Teachers Reveal What It Was Like Educating Future Famous People
As a teacher, how exciting would it be to say that you taught a celebrity way back when? Would there be any clues that would lead you to believe that they would make it big or were they under achievers? These teachers spill it all on their former celebrity students.
troypayne2 asks: Teachers of Reddit, what former students of yours are now famous (or infamous) and did you see foresee their outcome while students of yours?
Sometimes you don't know until it's too late
I taught ASAP Yams. I had no idea how far he went in life until I saw his obituary. I was heartbroken. I would have loved to have been able to congratulate him and cheer him on. By the time I knew it was too late
Talent bribes work on teachers
ESL teacher. One of my students was a National Geographic photographer who knew he could get out of being late occasionally if he saved some of his unpublished shark photos for me.
This insight is priceless
My dad who passed away last fall was a high school teacher in the Minneapolis School district for over 25 years.
He had Prince as a student for one term. When I asked what was he was like my dad said he was short - and quiet. We had this conversation before Prince became a mega star. So it wasn't a big deal at the time. I never asked about it again, probably should have.
A royal in the making
My grandfather taught History to Kate and Pippa Middleton. He said they were nice girls.
No warning signs....
My Latin teacher taught Fred West, one of the UK's most notorious serial killers. He said he was always s*** at Latin but gave no particularly bad warning signs.
Adult film star
I taught Alexis Capri/Capri Anderson when she was in high school. She was a nice enough kid, but had some indications of a rough home life and maybe drug problems. She went on to become a adult film star who also happened to lock herself or get locked in a bathroom in a NY hotel room while a coked out Charlie Sheen wrecked the s*** out of the place. I think he later sued her for extortion or something.
Sometimes it's not about brains
My grandma taught Darius Miles (former NBA player) she said he wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box.
When I was in elementary school he used to stop by the school quite a bit and everyone flipped out over his fancy car.
This teacher got lucky with talent
Two students come to mind:
Luke Holland - pretty famous YouTube drummer. Started doing covers in high school and then got picked up by some other bands. I knew he was going to go places! I just wish that one of these days he will play a mallet instrument on something....I made him learn his scales and told him that he would could use that skill someday in the studio!
Myles Garrett - Last year's #1 pick in the NFL draft. The kid was larger than life in HS and was one of the most down-to-earth young men I've ever met. As the band director of the school, we would see each other after every football game. He would come up and shake my hand, thanking me for what I'm doing with the band program. 100% class act and I hope he has a fruitful career in the NFL!
You can't love them all
My old boss was a high school english teacher and had John Mayer as his student. My boss was quite friendly with his parents and as a musician himself, he shared a lot of his own songs and cds to them. And then John Mayer used one of his album covers for his own without permission so he hates him and I remember he always switched the spotify channel if John Mayer's song came on at his bar.
Sometimes your students achieve great things, and sometimes they don't
I have a student who is a meteorologist in Texas. I follow him on Twitter and DM now and again. Otherwise, no one big yet either way...wait - does a charge of Grand Theft Auto count?
Ed Sheeran!
Went to school with a certain ginger singer. He was always in the music rooms during our breaks and I can remember him performing at a Christmas assembly. He was very good but never would have guessed he would be as big as he is today.
Of course he won the talent show!
My brother teaches in Springfield, Ohio, and had John Legend in middle school. Brother says he won the talent show that year.
Yes to human rights and science!
Actually a teacher-I have had students go on to do important things that make me very proud that reddit would probably not care about very much (an important human rights lawyer, another person who is working on a team making breakthroughs in some kind of random bacteria/algae studies lol). The most exciting for most people would probably be teaching a football player who went on to play for an NFL team. And yes, I occasionally watch his games and wait to hear his name. I feel all warm and fuzzy when I see my former students do great things and brag about them on facebook and stuff.
When you start to think it's you
I've taught three attempted murderers. So there is that.
The nice and quiet ones always make it big
My high school history teacher had Steven Yeun from The Walking Dead in his class.
He said that Steven was a nice and easygoing, yet also quiet, student. He really liked reading manga, and would talk about it whenever he got free time. He was also a good student.
this makes sense...
My dad taught and coached Wiz Khalifa for a year. Always said "he was a fool."
Sometimes it's a surprise when your student dose something outstanding
Former teacher.
A student of mine was featured briefly on American Idol. The school made a big deal about it.
I honestly never saw it coming.
Sometimes the kids just know
A friend's mother was a high school teacher here where Canadian singer/composer Bryan Adams grew up and taught him in high school.
There are lots of local folklore about him, but one thing stood out to me that she told me: He sat around in the halls a lot, playing an acoustic guitar, telling everyone he was going to be famous someday.
That last part is what gets me. We all know a kid like that from high school, who reassured everyone he was going places as he sat around, doing nothing, being a procrastinator, and playing a guitar.
Turns out, sometimes hardwork isn't what gets you famous. Maybe sometimes, it's just raw talent. Say whatever you want about Bryan Adams if you feel like it, but the man is a killer songwriter and arranger. It's not an easy skill to master or be good at.
A natural creator!
My late grandmother taught Kanye West in kindergarten and said that even then he was phenomenal. I believe she kept a few drawings of his that were unbelievable for someone his age.
But we should also be prepared and ready to ask the right questions to have a leg up on the competition.
"What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?"
A company's history or information about a past employee were suggested subjects appropriate for questioning.
Prior Knowledge
"When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?"
"This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained. She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job."
A Previous Employee
"One that has always gone over well for me:"
"What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?"
"Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this."
Hypothetical questions were suggested as helpful examples of inquiry.
Indicators Of How Companies Treat Employees
"A question that landed me a job once was: 'If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they'd tell me?' Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but got the job.
"In my current interviews I'm asking 'what did your company do for its employees during [the virus] to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.' and I ask 'Is there anything your company adopted during [the virus] that they plan to keep post [the virus]?"
"These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well."
Past Performance & Adjustments
"If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?"
"If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?"
The following questions about a prospective company may not be answered from initial digging on their website.
Measure Of Success & Career Trajectories
"How is success measured in this role?"
"What are some possible career trajectories within the company that could stem from this position?"
Being A Solution
"Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to 'don't think of a purple hippo,' this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position."
Simply The Best
"Who is your best employee and why is he/she the best?"
"You will then face 2 situations mostly:"
"panicking CEO who can't answer you 'Bob who works 17 hours a day for a slice of bread' so the fear in their faces must be a big nono for you"
"entusiast CEO who actually follow their business and can tell you who is an added value for the company and why."
– ThePiz91
My experiences with job interviews are different than others seeking work in office environments.
Having had a years-long career as a dancer, my "interview" was the dance audition, where hopefuls dance in small groups of people at a time after learning a routine and then awaiting their fate after the panel evaluates their performances.
The question I may or may not have asked in such a scenario earlier in my career was: "Did I make the cut?"
I did not make the cut. And I learned never to ask that again.
I remember the worst date I ever had. My biggest regret is that I stayed for the entire thing. I should've left as soon as I realized this was not going well, which was basically at hello. But he was paying so I drank, a lot. I'll keep names and dates to myself to protect the innocent.
0/10
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"Went to brewery, date said I had hairy arms and that meant I was horny, said "you look really awful in this light" and then tried to dig out of that hole by saying in his native language that was a term of endearment long term couples said to each other. 0/10 did not date again."
Lucky 13?
"My wife wanted to plan our 13th wedding anniversary. I was excited because usually, I plan it. She bought us some new disc golf discs and after a quick supper, we went to play. We hadn't played in forever. We were laughing and I had a great time. She served me with divorce papers and told me that the date was a test to see if she still had feelings for me. I also learned that she was having an affair that started well before our anniversary."
- rmorlock
Two Hours from Home
"Not necessarily a date but a person I was dating invited me to his parent's house for the afternoon. He wanted to introduce me to them and show me the house he grew up in. I thought it was super sweet and had no problems going. He was also in the middle of moving and needed to pick up a few things, so it really didn't seem that unusual."
"Yeah, we got there and it was awful. His entire family was there. They traveled from hours away too. This was not just meeting the parents, it was meeting the ENTIRE family. Even worse? At some point, this idiot told his parents that he had proposed. We had been dating TWO months. I spent the entire afternoon dumbfounded and just playing along."
"We were two hours from home and I had no cell service, no way to leave at all. We ended up spending the afternoon brainstorming wedding ideas and planning an Alaskan honeymoon that his parents planned to gift us. His brother even called to say congratulations! We drove back to his apartment in silence. When we got there, I got in my car and left, didn't even bother grabbing my stuff. Weirdest experience ever. I have no idea how he broke it to his parents that we weren't getting married."
You're Cut Off!
"Got set up on a blind date once between mutual friends. She shows up to the restaurant already a little tipsy, orders multiple appetizers and only takes like one or two bites from each one. Then she proceeds to order 3 or 4 more drinks and is visibly drunk at this point. She gets up and says she's going to the bathroom and staggers off. About 15-20 minutes go by so I try to call her several times but no answer."
"Finally I decide to pay the check and just leave. About 2 hours later I'm sitting at home and I get a call from an unknown number. It's the police department. She was picked up on a DUI on her way home after she ditched me and gave the cops my number to see if I could go bail her out!"
- mox44ah
Sorry?
Bbc Three Idk GIF by BBCGiphy"Well, I gave this answer on a different topic, but it ties in with this. We were out on a date, we had been seeing each other for a while, close to a year maybe. She gets a phone call. Suddenly she looks destroyed. Her fiancé had just died in a motorcycle accident."
What in the world? I mean how can we ever expect to pair off with the dating pool being inundated with liars and nut jobs? I'm going to delete my apps.
Girl, Bye.
Sassy Beyonce GIFGiphy"Had a girl openly flirt with the bartender in front of me. She says she wasn't. But handing him her own phone and asking for his contact info in front of her date seems like it to me."
Crazy!
"Came out from a movie, late at night, and date's Camaro was stolen. Apparently, he called his WIFE (that I did not know he had) and let her know where he was and what happened. She showed up and realized he was on a date! She started chasing ME around the parking lot telling me she was going to kill me. Saved by the cops who showed up just in time to take the auto theft report."
Hey Mom
"Met a girl at a country bar one night in my 20s. We were both pretty drunk but hit it off pretty good. Ended up getting her number and we agreed we'd go on a real date. Fast forward to the date, she gets in my vehicle and... she looks almost identical to my mom. I was mortified. I was polite and we went for lunch where I found out she also had a boyfriend she "wasn't sure if she was into". Never talked to her again."
- SgtGo
Liars...
"When I was in college many years ago, before the advancement of cell phones and social media, I was chatting with a girl I met on a BBS who lived on Long Island, NY. I was 18 at the time, but lied and said I was 22 because she said she was 25. We spent a few weeks emailing each other, as well as calling each other."
"We even exchanged pics. When we finally met up, things blew up. Turns out we both lied about our ages: She was really 33, and lied because she thought she looked younger. She admitted she sent a college photo to me. We still had dinner together, but it was awkward as hell. We never spoke again."
Doubles
Kill Me Now Season 1 GIF by FriendsGiphy"It was a double date. She was more interested talking to the other girl throughout the whole thing. Found out later from the other guy that his girl cheated on him with my date."
Ummm... I think I'm just going to stay single. That is a handful of crazy. Why can't people just be honest? I swear the search for love warps people's brains. Be careful out there people.
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