Teachers are usually pretty good judges of their students' potential. Every once in a while though, one student will come along that either becomes so successful or fails so hard later in life that the teacher can't help but wonder what happened.
Reddit user u/jargson asked:
"K-12 teachers of Reddit, what is a story of a student you had who went on to surprise you with how much they later succeeded or failed in life?"
50.
I coached a girl in Rugby 7s at highschool in 2017. She was not good! I never told her she wasn't good and always encouraged her but she was just starting (much later than most other students who have been playing since primary school). I never expected anything from her.
2 weeks ago I was watching a professional women's game and hear my highshools name, rewind and figure out they were talking about her, now playing professional rugby. Needless to say I was very proud.
49.
As an adult, died in a police shootout following a manhunt for murder. I looked up his very distinctive name on a whim and there were a few articles about him.
As a middle schooler, he was rude, ran a gang of bigger boys, and was a great athlete. His mom (single and never came to parent/teacher meetings) was about my age, and I was an undergrad - you do the math.
Wasn't allowed on sports teams because of his grades, so I suppose could never channel that energy or get a strong authority figure. The school was/is in gang territory; students dumbed themselves down to fit in.
Made me think about how sometimes the odds are just so stacked against you through no fault of your own.
48.
This is not mine, but my grandpas. I don’t know if this story counts, but I’ll say it anyway. There was this child actor who needed to act like an architect in a movie he would be in. My grandpa was still teaching at the time and is an architect so he had the kid in his class for a while to learn. That kid was Tom Cruise.
47.
Not a teacher but went to school with a guy that had a 100% average because his mom baked cookies and did other things for the teachers and if he got anything less than 100 she would complain about it to the profs. She also had him listed for several learning disabilities, which he didn't have just so he could take like 2 weeks to write a 1 hour test (obviously went home and cheated). (He was on some special education plan that let him take all that time). He was genuinely a really smart guy too but his mom put too much pressure on him.
He got into the best university with a full ride- flunked out first year.
Since then, he's dropped out of like 4 other unis after a semester in each. He now works full time at a Tim Hortons as a cashier.
It's sad but karma is a b!tch because his mom used to always put down other kids by saying stuff like "you must feel really bad (sons name) got the highest average and you were only second highest. Don't worry, not everyone can win" ... she singlehandedly probably ruined his life.
Her poor son. He never had a real chance at growing up, I hope he is doing okay emotionally.
46.
I work in a delinquent youth placement. We'll call this student Bob for anonymity.
Bob had problems. Authority issues, substance abuse, aggression, raised in the streets inner city minority kid. Bob wasn't going to see the age of 30 if he didn't get arrested. Nothing out of the ordinary for our facility. Over months and months we get Bob doing better. SA counselors, staff members, teachers, therapists.
He's working as a student worker and making money. He earned his GED. He even enrolled in community college in his home town. We were damn proud when he left our facility and got a part time job between classes.
Fast forward a couple months. One of our staff members does a recidivism check (is bob doing ok or in jail again?). Bob was shot by a rival of Bobs former gang for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He died at the hospital, he wasn't even 20 yet.
45.
Johnny Depp went to my high school (waaaaay before I did) but the chemistry teacher was the same guy (but much,much older by the time I got there). He'd always tell us how Johnny was always skipping school,didn't do well academically and played guitar in the halls. His mom was supposedly always being called.
44.
Young girl, very smart but no Einstein. They removed her from her school and put her in the Center Based Gifted Program for the super-smart. The teachers there promptly ruined her (as they did all the kids in that program). None of them were truly challenged, given a curriculum that allowed them to pick and choose what they wanted to study (which taught nothing about hard work or slogging through the difficult parts) and brainwashed all the kids their parents (and everyone else in society) were the equivalent of low IQ monkeys compared to their "genius" and not worth their respect.
She graduated high school with high marks, because they were pampered and indulged, but college....where it's actually hard, and you actually Have to study and people don't constantly praise you for being 'amazing'....she lost her mind. Couldn't keep up with the other students, didn't know how to work for grades, and convinced herself her high school bf would cheat on her if she didn't go home and be with him.
She dropped a full ride scholarship in the first year. They broke up, of course, and she ended up 'managing' a rap group that was going nowhere, fell into drugs and a bad crowd and now works at as a cashier.
43.
I taught at a high school. I had one student who was incredible in school, she had an awesome family, involved in clubs and was extremely shy. She was going to Brown or Princeton and wanted to be a civil engineer. Opened up and adult video hub the other day and I pretty sure she's a cam show girl. If not this chick has a doppelgänger.
Mayhaps she is cam-girling to pay her way through one of the aforementioned schools?
Honestly I have 80k in student loan debt. If I had known in college what I know now, I might have entertained the idea just to finish college debt free.
42.
Best friend and Valedictorian I graduated with, did not go to college. Had multiple full rides 1400+ on the SAT. (When the max was just 1600). She scored perfect on the math. She Just wanted to live at the beach, so she did. Worked a crappy 9 to 5 and lived in a trailer. She's very happy. Success for her.
Taught a very talented kid. Taught him in middle school and was a beast on the basketball court. He could dunk a basketball in the 6th grade. He never played a game because of his grades and was later shot in a drug deal. One of his buddies ended up getting a full ride to play football at a Div. I college. Promptly quit because he didn't like being told what to do all the time.
41.
Not my story, but my grandma's. She was a middle school English teacher and had this one student who was problematic. He was well known as a troublemaker and a bully. My grandma was a pretty strict teacher so she didn't take his crap. She had to take disciplinary actions on multiple occasions, so it's safe to say he was not a fan of her. But my grandma was always able to see his potential, and she didn't want him to waste his life.
Flash forward about 35 or 40 years. This student got ahold of my grandma's email address and contacted her. In the email he stated how he has had a very troubled life and had past problems with the law. He then said that he remembered back to her English class and how she was the only teacher who ever pushed him to be a better student and person. It ended up that those memories gave him motivation to turn his life around.
He cleaned up his life and was able to get and hold a job. He wanted to thank my grandma for being the only person who ever believed in him and pushed him to be a better person. It definitely made my grandma happy to know that even if it was decades later, she was able to help give someone self worth and a second chance at life.
40.
Had a student who was one of the most undisciplined, uncontrollable people I had ever met. He probably had several undiagnosed learning disabilities, and had no regard for any kind of social norms, both in interactions with teachers and peers. He would wander the halls, barge into classes that were not his own, and attempt to engage in conversation with teachers in the middle of their lessons. He would have loud outbursts, sometimes of song, sometimes just to hear the sound of his own voice. On a few occasions, he would remove his shirt in class and lewdly rub his nipples.
This is just the stuff that immediately comes to mind, every day this kid would act out in some new, creative way.
He also happened to be an extremely talented singer and performer, and last year (his junior year of high school), he auditioned for and got a role on a show on a streaming service. I'm hoping the tutoring they provide him is more effective than traditional schooling, and that he gets his behavior under control... otherwise his success may not last long.
39.
My neighbor taught chemistry in high school for almost 10 years. In particular, she recalls a student of hers who got perfect scores on almost every test. She was a hard worker and could be seen constantly studying. Ironically, despite her being a "nerd", she was pretty popular, and had lots of people around her. 2 years later she failed her senior year. It was discovered she had multiple accounts of drug abuse and had run away from home.
It was a huge scandal, as the school my neighbor worked in was a prestigious and highly competitive private school.
To everyone's surprise, two years later she came back to the school. After going to rehab and therapy she was a whole different person. She repeated her senior year, and managed to graduate with excellent grades. Now she's happily married after graduating from college.
38.
One of my professors has this story.
She is a creative writing professor. She went and got her MFA in writing with a few guys who were writing this play. She said that they goofed off and never took their work seriously and they asked her to write with them. She figured them to be losers and turned them down. So now she's a creative writing adjunct professor, and her classmates, those guys... have their own animated series you might have heard of.... South Park.
37.
There was a kid I grew up with who was a bully crazy kid. He was constantly in fights in elementary school. His mom was called almost every day, and he was on ritalin 2x a day and he was STILL a handful.
8th grade he suddenly decided not to be a psycho. He got great grades and studied hard. Was a straight A student all thru high school.
My family always joked that he was so smart he would either be a super villain or the president, he had the potential for both equally!
Now he's married with kids and helps people manage their money. If you had asked me in 6th grade what his life would have been like as an adult, I would say he would be in jail for aggravated assault. Lol.
36.
Not a teacher, but I have a relevant story.
You know the show Scrubs? Well the creator of that show went to my high school. And I was a big fan of the show (when it was still good) and I tracked down one of his teachers. Specifically his creative writing teacher. He told me that his former student was a C student at best, and was solidly mediocre. So that's kinda funny.
Haha yeah that is cool! It would be interesting to see if the stuff he did in that class was actually "C" worthy, or if the assignments weren't really directed to bring out his talent? Or did he acquire the talent later?
35.
There is a kid I taught in an English center here in South Korea. His name was John and it was for a debate class. John was good at debating but way too cool for school. He was in 7th grade or so and was getting to that age where he didn't give a sh*t. I really really wish he actually tried and released his potential, but alas, wasted.
Come a few yrs later and I run into him on the streets. I actually didn't recognize him but he came up to me and was very excited. It was kind of surreal because he was never really excited to see me. He thanked me for teaching him debate and he had just won a national competition. I was very proud of him. Sadly, thats the only time I ever saw him again.
34.
I used to work for a company that took kids on wilderness trips for 3-4 weeks to teach them life skills, as an alternative to juvenile detention. Overall positive experience, and I really think the organization turned some kids' lives around.
However, one course I instructed was the worst--terribly behaved kids, terrible instructor team, terrible weather events. At the end, I kinda feared that the kids left worse off than they arrived. 4 months later, I was in the same area finishing another course (that was 100% more successful).
I was meeting with the local probation officer when one of the kids from the terrible course stopped in to see her unannounced. He needed her to sign papers because that was the day he was getting off probation.
I cried on the way home, knowing that he made that happen on his own because he's a good kid--and that the course I instructed didn't f*ck him up. But I know that not all the students had his success.
33.
Not sure what a K-12 teacher is but here goes. I used to teach a girl, aged 13, who came from a very wild family. Drugs, vandalism, absenteeism among others. Not many staff predicted a great future for her as her school work was being held back due to family matters. Skip forward about 25 years and I bump into this girl with her mother. We gave each other a hug and she introduced me to her mother as 'The only teacher I could talk to at school.' She then told me she had a daughter....who was at University....about to graduate in Law.....aiming to be a Barrister! Wow what a cosmic change from her background! That ranks very high in my list of fantastic changes.
32.
Not a teacher but I think I'd be one of those success stories.
Growing up my teachers all told my parents I'd never succeed or accomplish anything - my music teacher told my parents to take my instrument back to the store before paying too much for it since I'd never be any good (we couldn't afford private lessons). In high school the vice principal told my mom I wouldn't even manage to graduate and was destined to drop out and end up in prison.
I did graduate on time, and now I'm a prosecutor. I have no criminal record (except one minor speeding ticket), have lived on two different continents, speak several languages, and am a soloist in a local orchestra. To those rare teachers who believed in me- thank you. To this day I have constant feelings of inadequacy and I'm convinced I'm going to fail everything any second, but thanks to a few people urging me on, I dare to try.
To those teachers and everyone else who said I'd never succeed - f**k you. You tried to destroy me and nearly succeeded - thanks to you I spent years afraid to even talk, let alone try to do things I wanted to do. I'm happy I finally stopped letting my fears control me. camarhyn
31.
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I think it was my great-great-grandfather on my father's side. He was the Headmaster in a school in now Poland (back then Germany). He kicked this one student out of his school for document forgery (I think report cards) Anyway, forward a couple of decades and that student, Oscar Schindler, saves 1200 Jews from the Nazis. Fried3ggs
30.
Not a teacher, but a classmate of mine.
Running back on our football team. I was a marching band geek and we were in the same class, so I saw basically every game of his. First team varsity his freshman year. Lightning fast, great vision, elusiveness, and a ton of raw power. First team all county, all state. By our senior year he had stacks of scholarship offers from D1 schools. Traditional blue bloods and newer powers, too. Notre Dame, Florida, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, USC, name a school they probably offered him. We were all convinced he was going to get a full ride to a big school and get drafted in the NFL before his senior year.
Last I heard, he just smokes a lot of weed and works some menial job now. Such an enormous waste of talent. WuTangGraham
29.
Not a teacher but a guy my dad went to school with.
This guy was a stellar student. He had a hyper ambitious and ruthless streak even from the youngest age. He had a gift for ingratiating himself with authority figures. Also being from a very rich family, people were speculating about him as being a future president of Vietnam (this was in Saigon, South Vietnam before 1975).
Fast forward many years later he is a refugee in Australia rising through the ranks of the Australian Labour Party (equivalent to the Democrats in the US) and the power brokers have huge ambitions for him - they had plans in making him a member of the Upper House in NSW parliament (state level senator) and eventually making him federal senator (national level senator). But he decided to have his political opponent assassinated.
Today he sits in a prison called Supermax and is marked Never to be Released on his files. Redf2016
28.
This is basically the opposite what you asked, but I was the student bound to fail. After a brain injury, my doctors (all 5 neurosurgeons) STRONGLY believed I'd never make it through college. Well, I needed a LOT of tutoring, stretched a 2 year degree into 5 and barely scraped by with a 2.5, but I did it. I DID it!
I lost almost everything I was good at in that injury. I lost most of my vision, got seizures, became extremely socially retarded and unable to read body language (still struggle) used to be a swimmer and gymnast aspiring to go to the olympics, but now can't stand on one leg without falling. My intelligence became stunted, I became very depressed and self absorbed (I later learned this is common with brain injuries, to have narcissistic traits but not full blown.) I still can't work, I'm honest to god a failure in almost every aspect of life except 1.
I'm a damn good artist and a quick learner with making things.
I'm an idiot but I know my limits, I know when I can't advance, so I focused on the one thing I know I can do well, and that's art. I was good at art before but it wasn't what I specialized in. Now, with everything being taken in that accident and taking a year to relearn basic sentence structure, another 7 to be able to hold a normality conversation and a ton of gaming to get some basic hand eye coordination down, I'm good at gaming and I'm good at drawing.
I suck at a lot of things, but I'm hoping to teach art to inmates in prison so they get a second chance like I did. Someone to believe in them. I'm far from the best artist out there but I'm not terrible, I'm proud of it and it's what made me be accepted full ride into college. I have no aspirations to change the world, lead a big inspirational movement about breaking limitations because I was restricted, I pushed but I didn't beat my head against a wall on things I was physically unable to do. I'm happy being a nobody. I just want to help others get that same self satisfaction/purpose. KatTailed_Barghast
27.
I'm a youth worker in the UK and have both a success and failure story. When I started working for the youth service we had a little recording studio, the guy who was running it had left and nobody else really knew how to use the equipment apart from me so I took over running it for a little while. We had all sorts of kids coming in to record stuff, from complete amateurs to kids who have had music and singing lessons since the dawn of time. One kid I remember has made it pretty big now, Olly Alexander from years and years. I think I still have some old recordings of him somewhere.
On the other end of the scale I was working with this one kid who had been abusing drugs and started dropping out of school etc. I was brought in to kind of mentor him but he was well past any help I could give him. Turned out that kid was on the British Olympic cycling team and got kicked off for smoking weed. He just hangs around skate parks smoking weed all day now. Really sad to see. fantapants55
26.
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I taught a kid who has now gone on to be a fairly popular entertainer in Australia. She was a good student, applied herself, was polite to everyone... the kind of dream student every teacher gets at least once in their careers. She's become a great adult too. I give kudos to her parents (as I taught her brother as well, and he was just as great a student). She deserves every success. Yet_Another_Mel
25.
Not me, but my cousin. he had a student who was extremely successful and smart, scoring A+ in every test she had, she was a star student and every teacher complimented her on her knowledge. students and teachers both knew that she was bound to get a great job that carries a lot of money. not once did he think of the upcoming scenario:
Years later, he was at Woolworths shopping for school supplies. as my cousin was checking out, he saw her name tag and it said her name, she also sounded and looked very familiar. He asked if she was the straight A+ student, and with a red face she nodded. he was very surprised she isn't a lawyer but instead a bland woolies (Woolworths but in Aussie slang) cashier. thatfilthyoldshoe
24.
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I had The CEO of Samsung in my class. Not the best student (A-B) but surely didn't expect him to be anything great. Man-Dog-67
23.
Had a student in 2nd grade. He was sweet but overly emotional. His mom was young and tough with him but loved him the best way she knew how. He was good and smart and sweet when I had him, but had some issues with fighting in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade (mostly because he overreacted to everything). Anyways, fast forward 6 years- he was arrested for shooting his mom in the head as she slept, then beating her with a baseball bat because she didn't die from the gunshot, then loading her body into a plastic bin and dragging it down 5 flights of stairs and leaving it in the garbage area for the super to find in the morning.
He did all this while his 6 year old sister was home. His motive was "my mom was always bothering me about missing curfew and hanging out with the wrong people." (Yeah because he was in a gang). Last I saw, they showed him on the news being led into court in shackles with those big mittens on his hands so he couldn't attack anyone. ItWasTheMilk
22.
I'm not a teacher but I have a story. In elementary school my teacher thought I had a mental disability. She wanted me gone and would tell my parents that I should visit a special needs school. I had to visit doctors and therapists. I wasn't good at school and I knew that. Somehow my parents managed to keep me in her class. They divorced because they fought so much about my problems. My teacher talked to them again and my father finally snapped.
I don't know what happend but my class didn't see her again. The new teacher allowed me to repeat a year. Finally I felt like I could understand school and I felt like someone believed in me.
I was a very good student in secondary school. Now I'm in university and I love it.
Every child deserves a chance. Jaci98
21.
Not really my story but I go to the school Jihadi John used to go to and teachers would say that he was a friendly guy, good at sports and very likeable. He apparently also had an insecurity about his breath and would always try to cover his mouth up at times. Fast forward about 10 years and he became a terrorist that was part of ISIS. He's dead now too. doubleadizzl
20.
Not a teacher. But when my mum was in middle school, she was a bit of a problematic student, especially during science classes, it got to the point that she got dispensation for "lack of interest and will to learn" and didn't have to turn up for the rest of the year. She now has a PhD in biochemistry. TheFriendlyPenguin
19.
Not a teacher but a student I guess.
I found myself in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse at a fairly young age. I wanted to quit so terribly but I couldn't figure out how. When I left, I just remember one of the counselors saying "I give it a month and you'll be back." It was really upsetting but it pushed me to stay sober, just to prove him wrong.
In a couple days I'll have 6 years sober. My life is mostly put together, and I'm happy. So thanks Brian for not believing in me. You were wrong. blandnachos
18.
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Cuba Gooding Jr. went to Apple Valley Senior High, where he flunked drama class. PrintedinPLA
17.
My grandad was a total failure at school, (he was probably severely dyslexic, and mildly autistic).
He left quite early on to become an apprentice boiler maker. But going to night classes, and steadily working his way through all sorts of texts on many academic topics, he eventually applied to university and was accepted to study psychology (he would have preferred to study mathematics, but the establishment had too many mathematics students to accept him).
From there, he became a professional psychologist, and one of the leading specialists in addiction and rehabilitation. Who was partly responsible for quite a few important changes in how addicts were handled. — Though he always said that it was no where close to enough, and I am inclined to agree. Direwolf202
16.
My aunt, my father's sister, was ridiculously, unbelievably smart. As in, she skipped two grades in elementary school smart. But because she was a woman in Italy in the 1940s, she was married off at age 17 to an older, abusive, raging misogynist who made sure she was "put in her place" as a wife and mother. She worked as a seamstress for some time, but she wanted so much more from her life.
She was kind and loving. She was always happy to see her nieces and nephews and good with kids. She would have made an awesome doctor like what she had dreamed of. But her abusive father and abusive husband made absolutely sure that wouldn't happen, because it wasn't "her place" as a woman. 😢
She died 18ish years ago after suffering from cancer. Her abusive jerk of a husband is still alive, is 90+ years old, and making his daughters wait on him hand and foot because he refuses to accept care. Life just isn't fair sometimes. slinky999
15.
My mother's story. She taught an Oscar-winning best actress who was the class bully. She definitely put the 'mean' in mean girls. Mom said the woman was the reason she was absolutely sure evil walked on Earth. PainIsTruthful
14.
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Ryan Cooglar. Always was a nice guy. Great smile. Charismatic. He was kind to me. Used to freestyle to my beats at lunch. DJSexualChocolate
13.
Not a teacher, but a close friend of a guy with the most impressive 180 ever.
I've know this buddy of mine since elementary, he was never a good student, his grades are like F's to 50s to 60s from grade 1 to grade 10, he's not a troublemaker, he just doesn't give a crap. I use to think that he'd work a shit 9-5 job with no future, well I was wrong.
When grade 11 comes around, I don't know what happened, his grade shot up, like 90s to 100s up, he got multiple 90s and 100s between grade 11 and 12, there's not a single class he has that's lower than a 90.
I was dumbfounded, so I asked him wtf happened? He just said stuff happens. My best guess is that he's Asian, and we all know what Asian parents do to their under achieving kids lol
So after HS we both went to the same university, he continues to excel, high 90s across the 4 years in university. Near the end of our 4th year, he got a job offer at our federal government's economics development department (Canada btw, I don't know the full name), but he declined.
Nowadays he works from home doing something with investment and stock market, I don't really understand, but he can make $150 to $300 a day, Monday to Friday and only work roughly a few hours, like wtf how??
I asked him why don't he accept the job at the government, he has a very good chance to get promoted and be making 100k or more a year, his answer is amazing, "I'm too lazy to move, and if I wanted money I rob a bank," because we live in a different city, so to accept the job he'd have to move out.
But you know what, if he's happy with how it is then more power to him. He's 28 now, bought a house, a car, and forced his parents to retire because he can financially support them.
I still don't know what happened the summer between grade 10 and 11 lol. nuclearhotsauce
12.
4th grade teacher here. I worked at a STEM charter school (public school but need to be selected from lottery to get in/easy to get kicked out of and sent back to regular public school). I had this boy last year that was just an ADHD nightmare. Having ADHD myself, it was a fine line between knowing where he was coming from and having to lay down the law. I had weekly parent conferences where I suggested taking him to a doctor who could give him a diagnosis and medicine to which dad said "African American Men don't get medicated." Deep down he was a good kid, sweetheart and wanted to succeed, but he had no impulse control/anger management skills. After throwing chairs, cursing out classmates and telling me he was going to "pimp slap me," I pretty much gave up on trying to get him help considering his parents wouldn't. We made it through the year and I hugged him goodbye for the summer.
I didn't return to that school because we moved (husband is military) but about 2 months into the school year I got a text message from my former Vice Principal telling me my student picked up where he left off, only his 5th grade teacher wasn't as understanding as I was, he was facing expulsion, and she had submitted all the paperwork to get him removed. He was crying about how he missed me and he didn't appreciate me while I was there. He was realizing, looking back, how much I was looking out for him. Makes me sad that his parents won't get him the help he desperately needs and I fear the path he's headed down. lmp112584
11.
Obligatory not a K-12 teacher but a college student with a friend. Dude shows up to school and gets a 3.8+ average in CS at a UC over the course of three years. This is probably top 5% if not higher at the school. His third year (1 year away from his degree) he straight drops out and starts living in his car because his ideal career is to be an entrepreneur and his goal is to never work for anyone else. The car thing was likely because he watched too many YouTube videos on living in his car. The entrepreneur thing was probably from reading too many of those self help books with titles such as "How to say no to everything but still achieve all your goals in life." mr_clean_magic_reach
10.
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Not surprised so much as amazed. I teach English language acquisition and I had one girl who came to me knowing no English except "I don't know." A year later she's having full conversations with friends in English, asking and answering questions in English. I'm just so damn proud. magicalnegress
9.
Most successful student to date was in my 8th grade technology education class. He plays for the Philadelphia eagles now. We did a career project in that class, and I wish I could go back to see what he put. A lot of students put NFL, it would be cool if he put that.
Not sure if it's a big failure, but one of my students I also taught in 8th grade technology education ended up being shot and killed by his friend cleaning a shot gun. llf002
8.
I was that student. I was the wild girl in high school, was involved in drugs, drinking, dated older boys, skipped school, repeatedly failed my classes, was hospitalized four times for depression, and finally dropped out and got my GED.
Messed around after high school, tried junior college, failed out, waited tables and worked crappy retail jobs. Finally, after watching my then boyfriend shoot up coke, I decided I had to get out of that life and I went back to college.
Four degrees later and a PhD, I'm now a college professor. I love running into people who knew me way back when. Most of them are really happy for me because they knew I was the smart kid who was going through a rough patch. demosthenes29
7.
A student who moved from Scotland to Melbourne in the 50's learnt drums in a pipe band and was pretty good. He dropped out of school at 15 and was sent to prison for 9 months for 'giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge, and stealing 12 gallons of petrol.' He later attempted to join the army but was rejected for being 'socially maladjusted.' He later died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 33.
He was Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC. The albums he released got 56 Platinums. WillTheLad
6.
I had a student, she was very bright. Simply put, she never did anything with her abilities. It isn't more complicated than that. I'm one of her job references, so every few years I get a call or email from her next menial employer. They're always low-end jobs, paying $12-15 or so an hour to someone who could be pulling a six figure salary. Money isn't everything, but who enjoys drifting through poverty? SeeingSongs
5.
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A goodie two shoes girl I knew growing up, nice/ cheerleader/polite/good family/religious/ etc. She dropped off the planet her senior year. Rumor was she got knocked up. Either way, I never saw her again. Super weird. Dani3113kc
4.
Substitute teacher at one point. One of the girls I taught was a nice young girl and good student. She graduated and then started working at the same place as my full time job and I got to train her when she started there. She didn't work there very long to follow some boyfriend out of state but told my boss that I was her favorite person to work with and was thankful for the mentoring. It made me feel like I actually did something right for a change. GhastyGaster
3.
I taught a kid in 8th grade who was polite and funny and smart, often the kid who could get the others in the class to participate when they didn't want to.
He graduated from middle school, and a year later I learn he was arrested robbing a gas station at gunpoint. ringofstones
2.
So one day in school, my science teacher (Let's call him Mr. A) tells us this story:
(Warning, some of the details may be a bit off)
There was this random kid who was participating in the science fair, let's call him Logan. He signed up for the science fair and asked Mr. A for help with his project. Logan wanted to test how well brands like Nike and Under Armour actually absorb sweat or whatever. Logan tells Mr. A he wants to do something along the lines of; taking a fruit with a pit, removing the pit, and filling it with water using a syringe.
Logan plans to poke small holes in the fruit so that the water can come out, and then wrap the shirt material around the fruit, then put it in an oven. So that he can see if the fruit's "sweat" would be absorbed by the shirt. (Don't ask me how that works, I honestly have no clue)
Mr. A calls him crazy for this idea, but Logan does the science fair project anyways. Logan ends up getting nominated to go to a state science fair championship or something, and asks Mr. A to go with him. Mr. A goes, and Logan ends up getting offered like $1,000,000 by Nike or some brand.
A kid who went to my school got offered a bunch of money by some company because of a crazy science fair experiment. Educated_Aries
1.
I was a German Elementary math school teacher of a student who was very obnoxious. I taught him for 3 years because our school was very small and the 3rd-5th grade merged. He was very loud and playful, but obnoxious. I remember him having bad body odor and always trying to talk to girls; you could see their reaction to his smell. His grades ranged from C's to F's due to several failed tests, but he still passed 5th grade.
At the last day of 5th grade math, when the class was to officially be moved on to 6th grade and taught by a whole new teacher, I grouped the class in a circle and asked each of them, one-by-one, what they wanted to be when they grow up. On his turn, the obnoxious boy picked his nose and said "science" in a soft, mumbled voice. That boy? That boy grew up to be Albert Einstein. gnpascua
Appreciate your teachers!
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.