too lonely and wanted to have a more social workplace so became a history teacher in high school instead and love it! There were two. They were twins. They're both geneticists now with PHDs, and they work at the same university. He went to MIT, works for Apple, and has a very expensive home in California. He also has a wife and 4 kids and seems to be very happy. I remember he was programming games in high school and was valedictorian. A big nerd who became a wealthy big nerd. Guy had 3 scholarship offers, lasted 1 year in uni before jumping off a building. Feel sorry for him and his family. He got his PhD in engineering, started his own company, and was a multimillionaire by 45. Crushed under the weight of expectations and mental illness he burned out and works call centers now instead of his full potential. She married a religious fruitcake 12 years older than she was almost immediately after graduation and started pumping out kids. Never went to college. Has never had a job. Spends her days on Facebook shaming people for being sinners. He moved to Poland and became a Molecular Biologist.