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My best friend was definitely the smartest kid in our class. She got near perfect scores on the SAT and ACT, got straight A's without even trying (I could only imagine how stellar her performance would've been if she did try), and got into every college she applied to with massive scholarships.
In the end, she chose to go to the prestigious state school she got a full ride to, had her pick of med programs, and now works as a pediatrician. Besides being super smart, she also had a sunny disposition and was possibly the most cheerful person I've ever met. It's the perfect job for her.
Some of the other "smartest kids in school" earn themselves successful careers, like my best friend. Others surprise their old classmates by doing something completely different from what everyone expected them to do.
And some of those "smartest kid in school" types just burn out and don't become successful.
Redditors have stories of all types and are eager to share.
It all started when Redditor Ambitious-Rest-4631 asked:
"What happened to the smartest kid in your class?"
Dollars And Scents
"There were two geniuses in my class. One became a neurosurgeon; the other opened a candle store."
– discostud1515
"Both rational decisions. I know quite a few super smart people that live an incredible life, though not maximizing disposable income. But they don’t need more money. They want more experience and time to live."
– outdoorfun123
Accolades
"She’s winning awards for her work mapping the human genome. No surprise."
– pickanotherusername
"Wait, as in mapping the human reference genome? Because I am in genetics there recently were some major developments in that area. If she is working on exactly that, she is doing such helpful work."
– Bimpnottin
Letting Loose
"The smartest girl in my year went to a good school, started partying and drinking to deal with the stress, and ended up dropping out after the first or second year. She returned home, got a part-time job as she got herself sorted out, then enrolled in a different school and subject, went to law school, and made a good life for herself. I was happy to see her bounce back so well."
– Infamous-Mixture-605
What Goes Around Comes Around
"He went to a top university and struggled like f*ck because everyone was clever, and he realized he wasn’t the special unique snowflake that his mum told him he was."
"The guy was one of the most arrogant tw*ts I’ve met, so I feel karma worked its magic here."
– RobotGoatBoy
Her Other Half
"Lord knows what she’s doing, but her high school sweetheart, now husband, came into my club for his stag do, and I found out he is comedically stupid. Not a lick of common sense."
– exorcius
"Opposites attract! 🤣"
– Deleted User
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
"He went to university studying math. After a while, he decided that the teachers didn't know math like he did. They did not respect and love it. He got furious and quit. He got some good jobs in investment banking but quit them because they did not respect the math."
"Last I heard he was some sort of janitor at a research facility. Apparently, he is very well-liked since he can solve any one's math problems. Guess they respect it enough."
– DrMcDingus
Found His Passion
"He got into med school, hated it and then dropped out. Then he became a Drag Queen for a short time. Then he joined some kind of non-profit organization for troubled youth. Then he moved to Paris with his husband and got into modeling. Now he works for OECD in France."
"He's done pretty well by all accounts."
– DruidWonder
Animal Lover
"I work at a pet store, had highest GPA, was voted most likely to succeed, and almost skipped grades, but I was extremely socially inept, and my parents thought that would only make it worse. IQ tested at 164, was tested for eidetic memory (don’t have one just insanely good recall). Went to college for Physics and Mathematics."
"Junior year I had a series of psychotic episodes and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. I dropped out of college and found that animals help with my anxiety and depression and keep me a bit more leveled overall, so I stuck with it. It would be pretty cool to have my own store, but the economy is sh*t, so ya know, just kinda cruising."
– Naula-H
Ironic
"He’s literally my primary care physician."
– Vaguely_vacant
Not The Chosen One
"Flunked out of college because her “teachers didn’t know how to teach” nothing was ever her fault, it was always the incompetence of others."
– kjkend
"Honestly i wonder if everyone just grows up hearing they're special, hearing they're going to be the smartest, the best, etc."
"Honestly, 99% of people probably hear they're the chosen one. Or fantasizes over it to escape being average or lies about it on the internet for most, or pads a resume or exaggerates slightly."
– BusyPhilosopher15
Dangers of Social Media
"IG influencer with bot followers. Blocks people who call her out. 🙂"
– Due-Worldliness7767
Definitely The Smartest
"He became the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios. He directed Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2."
– Traditional_Ad_6801
"Damn! Smartest kid in your class was John Lasseter?!"
– Suspicious32
"Lol my neighbor founded Pixar. He was a totally decent paper delivery boy, so I don’t know why he he felt he had to move on."
– stanleys_mop
Flip A Switch
"The same thing happened to the two smartest kids in my class, a guy and a girl. They both got accepted into Ivy League schools and then had to dropout after they developed serious mental health issues. I imagine the high-stress environment must have flipped a switch in their brains to make them go off the deep end."
– Moal
Smart, In And Out Of School
"He dropped out of a prestigious, very expensive college junior year because he didn’t understand why he was going into debt for a piece of paper. He joined the navy. Had the government pay him to go get his undergrad and master's. There were lots of sucky years on a submarine, too, but now he’s pretty high up in rank working in the Pentagon. Smartest guy I’ve ever met and is beyond hard working."
– LivingWithATinyHuman
Found His Calling
"I lost track of him for a while. Call him John. John was the kind of guy that aced all the hardest classes without ever studying. Got a full ride to Stanford and was going to double major in Computer Science and Cognitive Science. His dream (at the time) was to revolutionize AI. He built a Chess AI from scratch that none of us could beat (admittedly, that's not saying saying much). This was almost 20 years ago, way before the AI trend of today."
"Anyway, he dropped out after 1 semester and I heard a rumor that he was living off the land in Sequoia National Park. But about eight years ago a mutual friend of ours bumped into him at the aquarium in Long Beach. He was actually working there. A mutual friend asked him what he did there -- thinking he was a research scientist or something. But he said he just has a menial job where his main task is feeding baby dolphins and cleaning their tanks. Basically an intern job. My buddy tried to dig a little to see what happened, like how he was so f**king smart but just dropped out of life and we all thought he was going to be the next Bill Gates or something. But John said he thought his life served a youthful porpoise."
– GravityTracker
It doesn't really matter what anyone does, regardless of their past intelligence, as long as they're happy!