• ani@endlesstalk.org
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    6 months ago

    He went to Havard and got a PHD in mathematics. He had a short career as a researcher and professor. Later he bought a piece of land and became a hermit. But he was annoyed with society and sent people bombs, and published an article about contemporary world issues. He was eventually jailed.

  • silentdon@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    He worked as a chemical engineer until he was killed by police over non-existant drugs. None of the officers involved got into any trouble.

  • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    No idea, I moved away and moved on. Have a great life. Don’t care what the others are doing. Hope they’re well.

    • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Valedictorian is a way, but plenty of valedictorians aren’t the smartest kid, just the smart one who had the motivation to become one.

      Can’t even use SAT or ACT score to pick, because the smartest kid may not have cared enough to bother or try to do as well as they could.

  • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
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    6 months ago

    I mean we had a few that were al up there. From what I recall Jamie dropped out and had a couple of kids, Mark still lives at home 'cause he’s got no job and Just plays guitar and smokes a lot of pot. Jay committed suicide. Brandon OD’d and died.

  • skulblaka@startrek.website
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    6 months ago

    It was me. I was the smartest kid in my class for most of school. Then I dropped out of college and now I fix cars for a living.

    Not saying that’s a bad thing, the world needs mechanics and I’m paid well enough to live, but the sense of lost or wasted potential is overwhelming.

    • Addv4@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I wouldn’t worry about it. I was one of the gifted kids, got my Bachelors then Masters in Computer Science with good grades. But also I got massively depressed and it took me a while to get a job after graduation. One of the more valuable lessons I learned from that experience was that I was often not seeing the forest thru the trees. After all, going to college is just a means of hopefully ensuring that you have an easier time covering the cost of living long term. So, overall, if you’re happy and don’t have to constantly worry about your bills there was no real loss of potential.

  • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Everyone left. There’s nothing the state can offer to keep the most productive people. Most ended up going to California.

    The ones that returned became educators.

  • grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    He got a degree in architectural design and now tours the country playing the fiddle. He could have been anything he wanted and that’s the life he chose, but I respect him for it. He’s happy and that’s what really counts.

  • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    He became addicted to drugs and fell off. Last time i heard anything off him, he lives in south america somewhere as a street performer and found love. So i dunno.

  • Meltrax@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I got a job as a software engineer and I live in one of the major cities in the US pretty comfortably.

    (I was high school valedictorian, objectively average in college, and am maybe the high end of average in my career. My high school set a pretty low bar.)

  • AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    From high school: went to an ivy league, coasted with Bs and Cs, has a high paying job in NYC in finance. Saw on insta that he privately booked out a bar in Manhattan for his birthday, so I guess he’s doing good. From college: Currently over-employeed, married, owns a house in the inner suburbs, expecting first child. My life is pretty great, could be better, could be worse.

  • LarkinDePark@lemmygrad.ml
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    6 months ago

    All of the very smart people I knew from my youth have destroyed or are in the process of destroying themselves with substance abuse.