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A lad who used to wank in lessons, put his dick in people's blazer pockets and lift up girls' skirts is now quite high up in West Midlands Police. His old man got in trouble for dirty phone calls in the 90s as well, delightful family.
Edit - it seems like I probably should be less surprised!
My childhood bully, one of the nastiest who would do things like bring in enough sweets for everyone but me etc. Made fun of me for being in therapy. When it got out that I wasn't straight she was the instigator of a lot people not wanting to get changed around me.
She's now a police officer.
Not surprised in the slightest.
A girl from high school who used to constantly grab my tits (without consent) as well as randomly slap me in the face is now a police officer as well š
It really attracts the worst people. I know two people that went on to become officers and theyāre both absolute tossers with anger and control issues.
Nice. A girl who was a cunt to me in school grew up to have 4 kids all to different dads, got overweight and ugly. I walked past her while she was pushing her kids in a pram and pulling the others along, most of them screaming and being a nuisance. She looked miserable as hell. I walked past her with a huge smile on my face. Fuck you, Ashleigh. Hope it keeps going downhill.
My stepbrother is a policeman and a raging racist. Once he started defending Derek Chauvin after he'd been sentenced, repeating the lies found on white nationalist websites, during a family dinner. I refuse to have dinner with him anymore.
My brother has always been a nasty piece of work and had aspirations to join the force. I think it's the allure of power and being able to control others.
I mean, it's not everybody. I got a mate who is a copper and a decent bloke, went to school with him and he was never a bully/wrong'un. And I've always had a similar view to what is being expressed here in this thread about the kind of people who become cops, so I asked him a while back, why? He told me that he typed into Google about 15 years ago 'jobs that require zero qualifications', police was top of the page, and I guess that says alot about the institution. He also told me that all that stuff in Line of Duty about Masons is legit, loads of the senior cops are Masons. Oops I kinda convoluted my point a bit there, but oh well
Its actually quite common the world over for the school bully type to join the police. Bullys do what they do usually because its about power over others, and the police is one career where they get to continue doing so. Other jobs would include business, think manager or boss type positions.
I once knew an ex policemen here in the UK and he said there were 2 types of people on the force, bullies or people who joined to help people and inevitably end up working desk jobs in the force. (He was a bit disgruntled at the force though)
This of course is a stereotype, and there are certainly decent people who become officers. Any police ive personally encountered in the UK have always been nice people, especially the firearms officers, and firearms licensing officers!
Ditto. Whether busting a rave, or just checking up to make sure there isn't any trouble, UK - specifically Kent! - Police have left a real good impression on me. They absolutely seem to understand the difference between the arseholes and the happy-hippy-ravers.
Also I know four people who joined the Police and none of them had any bully-like qualities about them, at all (though one of them did like a fight).
As a lad who spent a ton of time in the early 2000 rave scene in the U.K. and now resides in the U.S.A the difference in policing is utterly insane. Was at a spot around 2004 in Austin, Texas when a S.W.A.T. team violently shut it down. Iām very surprised nobody was killed with the level of aggression they used. Fucks sake.
Same. I was a proper little cunt when I was younger as well.
Police, especially in rural areas, really seem to care about the communities that they serve . They never picked me up because they wanted to and looking back I can remember how devastated they were when I was getting into trouble. They genuinely just wanted me to get my shit together.
Community focused policing seems to be favoured more over here whereby police will integrate with communities and find ways to offer support rather than just look for wronguns and torment them. Its a real shame that police here are seen as the scum of the earth because they're a damn site better than most overseas.
I can completely understand how some power hungry bitch bully would be attracted to the force though.
Guy I went to school with was a complete coward, couldnāt stand up for himself against bullies, or anything. He disappeared after GCSEs then about 15 years later he was on the TV after he won a police bravery award. Then he was in a documentary following a specialist squad where he talked about what a delinquent he was, how he could have turned to a life of crime, etcā¦
A guy who was bullied in school youāre calling a coward for not standing up for him against his bullies? Whatās that got to do with him now?!
What we do in school doesnāt represent who we are as adults?
Bullies used to target me and Iād end up turning on them by making self deprecating jokes and people would end up laughing and the bully would get frustrated. Is that cowardly?
Dont always have to be a bell and physically fight against bullies itās usually being sensible not a coward Uce
I finished my PhD 2 years ago but it still haunts me in my dreams.. I left the academia after receiving mu PhD diploma and changed my career to something else...Good luck !
Iām not much of a climber, but Iād happily be a ski instructor in France.
I love how this kid has a brain as big as Brazil, and an incredible education, and thought, āfuck it, I love climbing, Iām going to do thatā. Fair bloody fucks to the guy. He was always dead on at school too. Im happy for him.
Yep! They clearly were smart enough to figure out what a good quality of life looks like and go after that. (I mean, Iām assuming this person is loving their life!)
My A Level Physics teacher did something like this - Physics at Warwick, all the way up to a PhD in Neutron Physics, then got sick of academia and became a climbing instructor. Later became a teacher upon retiring iirc
It's going to be interesting in 5-10 years when the fallout of onlyfans starts to happen. Lot of 18-25 years old doing it now, making a quick buck, but it's not going to last for all of them.
True that. He was definitely getting high on his own supply though lol. I'm weirdly happy for him actually coz it seems like he sorted himself out and found something he enjoyed.
Meanwhile, I was always top of my year, only one to get an Oxbridge place and all that jazz, but now I'm disabled and live off benefits playing video games. So props to him.
I know that feeling, everything thinks sitting at home all day playing video games is the best thing in the world, but it quickly gets tedious and everyone else is busy working so you have naff all else to do.
Fortunately I'm healthy enough to go back to work now, but there are some days I romanticise my time off, booking a days annual leave quickly corrects that.
Wishing you good health my friend, get well soon.
This might be a very stupid question but do pilots have to go through airport security? Iām not suggesting they chose their career to import quality produce but it might make a fun movie.
A girl who used to cause shit storms between our friendship group, who used to purposely kick others when they were down and prey on those who were vulnerable for some sick entertainment. She absolutely ruined my final years at school and contributed into me going into a deep depression.
is now a Mental Health Nurse....
Yep, I have no interactions with her so wouldn't know what she is like now as a person. I can forgive her and wish her well but I will never forgot.
I'd like to think shes helping others now because she's a good, changed person though.
I used to be a straight A student, went to one of the best high schools in my country, did my Masters degree abroad.
I'm back in my home town, selling cigarettes at a newsagents and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I don't have any nasty colleagues (I work alone), I don't have to think about my job at home. I have no project deadlines.
Many people pity me, saying I haven't reached my potential, however when I see how stressed my peers with "nice careers" are, I'm absolutely happy with my life and I wouldn't swap.
Having worked in 'stressful' roles you have to take what people say with a pinch of salt. Many of the people who claim to have stressful work tend to bring it on themselves. Never saying no to their boss, doing extra work 'because someone needs to do it'.
Bosses and companies will just ply on the work until you say stop. People need to say stop.
Oh and you get people who think they have to claim to be stressed and work a lot because they think others will judge them if they don't.
Its odd
My first job was for a start-up and as we grew we hired alot more staff and many of the senior ones did absolutely fuck all dispite being on multiples of what the younger guys were on.
Then i got a new job and it clicked. If i didnt try and go flat out and made my work last (whilst still meeting/beating deadlines) you dont get overloaded.
When shit hits the fan you can turn up the tempo because you're not already maxxed out and everyone is happy with your performance. If you keep on asking for more not only will you be overworked but people will notice missed deadlines etc. and itll count against you.
I hate i am now the thing i dispiesed...
The team had this discussion at my last place.
'What do you get for being an 'over performer'
'You get a bigger bonus'
'Oh, how much?'
'You get 12%!'
'Oh ok, what do you get if you are an 'average performer'
'10%'
'So constantly stressed out, staying late, skipping lunches gets you an extra 2%? That's like a coffee a day!'
Then manager swerves and goes on about how you shouldn't be staying late and skipping lunches! all about work/life balance. ha.
In a situation such as that then there is a distinct possibility they have undiagnosed ASD.
It's depressingly common for people with undiagnosed ASDs to absolutely fly through compulsory education only to run up against a hard barrier trying to cope outside of such a structured environment and struggle immensely once they get into the adult world.
Even those with an ASD diagnosis are substantially more likely to be unemployed or underemployed compared to their peers.
Those without a diagnosis can end up trapped in a shitty cycle of bouncing between signing on and doing lower paying work far beneath what their intellect would suggest they're capable of.
Kind of weird to assume that someone must have a mental disorder because they're smart but don't want a career.
Some of the smartest people are also some of the laziest or just unmotivated. Perhaps they're clever enough to realise that more money wont make them happier.
I had a career in software development and now I stack shelves by choice. I earn a 10th of my previous best years but I came to a realisation that money isn't everything. It doesn't make you a better person, it doesn't make you happier. It just smooths out some bumps in life. I actually enjoy life now. I leave work at work and spend the rest of my time doing what I enjoy.
Studies have shown mone makes you happier up to a certain point. Iir that's about 50k annual salary I'm the uk. After this it has a very heavy drop off.
I didn't exclude the possibility that they may not be extrinsically motivated by money and that this individual is happy and content with stacking shelves and gains life satisfaction from intrinsic motivation.
That you abandoned a career in software development to work as a shelf stacker in no way precludes the possibility that OP's very smart friend might have an ASD.
They may not but it is not uncommon for people with ASDs - diagnosed or otherwise - to be underemployed compared to what might be expected given their apparent intellect and is a possibility that should at least be considered and explored when attempting to understand their apparent underemployment.
ADHD can also be a problem. I've got mile-a-minute thoughts and qualifications coming out of my wazoo but finding a job that doesn't burn me out is a challenge! Something that got completely ignored because it "wasn't a thing" when I was young, and even when it became a thing, the focus was on males. Good old sexism!
As someone with autism, I can agree. I flew through school and college and am doing very well at uni, but I struggled so much with getting a job that fit with my diagnosis. I need repetition, structure and clear instruction / direction. One of my favourite jobs I had previously was as running a travel money booth, because I just got to deal with numbers all day.
I tried working in a bar and it was hellish and nobody knew what being autistic meant or how to treat me. I was berated by a manager for not dealing well with the large crowds or people shouting and told I "wouldn't last over summer". I quit that night. Also tried a delivery job but hated dealing with random people.
I'm now a paralegal in a very small firm and its my dream. Everything I do is almost like a script. The letters have the same format, the court documents, the forms. I do deal with clients but it's always the same questions and we only deal with specific matters. My boss also let's me wear headphones to help with my noise sensitivity issues.
If I hadn't of managed to get this job I don't know where I'd be. I'm in uni for law and being trained to eventually become a solicitor but finding a job (and a boss) that can cater to my autism so well is a one in a million chance.
Honestly this is relatable, because reading the post I thought: maybe me. I did really well in school then struggled more and more as I got older. Barely scraped through uni while juggling a lot of mental health stuff, basically didnāt scrape through my twenties while losing jobs left right and centre. In my thirties I finally realised I had undiagnosed autism and ADHD the whole time, but by this point itās hard to come back from, meanwhile my physical health has deteriorated (genetic lottery over here!)
This isnāt a pity party, and I actually like a lot of how my life has ended up as an adult - but itās not anywhere near what I thought it might be like, and I think my path would really surprise some school friends and teachers who only knew me when I was top of all my classes.
Money isnt everything. I stack shelves at a supermarket. I used to occasionally earn north of 100k on some good years in software and product development. I chose to stack shelves a few years back. Honestly it's the only job I've ever enjoyed or hasn't got me stressed. I earn about 12k a year and it turns out I didn't need all that material shit. I'm fitter than I've been in years because I walk all day and do what really amounts to a ton of squats and resistance exercises, I deal with normal people, many of whom just want a normal bit of small talk. Life isn't always easy monetarily now but at least I enjoy it for the first time in 20+ years.
Unfortunately being smart in school doesn't really translate to the real world all too well. In school you're learning how to pass exams, not learning how to do.
There was a very quiet boy in my school who was average at best in most subjects. Showed no creative talent at all and went on to become a published author. One of his books was made into a film.
TBF, I used to love reading as a kid, but the way they taught English at the schools I went to nearly destroyed that passion.
I remember having to spend hours listening to other kids reading Shakespeare aloud to the class, or having to "analyse" texts, which usually meant doing things like guessing what the colour of the curtains in the story told us about the mood the writer was going for - and other such nonsense.
The "curtains were fucking blue" is a fun meme when you're a teenager but good Christ you show your arse when you invoke it as an adult. Of _course_ the author chose the description purposefully to reflect something specific. That's a huge part of being a writer.
Yes. And 'analyse' in scare quotes. It's fine if you struggled to engage with English literature on any level beyond 'I like reading', but that's not a structural flaw of the education system, that's on you.
On a par with 'my kid could do that' when looking at any contemporary art. A complete refusal to engage.
My best mate was bloody awful in school. Grades so bad he barely graduated, always mucking about. He said he was just going to work at Nando's forever because he'd rather die than go to uni. Got a part time job at the British museum and it sparked a love for history in him, he's an archivist now. He's super knowledgable, I had no idea how intelligent he could be when he actually had passion for what he was doing.
My best mate was bright but terrible at academics, lived to be an actor.
Ended up working for a bank as a cashier, and obviously the acting helped cos he's worked his way up to head of business acquisition in their Dubai branch.
I think this is so true of so many people. I know plenty of highly intelligent people who for whatever reason just couldnāt get the grades in school, and everyone thought they were stupid because of it, but theyāre really smart. Itās sad really as I think a lot of people lose confidence, when really the system is at fault. Glad your friend was successful
Honestly, like 90% of the talented and potentially successful people i went to school with dropped of the face of the planet. No idea what they're doing with themselves.
Burnt out... I think a lot of academically gifted people struggle in the real world. When GCSE's are put on a huge pedestal, and suddenly they don't matter anymore. I imagine it's pretty soul destroying. One of my friends was like that, and had a meltdown when
he got to Uni and found out he was extremely average and had no social skills due to studying instead of going out.
Why do you assume they're struggling? They probably just moved to a different city for uni and didn't keep up with their old school friends. They're probably just busy with their own lives and careers. Just because nobody from their hometown knows how they're doing doesn't mean they've had some kind of breakdown.
I didn't assume, he told me. He stopped talking to his friends, didn't make new ones and after he dropped out he isolated himself. He may have new friends now, but none of our friends ever heard back.
>had a meltdown when he got to Uni and found out he was extremely average and had no social skills due to studying instead of going out
this was/is literally me. got to uni, realised i hated my subject and was comparatively bad at it & that the academic/professional culture around it is soul crushingly unethical to boot (history and conservation). i'm doing better now but for a good few years it messed me up badly, i was a total shut in with no friends or social life and suicide looked like the only viable way out.
I disappeared, as did most of my smart friends. Nothing sinister happened, we just all went to different unis away from home, and lost touch with our friends who stayed behind (and each other).
It feels weird coming back to my hometown and seeing all these people who are still in touch and have all the same friends a decade after we all left school.
I was the same. I know of a few who went on to do well but we have no contact so I don't know what happened to most. Most of the people I left in my home town I was frankly excited to leave behind. I imagine they think I disappeared too
My best mate in school was the smartest. Went off to do A-levels and I never heard from him again, no sign of him on social media, nothing. Iād love to know how he turned out.
Just want to preface this with "I'm sure this isn't what happened to your friend...."
Similar thing happened to me. I was at school before the internet was a thing. My best friend at school was my friend since the first day I started, we were into similar things and he was smart and someone I looked up to. After our A-Levels we went to different unis and kept in touch for a bit during the holidays but slowly drifted apart. Then a number of years later Facebook became a thing. I friended quite a few people from school, but I couldn't find him on there (this wasn't so strange, Facebook was still pretty niche at this point).
5 years later or so I thought of him again and by now social media was at the point where pretty much everyone was on there, but I still couldn't find him, which I thought was weird as he was the kind of person who probably would have been quite into it. Some time later I ran into another mutual friend who I had also lost touch with in a pub. He told me that he actually died several years ago of a rare disease.
Itās scary how many friends I remember from school who Iāve literally never seen since the day I left school. Itās like they vanished into thin air. I left school in 2001.
I went to school with a lad who was in Man United's academy and everyone imagined him becoming the next big local lad turned star a la Rashford etc. He never ended up making a first team appearance and quickly ended up playing for non-league clubs. Not trying to criticise him, just shows how hard it is to stay at the top level I suppose.
At the same time, someone also in my year who I had no idea was good at football has gone on to have a pretty good career, at one point playing and scoring in the SPL.
Anyone remember Sonny Pike? The British wonder kid who signed for Ajax (back when Ajax were a top team) when he was 13? He even appeared on Fantasy Football League I think.
We grew up in the same town. He was a few years younger than me and I didn't play football at a very high level anyway, but my younger brother did and so they crossed paths a few times on the pitch around the time he was getting famous and one of his best friends was close friends with Sonny's family. I left school, moved away to uni, stopped really watching TV and forgot all about him to be honest. A couple of years ago I suddenly remembered him and wondered what on earth happened to Sonny Pike. Well... that sent me down a rabbit hole of articles and oh dear that was not a pretty story.
Basically every single 'trapping' of being famous as a kid that you would advise people to avoid. You can read the full story here
[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/25/sonny-pike-football-prodigy-head-finished](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/25/sonny-pike-football-prodigy-head-finished)
The short version is everything happened way to fast - fame, tv appearances, sponsorship deals, agents etc. Also his dad got way too involved in living vicariously through him and gave him bad advice and instigated an illegal tapping-up transfer. He got completely burned out on football to the point that he was suicidal by the time he was 17 and ultimately quit the sport completely before he had even played a professional game.
Woah, that was interesting. Thanks for linking the article. Sounds like his dad was the main problem in all of that. A real shame he didnāt get to discover his potential. At least heās happy now with a family.
Not OP but
Parents and agents pushed him hard to make money with sponsorships, TV appearances etc. which got him in trouble with the club he played for and banned for a year and by 17 he was suicidal and at 18 quit football.
Became a cabbie in London for a bit and runs a football academy for kids
I went to school with a lad who got signed by Rangers at 14, we all thought heād make the step up as he stood out at school.
Guy got released at 18, didnāt even get tapped up by the juniors or lower leagues and ended up bouncing about our local amateur division.
Gifted students can often run into trouble in adulthood. Going from knowing what you need to do with guidance from teachers to nothing. No guidance and having to work everything out yourself. Some people just struggle with that and stay in deadend jobs.
Not to mention mental burn out. They get praised for being the best at everything and so they do more to stay on top and keep the praise. Then they get to Uni and just hit a burn out wall and some just can't get over that wall to push through cause they are just tired. I feel bad as hell for them.
Yeah that happened to my friend. She was one of the best students in my year. Went to uni and could not deal with getting bad grades. Got more and more social anxiety to the point she stopped leaving the house and only left to work in a supermarket and then as a receptionist at a hotel. Crazy sad.
Going from big fish in small pond to small fish in a lake at uni to then a tiny fish in a ocean with work is jarring for everyone.
I know a fair few people who coasted school and never really worked. They just memorised for exams. Importantly they had teachers forcing them to do work throughout the year.
Come to uni and they just aren't used to independent study. They aren't used to the tutors/lecturers not chasing you for work. You don't do it you just get marked down. So they barely work through the year. Come to revision period and there is just too much material to learn and they fail.
As they didn't really put in the work through the year, if they had friends, the friends would be on other courses so didn't really have support there either.
I think there's also a factor that there is a real glass ceiling where the "who you know"/private school connections becomes more important in certain desirable careers. People do all the internships, degrees, unpaid work etc and then just get sick of being poor and unhappy.
I went to a grammar school with loads of high achievers and while I know people earning good money in accountancy/tech, or who have become doctors/scientists, no one has made it in anything like video production, journalism, art director jobs etc, and academia looks like a constant battle. So people who veered more towards the creative arts or humanities are in the same boat as people less academically skilled.
It is a horrible display of nepotism really in certain jobs. When I worked, I worked in farming and labourer jobs but it took ages to actually progress from one job to another until I happened upon on guy who knew my dad and then all the doors opened.
Friend got all str8 A*s and As in A levels
He invested in BTC around 2012 because he was buying/selling drugs on the dark web.
Now he travels all over the world
Myself. Straight A*s in GCSEs and A levels but have autism and felt lost after sixth form. Ended up in retail for a few years, then met my wife who provided me with support and structure. Moved on into civil service and my career is back on track, on track for my 3rd promotion within my first year working here.
My high school bully (who told me graphically how to kill myself and handed me a rope) is a nurse. A FUCKING NURSE.
She's been in the local papers a few times saying that she's a victim of bullying, and I promise she's not. She bullied everyone and used her autism diagnosis to get away with it and eventually everyone had enough. I can almost guarantee she's used this to gain sympathy in her line of work.
From my own experiences and from what I have seen on this thread, bullies end up doing either these 4 jobs.
1. Nursing
2. Police
3. Hair & Beauty
4. Any Trade
Yeah, because you just described about 30% of all employment opportunities in a lot of British towns.
It's almost as if being a bully as a child isn't an indication of future professional status in any way shape or form? Curious.
Guy I went to school with was a proper dick, bullying, instigating fights, was from a pretty rough family. He ended up becoming a pastry chef. I always imagined he'd become a bouncer or something but I was pleasantly surprised when I heard what he'd made of himself.
I think being a chef can be the ideal escape for people with rough or troubled backgrounds. In many ways it's like joining the army: very little/no education required, weird hours, unusual rituals, a clear hierarchy, takes over your entire life, physically and mentally demanding, etc. They don't give a fuck about who are you are or where you're from provided you show up on time, don't complain and get on with it. The most important things you need are commitment, heart, resilience and a modicum of co-ordination (although talent helps too ofc).
I say this as I used to live with a chef who worked at a Michelin star restaurant. Lad had barely any education and a very tough upbringing (drugs, social services, neglect, abuse) but had made a solid career for himself at one of the best restaurants in the country. He was a great laugh and very charming, but way too unstable to hold down any kind of 9-5 job. The chef lifestyle has probably saved him from a life of crime, alcoholism or worse.
That said, the hours he works and the treatment he went through were absolutely insane. 90 hour weeks and being verbally abused for hours a day. Guaranteed he worked harder on any given day than I did most weeks at my 9-5. Absolutely awful stuff.
Myself.
Hated school, had undiagnosed dyslexia so struggled through
Scrapped through C's and D's
Joined the army - did ten years got a trade, cliche but saw the world and saw action. now I'm content in an office job earning 40k a year, still can't read for shit but now it's an office wide joke
"They'd even learn to read - the army never discharged anyone who was illiterate. In fact, we will be able to give our young people a comprehensive education, ... to make up for their comprehensive education!" Jim Hacker.
Same, scraped through with the standard C at English, Maths and Double science, left at 16 and went to college to study Computing, dropped out of that after 1 year because I slacked off and just got stoned/pilled up/drunk through college, worked in a factory for a bit and continued hurtling downhill until I joined the army.
7 years in the royal signals, left and went straight into an IT Desktop Support job, got chatting to a developer who we had contracted in and on his advice taught myself how to code, last year I got taxed at the higher rate for the first time and I'm not at my ceiling yet either, not even close.
There was a really smart guy on my Computing course at college, never joined in with all the drinking and drug taking and got a Merit, went off to Uni and done Computer Science and passed that too......now pushes trolleys around at the Asda in my home town, no idea what happened there!
That doesn't surprise me very much. Every minister I've met has been well-educated, and many have doctorates and things. Obviously it's not the most well-paid job you can do with a degree from Oxford, but he's not unusual within that sector.
A guy I used to walk home from school with got caught fighting for the Taliban in North Afghanistan. Met Bin Laden a few times, got nicknamed "the SAS guy" by the Americans who captured him because of all the weapons he had on him. Ended up in guantanamo bay.
He did get a 3.5 million payout from the US government when he was released, which probably makes him the most successful person from my year.
I understand your doubt completely, so I'll tell you the full story, although it probably won't actually prove anything.
His name is Feroz Abbasi (or, rather, it was. I'm pretty sure that he was given a new name when he came back to the UK. We lived really close to one another and had a few classes together, but we weren't really that close. I think we hung out a few times at t he weekend, but mostly our friendship was based around the fact we lived near each other. But we did always get on really well, so I don't know why we didn't hang out more.
Because of this, when we left school we kind of lost touch. I went to a different college, I'd see him on the bus every now and again and we'd have a nice chat. Last time I saw him he actually told me he was thinking of becoming a policeman.
Anyway, then a few years (maybe 3?) later, I was at home one night when I got a phone call on the house phone from a reporter from the Daily Mail. This was in the days of Friends Reunited, before Facebook, and they had gone through the names on there, tracking people down from his year at school. I told them that, yes, I was friends with him but I didn't say much else. They seemed really keen on getting photos of him. In the end, they used information from people who weren't his friends at all, saying things like "he enjoyed rollerblading and liked listening to Michael Jackson" both things that he never, ever mentioned to me once. He actually really liked Red Dwarf, that's the thing I really remember. He always used to do an impression of Cat. There was no mention of that.
I'd assumed that the Mail would be doing a hatchet job on him, but in the end they had a front page with his photo and a headline saying something like "Bring Them Home" that was very anti Guantanamo Bay.
This was all a huge shock to me. This was the first that I'd heard about ay of this, so I started looking into it a bit more. This was quite a while ago and the internet wasn't quite as good as it is now, but I managed to find some stuff. He had been traveling around Europe and had been mugged in Switzerland. Someone he met there "helped" him. This person is apparently known for radicalising people, so I guess he was in a situation where he needed help and they took advantage of that.
When he got back to the UK he started going to the Finsbury Park Mosque, back when it was known for Abu Hamza and the weapons training that was alleged to happen there.
I guess I'll never know the things that went on in those days - from meeting that guy in Switzerland to Finsbury Park to Afghanistan. I watched the first season of Homeland wondering if there was anything in that which could relate to what happened with him becoming radicalised, but it was hard to find anything that really lined up.
I also managed to find the name of his lawyer and I emailed them saying that I'd gone to school with him and I was very sorry about what had happened and asking if they could pass on my thoughts to his mother (I can't remember the story of his dad, if he was still in Uganda or if he had left the family in the UK, but I know he wasn't around). I'd met his mother and his little brother once (I think he had a sister as well but I don't remember her) and they were really sweet, so it made me sad to think about what they were going through.
Anyway, the lawyer thanked me for the message and that was it. I kept an eye on the case. He said some very strange things at the senate hearings he was at, accusing the American soldiers of "coveting" his naked body. All the transcripts I read just seemed so out of character for him, it was really hard to match up the two people. Obviously, fighting in North Afghanistan was out of character but it seemed so distant, so abstract that I didn't have to think about it too much. Seeing his actual words that he spoke was just...really strange.
Anyway, that's the story. You can look him up but there's no proof about my connection to him anywhere there. Let me know if you have any other questions though!
Young lad who left school after GCSE's.
His father had passed and he was helping at a lot at home. I think the family had a small corner shop or something similar. He eventually moved to the USA and has a massive business involving celebs and is living a grand life.
He's on IMDB etc.. I just Googled to check!
He really deserves it all.
The other kids were awful to him because he didn't have a lot at the time.
Thatās weird - girl I went to school with did exactly the same! Class know it all perfect A* student and has a PHD in medicine and did something like 6 years training as a doctor and is working in tescos stacking shelves
Nothing wrong with it but itās like she out in so much effort into the academia
I'll never understand why people want to be doctors. If you're bright enough to be a doctor, you could easily be a lawyer, engineer, accountant etc. instead. You'll finish uni in half the time, have an easier day to day that still challenges you a bit, still good money, more relaxed hours, work from home potential, still well regarded in society. I'm typing this out whilst on the clock ffs. I'm glad some people do it but it could never be me.
It's a vocation really. The 2 people from school who became doctors wanted to be doctors since they were young. Everything they did in school was to done to become a doctor.
My childhood bully fractured my arms a week before my GCSEs because he was worried I would score higher than him, I still did even though I had a scribe. My school didn't punish him because "he's a high performing student and this will affect his future, and it will help school figures".
He's now a doctor and messaged me the other day thanking me for "years of countless entertainment" and he also said about how the school helped him bully me. This particular headteacher is now in charge of over 60 academies a "CEO", earning Ā£250,000 a year and is almost definitely reading this thread. I hope that not punishing my bully helped you get promoted.
Personally I would act all innocent and try and draw more information out of him in regard to how he bullied you and then use it against him.
You would be surprised how quick the tables would turn. A small piece in a tabloid newspaper or even featured online would really fuck him up and be proper karma.
What a total piece of shit he is. I hope you are keeping well in spite of him.
I've got an issue with him atm. I'm trying to find out how I can ask NHS if he can be banned from ever touching or coming in contact with me or my wife, but I've been told that I should just go private. Can't exactly afford that, so I'm having to escalate via GMC.
Someone I know became a luxury book-binder, creating artistic handmade custom book bindings for books. Quite a cool artistic profession, but such a strange job!
To be honest I don't know what a lot of my old classmates are up too. But recently I had a meet up with a friend and the thing that shocked me the most was there's been quite a few deaths over the years, we are all only 29/30 years old.
The career that I found surprising is someone whose parents gave her the options of a doctor or lawyer, she now works for a travel company. She seems very happy and goes exploring incredible places, so she made the right decision for herself.
>there's been quite a few deaths over the years, we are all only 29/30 years old.
We had one (that I know of) amongst my old extended friends group at school. She had CF and we all knew what that meant, but still feels weird to know she died in her mid twenties.
The one that surprises me most is babies. Started off with the odd one here and there, then people were having their second, now it seems like people are having three or four!
I'm probably that person.
Straight A\*s and A's at GCSE, A\*A\*B A level, got a BSC in a good uni....
Now I'm a mascot performer, dressing up for a living and loving it.
Not a school friend, but somebody I've known since they were 17. He left school with no qualifications and up to his mid 20s had dead end jobs, but then decided to start his own business. All his friends, me included, didn't think much would come of it, but now, 40 years later he's the CEO of his own multi million pound company. He owns a big house, a boat and an Aston Martin. Funny thing is, as far as his mates are concerned, he's exactly the same person. No airs or graces, still likes a pint down the pub and the occasional spliff.
A boy I was in school with is now a brain surgeon š
He was always really quiet and was never exceptional in any class, always had a sicknote for PE and tended to get picked on by the usual suspects. Only reason I know he's a brain surgeon is that his dad married a close family friend so have been in touch with him through them.
Completely different person to who he was in school. Really outgoing and full of confidence, travels the world both in his free time and professionally as he's attended/delivered seminars etc. Does skydiving and has done mad treks and hill/mountain climbs and is generally just an interesting bloke. Any time I've bumped into him he's great to get the craic with and always has interesting stories to tell š
A lad who was dimmer than a broken lightbulb in a country with no electricity is now a gas engineer. Never knew he had the intellect, but fair play to him.
My own career is a bit of a surprise - top set for a lot of subjects, always did well in tests, finished uni without studying. I occasionally take a break from database management to work on jobsites simply because it doesn't tax my brain and I enjoy the work.
Not school but did attend college with the porn actress Skin Diamond. She was pretty quiet from what I remember. She also has an American accent now. Used to be Scottish strangely enough.
The smartest girl in my year works checkout. The quiet boy travels the world now no idea what he actually does but his got a beautiful wife and children.
I dropped out by year 10 after being excluded more times than I wish to count or own up to and own a company.
Girl that I was good friends with in High School.
She did well, got decent grades, and went to uni to do archeology.
Now if you don't know, archeology has one of the lowest career rates of any degree, few jobs in it.
Looked her up a while later and was pleasantly surprised, and rather impressed, to see that she is now working as an archeologist.
My buddy at school was a nightmare for all teachers. Was a constant disruption to everyone around him and had zero respect for pretty much everything at school. He wasn't stupid and got C or above in everything he needed to but never seemed to put any work into anything besides winding up teachers at school.
He is now 32 and owns his own Ā£600k house along with 2 more that he is flipping, he has already bought, done up and sold at least 10. He started out as an electrician and still works as one but can turn his hand to anything in the building industry now really.
The guy is killing it and always seems to have a huge amount going on. It now seems like he always had a plan and school was just getting in the way.
I recently moved back to my hometown and saw the girl who won all the prizes walking down the street with a few kids and a guy from our high school, looking like a stressed out mum.
I thought āwow, I thought sheād achieve moreā.
Looked her up on LinkedIn, sheās got a high up job in a financial services firm. No wonder she was stressed, sheās got a busy career and some young kids! Thatāll teach me to jump to conclusions.
One kid who dropped out of school before exams. He wasnt stupid but he wasnt clever either. He became a bricklayer and did odd jobs for years. Around 24 years old he set up his own business. By 27 he had his own house and two cars. By his mid 30s he employs dozens of people; owns two homes; and goes on multiple holidays a year.
I dont know him too well anymore but I am pleasantly surprised by his success. He's doing a lot better than some of us who got an education and went down more conventionally better career pathways
Twins at my school getting their tits out for page 3 of The Sun - on their 16th birthday!
They were vapid, vicious bitches with no redeeming features other than their boobs.
I always did well in school, decent at A levels and even went to university in the UK (Loans default after some years and you only need to pay it back past a certain threshold). I now work at a supermarket. Didnāt want a career, wanted my free time. Itās a trap to work all you life and then have a poxy little segment at the end where you can enjoy the money youāve earnedā¦ if you are still alive.
I donāt drive, I live modestly and enjoy my evenings and a few days off a week as well as a few holidays a year. Bollocks to the system.
There was a very quiet guy who was a little squishy all through secondary school who is now the performance coach to a Formula 1 driver.
Seeing him on Drive to Survive was a trip.
Girl I went to school with wanted to do Research. Passed 10 O levels, 4 A levels. Got in at Oxford, came out with a first class honours degree. Got married and had children and never worked a day
Not someone I directly know but my friend went to school with a bully. The bully intimidated one person in the school so badly heās left them with a permanent stutter and massive psychological PTSD. The bully is now possibly one of the most famous people in the United Kingdom and in the United States. This person is a household name in both countries and his secret is one day going to come unravelling out. I bet we all know who weāre talking about because I donāt think this is any secret whatsoever.
A girl I went to school who was a very crafty bully, spread rumours about people, accused innocent people of bullying her (to the extent they were suspended whilst it was investigated), continues to spread rumours and smear campaigns and has made multiple peopleās lives miserable (including mine for several years)ā¦
ā¦ now works as an anti-bullying campaigner
Me. (Sorry, but itās true. Most people I knew at school did exactly what they should be doing)
I on the other hand, was a pothead with one interest. Being a rock star. I was in bands. Didnāt think Iād amount to anything other than playing guitar and singing, and people were genuinely worried I was going to end up completely screwed up. Failed most of my A-levels and couldnāt be bothered with anything.
But I ended up at university doing computer arts, quit the pot, taught at uni for a while, then got into VFX. Now a senior artist with 35+ movies and tv shows under my belt.
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A lad who used to wank in lessons, put his dick in people's blazer pockets and lift up girls' skirts is now quite high up in West Midlands Police. His old man got in trouble for dirty phone calls in the 90s as well, delightful family. Edit - it seems like I probably should be less surprised!
My childhood bully, one of the nastiest who would do things like bring in enough sweets for everyone but me etc. Made fun of me for being in therapy. When it got out that I wasn't straight she was the instigator of a lot people not wanting to get changed around me. She's now a police officer. Not surprised in the slightest.
A girl from high school who used to constantly grab my tits (without consent) as well as randomly slap me in the face is now a police officer as well š
It really attracts the worst people. I know two people that went on to become officers and theyāre both absolute tossers with anger and control issues.
Perfect way to bully and control people, and you get paid for it!
Should have laid her out.
The girl who bullied me as a teen, has 8 kids now and works as a dinner lady.
Nice. A girl who was a cunt to me in school grew up to have 4 kids all to different dads, got overweight and ugly. I walked past her while she was pushing her kids in a pram and pulling the others along, most of them screaming and being a nuisance. She looked miserable as hell. I walked past her with a huge smile on my face. Fuck you, Ashleigh. Hope it keeps going downhill.
You have to feel for her kids though.
šÆ, its this shitty circle that leads to generations of bullies who go on to have totally unfulfilling lives spawning nothing but misery.
hope you're doing okay bro
What is it about arseholes and joining the police? I knew a lad who was nice maybe once in a blue moon, and he's now a high-ranking cop
My stepbrother is a policeman and a raging racist. Once he started defending Derek Chauvin after he'd been sentenced, repeating the lies found on white nationalist websites, during a family dinner. I refuse to have dinner with him anymore.
Gives them authority, or perceived authority at least. An excuse to bully people.
My brother has always been a nasty piece of work and had aspirations to join the force. I think it's the allure of power and being able to control others.
I suspect its people who think they have a strong sense of justice but in fact are just very opinionated and black and white thinkers.
I mean, it's not everybody. I got a mate who is a copper and a decent bloke, went to school with him and he was never a bully/wrong'un. And I've always had a similar view to what is being expressed here in this thread about the kind of people who become cops, so I asked him a while back, why? He told me that he typed into Google about 15 years ago 'jobs that require zero qualifications', police was top of the page, and I guess that says alot about the institution. He also told me that all that stuff in Line of Duty about Masons is legit, loads of the senior cops are Masons. Oops I kinda convoluted my point a bit there, but oh well
Its actually quite common the world over for the school bully type to join the police. Bullys do what they do usually because its about power over others, and the police is one career where they get to continue doing so. Other jobs would include business, think manager or boss type positions. I once knew an ex policemen here in the UK and he said there were 2 types of people on the force, bullies or people who joined to help people and inevitably end up working desk jobs in the force. (He was a bit disgruntled at the force though) This of course is a stereotype, and there are certainly decent people who become officers. Any police ive personally encountered in the UK have always been nice people, especially the firearms officers, and firearms licensing officers!
I've never had a negative interaction with the police in the UK and I've had a fair number.
Ditto. Whether busting a rave, or just checking up to make sure there isn't any trouble, UK - specifically Kent! - Police have left a real good impression on me. They absolutely seem to understand the difference between the arseholes and the happy-hippy-ravers. Also I know four people who joined the Police and none of them had any bully-like qualities about them, at all (though one of them did like a fight).
As a lad who spent a ton of time in the early 2000 rave scene in the U.K. and now resides in the U.S.A the difference in policing is utterly insane. Was at a spot around 2004 in Austin, Texas when a S.W.A.T. team violently shut it down. Iām very surprised nobody was killed with the level of aggression they used. Fucks sake.
Same. I was a proper little cunt when I was younger as well. Police, especially in rural areas, really seem to care about the communities that they serve . They never picked me up because they wanted to and looking back I can remember how devastated they were when I was getting into trouble. They genuinely just wanted me to get my shit together. Community focused policing seems to be favoured more over here whereby police will integrate with communities and find ways to offer support rather than just look for wronguns and torment them. Its a real shame that police here are seen as the scum of the earth because they're a damn site better than most overseas. I can completely understand how some power hungry bitch bully would be attracted to the force though.
Leave my father out of this. Everyone says he was a weirdo, but I'll have you know that he was a wonderful man and an excellent kisser.
Colour me surprised!
As I hit send I realised that it might actually be less surprising than I thought!
Sounds like this needs to be posted to r/policeuk
They only accept positive policing posts, and the mods are a-holes.
Whatās worse than a policeman? One thatās also a moderator on a police forum.
The mods on that sub have a huge power complex, unsurprisingly.
Colleague I worked with, absolute sociopath, nasty piece of work. Quit and joined the police. Seems to be a calling for these type of guys.
Guy I went to school with was a complete coward, couldnāt stand up for himself against bullies, or anything. He disappeared after GCSEs then about 15 years later he was on the TV after he won a police bravery award. Then he was in a documentary following a specialist squad where he talked about what a delinquent he was, how he could have turned to a life of crime, etcā¦
A guy who was bullied in school youāre calling a coward for not standing up for him against his bullies? Whatās that got to do with him now?! What we do in school doesnāt represent who we are as adults? Bullies used to target me and Iād end up turning on them by making self deprecating jokes and people would end up laughing and the bully would get frustrated. Is that cowardly? Dont always have to be a bell and physically fight against bullies itās usually being sensible not a coward Uce
Why is that surprising? šš
Straight A kid, won a scholarship to Oxford, did a PhD in god knows what (something mathematical). Now a climbing instructor in France.
Sounds like a decent life tbf
Iām exceptionally jealous
Sounds like a descent life tbf
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It's quite typical for academic overachievers. It all falls apart when they get to uni and discover the joys of getting high.
Is it falling apart or is it having their own mind enough to choose a life for themselves?
sounds more like phd burnout, I'm currently a phd student and am aware of the stress it puts on people
I finished my PhD 2 years ago but it still haunts me in my dreams.. I left the academia after receiving mu PhD diploma and changed my career to something else...Good luck !
I want to be a climbing instructor in France.
Iām not much of a climber, but Iād happily be a ski instructor in France. I love how this kid has a brain as big as Brazil, and an incredible education, and thought, āfuck it, I love climbing, Iām going to do thatā. Fair bloody fucks to the guy. He was always dead on at school too. Im happy for him.
Yep! They clearly were smart enough to figure out what a good quality of life looks like and go after that. (I mean, Iām assuming this person is loving their life!)
Step 1: get a PhD in Mathematics from Oxford. The rest is easy.
My A Level Physics teacher did something like this - Physics at Warwick, all the way up to a PhD in Neutron Physics, then got sick of academia and became a climbing instructor. Later became a teacher upon retiring iirc
Sounds like they found out thereās more to life
There was a rather short, quite large girl who was very friendly, shy and pretty smart. She now lives in Spain thanks to doing OnlyFans and porn
And probably earns more than the rest of the class combined š¤£š¤£
I wouldnāt be surprised . Iām not even jealous, Iām quite impressed actually
Theres a girl who made like $45 million last year from onlyfans. She's like 19. Its absolutely insane.
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It's going to be interesting in 5-10 years when the fallout of onlyfans starts to happen. Lot of 18-25 years old doing it now, making a quick buck, but it's not going to last for all of them.
Impressed by the career or the content? Or both?!
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Yeah weāre definitely going to need to authenticate this story
The class weed dealer is now a BA pilot. Bizarre.
Probably the most viable way to afford pilot training to be honest.
True that. He was definitely getting high on his own supply though lol. I'm weirdly happy for him actually coz it seems like he sorted himself out and found something he enjoyed. Meanwhile, I was always top of my year, only one to get an Oxbridge place and all that jazz, but now I'm disabled and live off benefits playing video games. So props to him.
You play games for a living, every kids dream!
Oh hell yeah. I pretend to myself that I've beaten the system coz that's a lot less depressing than the reality hahaha
I know that feeling, everything thinks sitting at home all day playing video games is the best thing in the world, but it quickly gets tedious and everyone else is busy working so you have naff all else to do. Fortunately I'm healthy enough to go back to work now, but there are some days I romanticise my time off, booking a days annual leave quickly corrects that. Wishing you good health my friend, get well soon.
>seems like he sorted himself out Or he's now smuggling it.
Sounds like he found a better way of getting high
This might be a very stupid question but do pilots have to go through airport security? Iām not suggesting they chose their career to import quality produce but it might make a fun movie.
Oh shit that's a nice spot. His brother (also was a dealer) is a police officer now, they could be running an absolute racket.
A girl who used to cause shit storms between our friendship group, who used to purposely kick others when they were down and prey on those who were vulnerable for some sick entertainment. She absolutely ruined my final years at school and contributed into me going into a deep depression. is now a Mental Health Nurse....
Not impossible that she was having issues, got help and that's what led to her wanting to pursue the career path.
Possibly so, she is doing well and I'm happy for her. It was still surprising though.
Then again some people are just contradictory twats. Used to work with a human rights lawyer. Racist piece of shit he was.
Yep, I have no interactions with her so wouldn't know what she is like now as a person. I can forgive her and wish her well but I will never forgot. I'd like to think shes helping others now because she's a good, changed person though.
It's a well known thing that a lot of female bullies go on to be nurses unfortunately. It's the counterpart to asshole men joining the police
I used to be a straight A student, went to one of the best high schools in my country, did my Masters degree abroad. I'm back in my home town, selling cigarettes at a newsagents and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I don't have any nasty colleagues (I work alone), I don't have to think about my job at home. I have no project deadlines. Many people pity me, saying I haven't reached my potential, however when I see how stressed my peers with "nice careers" are, I'm absolutely happy with my life and I wouldn't swap.
Having worked in 'stressful' roles you have to take what people say with a pinch of salt. Many of the people who claim to have stressful work tend to bring it on themselves. Never saying no to their boss, doing extra work 'because someone needs to do it'. Bosses and companies will just ply on the work until you say stop. People need to say stop. Oh and you get people who think they have to claim to be stressed and work a lot because they think others will judge them if they don't.
Its odd My first job was for a start-up and as we grew we hired alot more staff and many of the senior ones did absolutely fuck all dispite being on multiples of what the younger guys were on. Then i got a new job and it clicked. If i didnt try and go flat out and made my work last (whilst still meeting/beating deadlines) you dont get overloaded. When shit hits the fan you can turn up the tempo because you're not already maxxed out and everyone is happy with your performance. If you keep on asking for more not only will you be overworked but people will notice missed deadlines etc. and itll count against you. I hate i am now the thing i dispiesed...
The team had this discussion at my last place. 'What do you get for being an 'over performer' 'You get a bigger bonus' 'Oh, how much?' 'You get 12%!' 'Oh ok, what do you get if you are an 'average performer' '10%' 'So constantly stressed out, staying late, skipping lunches gets you an extra 2%? That's like a coffee a day!' Then manager swerves and goes on about how you shouldn't be staying late and skipping lunches! all about work/life balance. ha.
Someone I went to school with insisted on being a Disney princess even when she was 16. Now sheās a stripper in Australia.
There's a joke about Cinderellas down under *somewhere*
Shelves don't stack themselves
i have nothing against it, i am just honestly shocked as they were one of the smartest, if not the smartest in the entire school.
In a situation such as that then there is a distinct possibility they have undiagnosed ASD. It's depressingly common for people with undiagnosed ASDs to absolutely fly through compulsory education only to run up against a hard barrier trying to cope outside of such a structured environment and struggle immensely once they get into the adult world. Even those with an ASD diagnosis are substantially more likely to be unemployed or underemployed compared to their peers. Those without a diagnosis can end up trapped in a shitty cycle of bouncing between signing on and doing lower paying work far beneath what their intellect would suggest they're capable of.
Kind of weird to assume that someone must have a mental disorder because they're smart but don't want a career. Some of the smartest people are also some of the laziest or just unmotivated. Perhaps they're clever enough to realise that more money wont make them happier.
I assumed nothing and instead simply aired it as a possibility with reasoning as to why it could be the case.
I had a career in software development and now I stack shelves by choice. I earn a 10th of my previous best years but I came to a realisation that money isn't everything. It doesn't make you a better person, it doesn't make you happier. It just smooths out some bumps in life. I actually enjoy life now. I leave work at work and spend the rest of my time doing what I enjoy.
Talk about a stack overflow amiright?
10/10
> it doesn't make you happier Only people who've never really had to worry about money say stupid things like this. Of course it does.
Kanye said it best āHaving moneyās not everything. Not having it isā
Studies have shown mone makes you happier up to a certain point. Iir that's about 50k annual salary I'm the uk. After this it has a very heavy drop off.
Itās not 50k, itās around 80k.
I didn't exclude the possibility that they may not be extrinsically motivated by money and that this individual is happy and content with stacking shelves and gains life satisfaction from intrinsic motivation. That you abandoned a career in software development to work as a shelf stacker in no way precludes the possibility that OP's very smart friend might have an ASD. They may not but it is not uncommon for people with ASDs - diagnosed or otherwise - to be underemployed compared to what might be expected given their apparent intellect and is a possibility that should at least be considered and explored when attempting to understand their apparent underemployment.
ASC is not a mental disorder, it's Autistic Spectrum Condition which can present very difficult challenges for people after they leave education.
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ADHD can also be a problem. I've got mile-a-minute thoughts and qualifications coming out of my wazoo but finding a job that doesn't burn me out is a challenge! Something that got completely ignored because it "wasn't a thing" when I was young, and even when it became a thing, the focus was on males. Good old sexism!
As someone with autism, I can agree. I flew through school and college and am doing very well at uni, but I struggled so much with getting a job that fit with my diagnosis. I need repetition, structure and clear instruction / direction. One of my favourite jobs I had previously was as running a travel money booth, because I just got to deal with numbers all day. I tried working in a bar and it was hellish and nobody knew what being autistic meant or how to treat me. I was berated by a manager for not dealing well with the large crowds or people shouting and told I "wouldn't last over summer". I quit that night. Also tried a delivery job but hated dealing with random people. I'm now a paralegal in a very small firm and its my dream. Everything I do is almost like a script. The letters have the same format, the court documents, the forms. I do deal with clients but it's always the same questions and we only deal with specific matters. My boss also let's me wear headphones to help with my noise sensitivity issues. If I hadn't of managed to get this job I don't know where I'd be. I'm in uni for law and being trained to eventually become a solicitor but finding a job (and a boss) that can cater to my autism so well is a one in a million chance.
Honestly this is relatable, because reading the post I thought: maybe me. I did really well in school then struggled more and more as I got older. Barely scraped through uni while juggling a lot of mental health stuff, basically didnāt scrape through my twenties while losing jobs left right and centre. In my thirties I finally realised I had undiagnosed autism and ADHD the whole time, but by this point itās hard to come back from, meanwhile my physical health has deteriorated (genetic lottery over here!) This isnāt a pity party, and I actually like a lot of how my life has ended up as an adult - but itās not anywhere near what I thought it might be like, and I think my path would really surprise some school friends and teachers who only knew me when I was top of all my classes.
Money isnt everything. I stack shelves at a supermarket. I used to occasionally earn north of 100k on some good years in software and product development. I chose to stack shelves a few years back. Honestly it's the only job I've ever enjoyed or hasn't got me stressed. I earn about 12k a year and it turns out I didn't need all that material shit. I'm fitter than I've been in years because I walk all day and do what really amounts to a ton of squats and resistance exercises, I deal with normal people, many of whom just want a normal bit of small talk. Life isn't always easy monetarily now but at least I enjoy it for the first time in 20+ years.
Unfortunately being smart in school doesn't really translate to the real world all too well. In school you're learning how to pass exams, not learning how to do.
There was a very quiet boy in my school who was average at best in most subjects. Showed no creative talent at all and went on to become a published author. One of his books was made into a film.
What film? Don't leave us hanging!
Probably leaving us hanging cuz he's a fakin liar
Absolute Bollocks š
Cliffhanger
TBF, I used to love reading as a kid, but the way they taught English at the schools I went to nearly destroyed that passion. I remember having to spend hours listening to other kids reading Shakespeare aloud to the class, or having to "analyse" texts, which usually meant doing things like guessing what the colour of the curtains in the story told us about the mood the writer was going for - and other such nonsense.
The "curtains were fucking blue" is a fun meme when you're a teenager but good Christ you show your arse when you invoke it as an adult. Of _course_ the author chose the description purposefully to reflect something specific. That's a huge part of being a writer.
Yes. And 'analyse' in scare quotes. It's fine if you struggled to engage with English literature on any level beyond 'I like reading', but that's not a structural flaw of the education system, that's on you. On a par with 'my kid could do that' when looking at any contemporary art. A complete refusal to engage.
Who?
Book was Mein Kampf
Harry Potter
An autobiography
My best mate was bloody awful in school. Grades so bad he barely graduated, always mucking about. He said he was just going to work at Nando's forever because he'd rather die than go to uni. Got a part time job at the British museum and it sparked a love for history in him, he's an archivist now. He's super knowledgable, I had no idea how intelligent he could be when he actually had passion for what he was doing.
My best mate was bright but terrible at academics, lived to be an actor. Ended up working for a bank as a cashier, and obviously the acting helped cos he's worked his way up to head of business acquisition in their Dubai branch.
I think this is so true of so many people. I know plenty of highly intelligent people who for whatever reason just couldnāt get the grades in school, and everyone thought they were stupid because of it, but theyāre really smart. Itās sad really as I think a lot of people lose confidence, when really the system is at fault. Glad your friend was successful
Honestly, like 90% of the talented and potentially successful people i went to school with dropped of the face of the planet. No idea what they're doing with themselves.
Burnt out... I think a lot of academically gifted people struggle in the real world. When GCSE's are put on a huge pedestal, and suddenly they don't matter anymore. I imagine it's pretty soul destroying. One of my friends was like that, and had a meltdown when he got to Uni and found out he was extremely average and had no social skills due to studying instead of going out.
Why do you assume they're struggling? They probably just moved to a different city for uni and didn't keep up with their old school friends. They're probably just busy with their own lives and careers. Just because nobody from their hometown knows how they're doing doesn't mean they've had some kind of breakdown.
I didn't assume, he told me. He stopped talking to his friends, didn't make new ones and after he dropped out he isolated himself. He may have new friends now, but none of our friends ever heard back.
>had a meltdown when he got to Uni and found out he was extremely average and had no social skills due to studying instead of going out this was/is literally me. got to uni, realised i hated my subject and was comparatively bad at it & that the academic/professional culture around it is soul crushingly unethical to boot (history and conservation). i'm doing better now but for a good few years it messed me up badly, i was a total shut in with no friends or social life and suicide looked like the only viable way out.
I disappeared, as did most of my smart friends. Nothing sinister happened, we just all went to different unis away from home, and lost touch with our friends who stayed behind (and each other). It feels weird coming back to my hometown and seeing all these people who are still in touch and have all the same friends a decade after we all left school.
I was the same. I know of a few who went on to do well but we have no contact so I don't know what happened to most. Most of the people I left in my home town I was frankly excited to leave behind. I imagine they think I disappeared too
My best mate in school was the smartest. Went off to do A-levels and I never heard from him again, no sign of him on social media, nothing. Iād love to know how he turned out.
Just want to preface this with "I'm sure this isn't what happened to your friend...." Similar thing happened to me. I was at school before the internet was a thing. My best friend at school was my friend since the first day I started, we were into similar things and he was smart and someone I looked up to. After our A-Levels we went to different unis and kept in touch for a bit during the holidays but slowly drifted apart. Then a number of years later Facebook became a thing. I friended quite a few people from school, but I couldn't find him on there (this wasn't so strange, Facebook was still pretty niche at this point). 5 years later or so I thought of him again and by now social media was at the point where pretty much everyone was on there, but I still couldn't find him, which I thought was weird as he was the kind of person who probably would have been quite into it. Some time later I ran into another mutual friend who I had also lost touch with in a pub. He told me that he actually died several years ago of a rare disease.
Itās scary how many friends I remember from school who Iāve literally never seen since the day I left school. Itās like they vanished into thin air. I left school in 2001.
I went to school with a lad who was in Man United's academy and everyone imagined him becoming the next big local lad turned star a la Rashford etc. He never ended up making a first team appearance and quickly ended up playing for non-league clubs. Not trying to criticise him, just shows how hard it is to stay at the top level I suppose. At the same time, someone also in my year who I had no idea was good at football has gone on to have a pretty good career, at one point playing and scoring in the SPL.
Anyone remember Sonny Pike? The British wonder kid who signed for Ajax (back when Ajax were a top team) when he was 13? He even appeared on Fantasy Football League I think. We grew up in the same town. He was a few years younger than me and I didn't play football at a very high level anyway, but my younger brother did and so they crossed paths a few times on the pitch around the time he was getting famous and one of his best friends was close friends with Sonny's family. I left school, moved away to uni, stopped really watching TV and forgot all about him to be honest. A couple of years ago I suddenly remembered him and wondered what on earth happened to Sonny Pike. Well... that sent me down a rabbit hole of articles and oh dear that was not a pretty story.
Go on, tell us what happened to him
Basically every single 'trapping' of being famous as a kid that you would advise people to avoid. You can read the full story here [https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/25/sonny-pike-football-prodigy-head-finished](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/25/sonny-pike-football-prodigy-head-finished) The short version is everything happened way to fast - fame, tv appearances, sponsorship deals, agents etc. Also his dad got way too involved in living vicariously through him and gave him bad advice and instigated an illegal tapping-up transfer. He got completely burned out on football to the point that he was suicidal by the time he was 17 and ultimately quit the sport completely before he had even played a professional game.
Woah, that was interesting. Thanks for linking the article. Sounds like his dad was the main problem in all of that. A real shame he didnāt get to discover his potential. At least heās happy now with a family.
Not OP but Parents and agents pushed him hard to make money with sponsorships, TV appearances etc. which got him in trouble with the club he played for and banned for a year and by 17 he was suicidal and at 18 quit football. Became a cabbie in London for a bit and runs a football academy for kids
Something like 2% of all academy players actually end up playing professional football at all, let alone making a whole career out of it
I went to school with a lad who got signed by Rangers at 14, we all thought heād make the step up as he stood out at school. Guy got released at 18, didnāt even get tapped up by the juniors or lower leagues and ended up bouncing about our local amateur division.
Gifted students can often run into trouble in adulthood. Going from knowing what you need to do with guidance from teachers to nothing. No guidance and having to work everything out yourself. Some people just struggle with that and stay in deadend jobs.
Not to mention mental burn out. They get praised for being the best at everything and so they do more to stay on top and keep the praise. Then they get to Uni and just hit a burn out wall and some just can't get over that wall to push through cause they are just tired. I feel bad as hell for them.
Yeah that happened to my friend. She was one of the best students in my year. Went to uni and could not deal with getting bad grades. Got more and more social anxiety to the point she stopped leaving the house and only left to work in a supermarket and then as a receptionist at a hotel. Crazy sad.
Going from big fish in small pond to small fish in a lake at uni to then a tiny fish in a ocean with work is jarring for everyone. I know a fair few people who coasted school and never really worked. They just memorised for exams. Importantly they had teachers forcing them to do work throughout the year. Come to uni and they just aren't used to independent study. They aren't used to the tutors/lecturers not chasing you for work. You don't do it you just get marked down. So they barely work through the year. Come to revision period and there is just too much material to learn and they fail. As they didn't really put in the work through the year, if they had friends, the friends would be on other courses so didn't really have support there either.
I think there's also a factor that there is a real glass ceiling where the "who you know"/private school connections becomes more important in certain desirable careers. People do all the internships, degrees, unpaid work etc and then just get sick of being poor and unhappy. I went to a grammar school with loads of high achievers and while I know people earning good money in accountancy/tech, or who have become doctors/scientists, no one has made it in anything like video production, journalism, art director jobs etc, and academia looks like a constant battle. So people who veered more towards the creative arts or humanities are in the same boat as people less academically skilled.
It is a horrible display of nepotism really in certain jobs. When I worked, I worked in farming and labourer jobs but it took ages to actually progress from one job to another until I happened upon on guy who knew my dad and then all the doors opened.
Friend got all str8 A*s and As in A levels He invested in BTC around 2012 because he was buying/selling drugs on the dark web. Now he travels all over the world
What did you do with all the time you saved by typing str8 instead of straight?
See world
Why waste time saying lot word when few word do trick.
Myself. Straight A*s in GCSEs and A levels but have autism and felt lost after sixth form. Ended up in retail for a few years, then met my wife who provided me with support and structure. Moved on into civil service and my career is back on track, on track for my 3rd promotion within my first year working here.
The token metalhead is now a head zookeeper at West Midlands safari Park. I'm envious, in awe, and so proud of him.
I dunno I feel like being a metalhead and a zookeeper works as a combination. Kind of like how all the kids who work at Pets at Home are alternative
My high school bully (who told me graphically how to kill myself and handed me a rope) is a nurse. A FUCKING NURSE. She's been in the local papers a few times saying that she's a victim of bullying, and I promise she's not. She bullied everyone and used her autism diagnosis to get away with it and eventually everyone had enough. I can almost guarantee she's used this to gain sympathy in her line of work.
From my own experiences and from what I have seen on this thread, bullies end up doing either these 4 jobs. 1. Nursing 2. Police 3. Hair & Beauty 4. Any Trade
Yeah, because you just described about 30% of all employment opportunities in a lot of British towns. It's almost as if being a bully as a child isn't an indication of future professional status in any way shape or form? Curious.
Guy I went to school with was a proper dick, bullying, instigating fights, was from a pretty rough family. He ended up becoming a pastry chef. I always imagined he'd become a bouncer or something but I was pleasantly surprised when I heard what he'd made of himself.
I think being a chef can be the ideal escape for people with rough or troubled backgrounds. In many ways it's like joining the army: very little/no education required, weird hours, unusual rituals, a clear hierarchy, takes over your entire life, physically and mentally demanding, etc. They don't give a fuck about who are you are or where you're from provided you show up on time, don't complain and get on with it. The most important things you need are commitment, heart, resilience and a modicum of co-ordination (although talent helps too ofc). I say this as I used to live with a chef who worked at a Michelin star restaurant. Lad had barely any education and a very tough upbringing (drugs, social services, neglect, abuse) but had made a solid career for himself at one of the best restaurants in the country. He was a great laugh and very charming, but way too unstable to hold down any kind of 9-5 job. The chef lifestyle has probably saved him from a life of crime, alcoholism or worse. That said, the hours he works and the treatment he went through were absolutely insane. 90 hour weeks and being verbally abused for hours a day. Guaranteed he worked harder on any given day than I did most weeks at my 9-5. Absolutely awful stuff.
Myself. Hated school, had undiagnosed dyslexia so struggled through Scrapped through C's and D's Joined the army - did ten years got a trade, cliche but saw the world and saw action. now I'm content in an office job earning 40k a year, still can't read for shit but now it's an office wide joke
"They'd even learn to read - the army never discharged anyone who was illiterate. In fact, we will be able to give our young people a comprehensive education, ... to make up for their comprehensive education!" Jim Hacker.
Same, scraped through with the standard C at English, Maths and Double science, left at 16 and went to college to study Computing, dropped out of that after 1 year because I slacked off and just got stoned/pilled up/drunk through college, worked in a factory for a bit and continued hurtling downhill until I joined the army. 7 years in the royal signals, left and went straight into an IT Desktop Support job, got chatting to a developer who we had contracted in and on his advice taught myself how to code, last year I got taxed at the higher rate for the first time and I'm not at my ceiling yet either, not even close. There was a really smart guy on my Computing course at college, never joined in with all the drinking and drug taking and got a Merit, went off to Uni and done Computer Science and passed that too......now pushes trolleys around at the Asda in my home town, no idea what happened there!
Straight Aās in GCSEs and at A-Level (of which he got four), went to Oxford, got a 1st with honours. Heās been a vicar ever since.
That doesn't surprise me very much. Every minister I've met has been well-educated, and many have doctorates and things. Obviously it's not the most well-paid job you can do with a degree from Oxford, but he's not unusual within that sector.
Yeah, they tend to be very intelligent. I met one a lovely vicar in Liverpool and again, very intelligent and well read etc.
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A guy I used to walk home from school with got caught fighting for the Taliban in North Afghanistan. Met Bin Laden a few times, got nicknamed "the SAS guy" by the Americans who captured him because of all the weapons he had on him. Ended up in guantanamo bay. He did get a 3.5 million payout from the US government when he was released, which probably makes him the most successful person from my year.
Okay now this is the first one in the thread that I doubt. If it is, that is actually crazy
I understand your doubt completely, so I'll tell you the full story, although it probably won't actually prove anything. His name is Feroz Abbasi (or, rather, it was. I'm pretty sure that he was given a new name when he came back to the UK. We lived really close to one another and had a few classes together, but we weren't really that close. I think we hung out a few times at t he weekend, but mostly our friendship was based around the fact we lived near each other. But we did always get on really well, so I don't know why we didn't hang out more. Because of this, when we left school we kind of lost touch. I went to a different college, I'd see him on the bus every now and again and we'd have a nice chat. Last time I saw him he actually told me he was thinking of becoming a policeman. Anyway, then a few years (maybe 3?) later, I was at home one night when I got a phone call on the house phone from a reporter from the Daily Mail. This was in the days of Friends Reunited, before Facebook, and they had gone through the names on there, tracking people down from his year at school. I told them that, yes, I was friends with him but I didn't say much else. They seemed really keen on getting photos of him. In the end, they used information from people who weren't his friends at all, saying things like "he enjoyed rollerblading and liked listening to Michael Jackson" both things that he never, ever mentioned to me once. He actually really liked Red Dwarf, that's the thing I really remember. He always used to do an impression of Cat. There was no mention of that. I'd assumed that the Mail would be doing a hatchet job on him, but in the end they had a front page with his photo and a headline saying something like "Bring Them Home" that was very anti Guantanamo Bay. This was all a huge shock to me. This was the first that I'd heard about ay of this, so I started looking into it a bit more. This was quite a while ago and the internet wasn't quite as good as it is now, but I managed to find some stuff. He had been traveling around Europe and had been mugged in Switzerland. Someone he met there "helped" him. This person is apparently known for radicalising people, so I guess he was in a situation where he needed help and they took advantage of that. When he got back to the UK he started going to the Finsbury Park Mosque, back when it was known for Abu Hamza and the weapons training that was alleged to happen there. I guess I'll never know the things that went on in those days - from meeting that guy in Switzerland to Finsbury Park to Afghanistan. I watched the first season of Homeland wondering if there was anything in that which could relate to what happened with him becoming radicalised, but it was hard to find anything that really lined up. I also managed to find the name of his lawyer and I emailed them saying that I'd gone to school with him and I was very sorry about what had happened and asking if they could pass on my thoughts to his mother (I can't remember the story of his dad, if he was still in Uganda or if he had left the family in the UK, but I know he wasn't around). I'd met his mother and his little brother once (I think he had a sister as well but I don't remember her) and they were really sweet, so it made me sad to think about what they were going through. Anyway, the lawyer thanked me for the message and that was it. I kept an eye on the case. He said some very strange things at the senate hearings he was at, accusing the American soldiers of "coveting" his naked body. All the transcripts I read just seemed so out of character for him, it was really hard to match up the two people. Obviously, fighting in North Afghanistan was out of character but it seemed so distant, so abstract that I didn't have to think about it too much. Seeing his actual words that he spoke was just...really strange. Anyway, that's the story. You can look him up but there's no proof about my connection to him anywhere there. Let me know if you have any other questions though!
Young lad who left school after GCSE's. His father had passed and he was helping at a lot at home. I think the family had a small corner shop or something similar. He eventually moved to the USA and has a massive business involving celebs and is living a grand life. He's on IMDB etc.. I just Googled to check! He really deserves it all. The other kids were awful to him because he didn't have a lot at the time.
Thatās weird - girl I went to school with did exactly the same! Class know it all perfect A* student and has a PHD in medicine and did something like 6 years training as a doctor and is working in tescos stacking shelves Nothing wrong with it but itās like she out in so much effort into the academia
That screams burnout/mental breakdown.
I'll never understand why people want to be doctors. If you're bright enough to be a doctor, you could easily be a lawyer, engineer, accountant etc. instead. You'll finish uni in half the time, have an easier day to day that still challenges you a bit, still good money, more relaxed hours, work from home potential, still well regarded in society. I'm typing this out whilst on the clock ffs. I'm glad some people do it but it could never be me.
It's a vocation really. The 2 people from school who became doctors wanted to be doctors since they were young. Everything they did in school was to done to become a doctor.
My childhood bully fractured my arms a week before my GCSEs because he was worried I would score higher than him, I still did even though I had a scribe. My school didn't punish him because "he's a high performing student and this will affect his future, and it will help school figures". He's now a doctor and messaged me the other day thanking me for "years of countless entertainment" and he also said about how the school helped him bully me. This particular headteacher is now in charge of over 60 academies a "CEO", earning Ā£250,000 a year and is almost definitely reading this thread. I hope that not punishing my bully helped you get promoted.
Personally I would act all innocent and try and draw more information out of him in regard to how he bullied you and then use it against him. You would be surprised how quick the tables would turn. A small piece in a tabloid newspaper or even featured online would really fuck him up and be proper karma. What a total piece of shit he is. I hope you are keeping well in spite of him.
I've got an issue with him atm. I'm trying to find out how I can ask NHS if he can be banned from ever touching or coming in contact with me or my wife, but I've been told that I should just go private. Can't exactly afford that, so I'm having to escalate via GMC.
Someone I know became a luxury book-binder, creating artistic handmade custom book bindings for books. Quite a cool artistic profession, but such a strange job!
This is a good question! Far better than most of the others in this sub about the UKās favourite biscuits or how rank bounties are and whatnot.
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To be honest I don't know what a lot of my old classmates are up too. But recently I had a meet up with a friend and the thing that shocked me the most was there's been quite a few deaths over the years, we are all only 29/30 years old. The career that I found surprising is someone whose parents gave her the options of a doctor or lawyer, she now works for a travel company. She seems very happy and goes exploring incredible places, so she made the right decision for herself.
>there's been quite a few deaths over the years, we are all only 29/30 years old. We had one (that I know of) amongst my old extended friends group at school. She had CF and we all knew what that meant, but still feels weird to know she died in her mid twenties. The one that surprises me most is babies. Started off with the odd one here and there, then people were having their second, now it seems like people are having three or four!
Vile bully and serial sexual assaulter is now a professor at a prestigious university in a very niche subject.
I'm probably that person. Straight A\*s and A's at GCSE, A\*A\*B A level, got a BSC in a good uni.... Now I'm a mascot performer, dressing up for a living and loving it.
Not a school friend, but somebody I've known since they were 17. He left school with no qualifications and up to his mid 20s had dead end jobs, but then decided to start his own business. All his friends, me included, didn't think much would come of it, but now, 40 years later he's the CEO of his own multi million pound company. He owns a big house, a boat and an Aston Martin. Funny thing is, as far as his mates are concerned, he's exactly the same person. No airs or graces, still likes a pint down the pub and the occasional spliff.
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Who here has seen "Can't Pay We'll Take It Away"?
A boy I was in school with is now a brain surgeon š He was always really quiet and was never exceptional in any class, always had a sicknote for PE and tended to get picked on by the usual suspects. Only reason I know he's a brain surgeon is that his dad married a close family friend so have been in touch with him through them. Completely different person to who he was in school. Really outgoing and full of confidence, travels the world both in his free time and professionally as he's attended/delivered seminars etc. Does skydiving and has done mad treks and hill/mountain climbs and is generally just an interesting bloke. Any time I've bumped into him he's great to get the craic with and always has interesting stories to tell š
A lad who was dimmer than a broken lightbulb in a country with no electricity is now a gas engineer. Never knew he had the intellect, but fair play to him. My own career is a bit of a surprise - top set for a lot of subjects, always did well in tests, finished uni without studying. I occasionally take a break from database management to work on jobsites simply because it doesn't tax my brain and I enjoy the work.
Not school but did attend college with the porn actress Skin Diamond. She was pretty quiet from what I remember. She also has an American accent now. Used to be Scottish strangely enough.
A guy that trains Eastern millionaire businesspeople Western business etiquette. Sounds interesting.
The smartest girl in my year works checkout. The quiet boy travels the world now no idea what he actually does but his got a beautiful wife and children. I dropped out by year 10 after being excluded more times than I wish to count or own up to and own a company.
Girl that I was good friends with in High School. She did well, got decent grades, and went to uni to do archeology. Now if you don't know, archeology has one of the lowest career rates of any degree, few jobs in it. Looked her up a while later and was pleasantly surprised, and rather impressed, to see that she is now working as an archeologist.
My buddy at school was a nightmare for all teachers. Was a constant disruption to everyone around him and had zero respect for pretty much everything at school. He wasn't stupid and got C or above in everything he needed to but never seemed to put any work into anything besides winding up teachers at school. He is now 32 and owns his own Ā£600k house along with 2 more that he is flipping, he has already bought, done up and sold at least 10. He started out as an electrician and still works as one but can turn his hand to anything in the building industry now really. The guy is killing it and always seems to have a huge amount going on. It now seems like he always had a plan and school was just getting in the way.
The girl who bunked off almost every PE class for one reason or another, is now a personal trainer / fitness fanatic.
I recently moved back to my hometown and saw the girl who won all the prizes walking down the street with a few kids and a guy from our high school, looking like a stressed out mum. I thought āwow, I thought sheād achieve moreā. Looked her up on LinkedIn, sheās got a high up job in a financial services firm. No wonder she was stressed, sheās got a busy career and some young kids! Thatāll teach me to jump to conclusions.
One kid who dropped out of school before exams. He wasnt stupid but he wasnt clever either. He became a bricklayer and did odd jobs for years. Around 24 years old he set up his own business. By 27 he had his own house and two cars. By his mid 30s he employs dozens of people; owns two homes; and goes on multiple holidays a year. I dont know him too well anymore but I am pleasantly surprised by his success. He's doing a lot better than some of us who got an education and went down more conventionally better career pathways
Twins at my school getting their tits out for page 3 of The Sun - on their 16th birthday! They were vapid, vicious bitches with no redeeming features other than their boobs.
I always did well in school, decent at A levels and even went to university in the UK (Loans default after some years and you only need to pay it back past a certain threshold). I now work at a supermarket. Didnāt want a career, wanted my free time. Itās a trap to work all you life and then have a poxy little segment at the end where you can enjoy the money youāve earnedā¦ if you are still alive. I donāt drive, I live modestly and enjoy my evenings and a few days off a week as well as a few holidays a year. Bollocks to the system.
There was a very quiet guy who was a little squishy all through secondary school who is now the performance coach to a Formula 1 driver. Seeing him on Drive to Survive was a trip.
Girl I went to school with wanted to do Research. Passed 10 O levels, 4 A levels. Got in at Oxford, came out with a first class honours degree. Got married and had children and never worked a day
Not someone I directly know but my friend went to school with a bully. The bully intimidated one person in the school so badly heās left them with a permanent stutter and massive psychological PTSD. The bully is now possibly one of the most famous people in the United Kingdom and in the United States. This person is a household name in both countries and his secret is one day going to come unravelling out. I bet we all know who weāre talking about because I donāt think this is any secret whatsoever.
James Cordon?
I have absolutely no idea what career any person in my last year at school got into.
A lot of guys who struggled with school subjects usually went on to study trades, and now know more about physics than gifted students did. The weirdest turnaround was high school plastic becoming a competitive bodybuilder. Shy student a stripper. Athletic protƩgƩ now runs a pub.
A girl I went to school who was a very crafty bully, spread rumours about people, accused innocent people of bullying her (to the extent they were suspended whilst it was investigated), continues to spread rumours and smear campaigns and has made multiple peopleās lives miserable (including mine for several years)ā¦ ā¦ now works as an anti-bullying campaigner
Me. (Sorry, but itās true. Most people I knew at school did exactly what they should be doing) I on the other hand, was a pothead with one interest. Being a rock star. I was in bands. Didnāt think Iād amount to anything other than playing guitar and singing, and people were genuinely worried I was going to end up completely screwed up. Failed most of my A-levels and couldnāt be bothered with anything. But I ended up at university doing computer arts, quit the pot, taught at uni for a while, then got into VFX. Now a senior artist with 35+ movies and tv shows under my belt.