While popularity during childhood is relatively arbitrary in the long-term, high-school marks some deeply formative years and many people identify with their social standing during that time, for better or worse.
The movies often paint the "popular kids" in school as overly privileged jerks, but the reality of school hierarchies are much less straightforward or predictable. Some kids are popular because they're genuinely kind and smart, while others fit the bill for the rich bully or master manipulator.
Regardless of whether they kept killing it or peaked as teens, many of us have scoured the web to see what became of the "cool kids" we used to envy in order to see if high school really serves as a preview for adult life.
In a recent Reddit thread, people shared where the popular kids from their schools are now, and it runs the range from prison to top executive.
1. Razvee's popular friend was always destined for greatness.
"Coolest kid in my school was one of those charismatic prodigies, he got full ride scholarships, he partied with the jocks, played magic with the nerds, talked to me about building computers and always kicked my ass at counter strike... and he played 4 instruments before he was 15."
"I think he got a degree in Chemical Engineering, then went back for one year to get a Music Theory degree too... then after 5 years of working he decided that he wanted to be a doctor so he went back to med school and eventually started his own practice. Fuckin' dude had cheat codes on. One of those people you just kind of wish would go into politics."
2. The popular guys from ronnie_boy's school had very different fates.
"One went to jail for drug possession with intent to sell, one dropped out of college and works at a mall kiosk, and other quit his cushy corporate job and started a non-profit that provides shelter, food and job resources to homeless single mothers and their children."
3. TheJadedSF's classmates didn't hit it big musically, yet.
"Their rapping careers never took off I’m afraid"
4. racf599 has a more depressing answer.
"One is dead, one is doing life in the federal pen for running a meth ring. the rest are just living the standard issue small town life."
"I think most of them have done very well. One of them, the best looking, most athletic boy in my school died from ALS several years ago. That really rocked me for some reason; I didn't even really know the guy. He was cool, but he seemed like a decent person."
6. megavenusaurs's bully experienced karma.
"Popular girl in middle school. She used to bully me since I was the shy quiet kid with no friends. In high school life got better for me and I wasn’t bullied anymore, and I didn’t see much of her. She got into drugs but remained the pretty popular girl with lots of friends."
"A few months after we graduated, she murdered someone, another kid our age, in a botched robbery with two of her friends. Rot in prison Katie."
7. Juswantedtono's peers kept the success train rolling.
"Most of them got into Ivy League schools/top private schools and then landed 6-figure jobs after graduation in big cities"
"The cool bully kid who bullied me in high school ask me last year if I have a job for him."
9. The captain of the cheerleading squad from fredzout's school kept the cheerleading train rolling.
"Well, the captain of the cheerleading squad left after graduation, but only long enough to go to university and get a teaching degree. She came back to the school as a teacher, became the faculty advisor for the cheerleading squad and recently retired. So, she stayed in high school for 30 years."
10. Unicornh0le's classmates got sucked into the MLM dream.
"They all got fake tits, married old bald guys for a few years, popped out a kid or two then took off with half his money. Now they drink way too much wine, post about how being a stay at home mom is the hardest job EVER and have leather skin and try to sale me makeup on fb."
11. RedditSkippy's popular classmates had a variety of fates.
"Basically, I don’t really know about most of them."
"The one girl who was like the queen bee in my class ended up getting pregnant at 20 by her longtime boyfriend, returning home while she had the baby, and then finished school locally. I think she married the boyfriend and they’re still married (I should look that up.) Her son should be in his mid 20s now. I remember finding out about this when I was preparing for a semester abroad, and how different our lives immediately became."
"Another kid from a few years before me owns a bar and dabbles in music. Seems pretty happy."
"A girl from that same class, who was going to go out and conquer Broadway, ended up on a soap for a few years, then did audiobook narrations, ended up in Las Vegas. She’s now divorced and from the little bit I’ve seen on Facebook, is not aging well. Meh. Quite a fall, because, whoa, she was untouchable in high school."
"A couple of the popular girls came out as lesbians (looking back, um, how did we not know?) A few other people (I went to my 25th last year,) seem to be normal suburban moms and dads, working, taking care of the house, etc., etc."
"For most, I genuinely don't know. For one boy, he had dreams of moving down south to get away from the cold winters, as well as experience life in a bigger city. A big aspiration was also to break into the music industry. A very polite, happy, charismatic boy that everyone liked. He did make it down south, had some steady work, and even was playing music here and there."
"You know how sometimes you get certain feelings about someone, but you don't know why. Little things they say and do just cause you to get a particular aura from them. I always got a feeling that he was carrying a lot of sadness internally. I remember him getting a little defensive about smoking marijuana stating that he liked the way it made him feel. This feeling of joy lead him down a destructive path of drug experimentation in order to find greater joy.
He overdosed and died this past weekend."
13. colestellation knows that what is cool as a teen isn't healthy in the long-term.
"They're all addicts from what I've heard, I guess that's what happens when you start doing drugs at 14. it's unfortunate, they could have done so much, ya know?"
14. FeedtheFreak saw the dark side of getting popular early.
"Half of them sell crack, the other are sound cloud rappers who smoke in mall stairwells. You figure out real soon being cool in high school doesn't mean much."
15. Primmcess says only a few made it out well.
"Emotionally stunted addicts with numerous kids and no way or desire to support them. I think 2 of them actually moved off to college, didn't go crazy, graduated, got married, and are leading productive lives."
"Some of them became well adjusted adults with successful careers and are very happy in life, others though became total train wrecks. The group of girls I used to hang out with that were considered ‘edgy’ and ‘cool’ ended up being complete shitshows with serious alcohol and addiction problems. A lot of them suffer from crippling mental health issues as well. It’s really sad actually bc they had so much promise and potential. I hope they get the help they need."
17. The popular girl from Snooglekatz's school married rich.
"They got everything. The homecoming queen never went to college, went to the right bars instead, married rich and has a house that could be on a soap opera with a ton of land. She doesn't work."
18. ljt624's popular group is split.
"Prom king died of an overdose at 30. Homecoming queen ran over a little kid in her car a year after graduation. She went to jail for a year or two."
"Most of the other cool kids went to college, got normal jobs, and have pretty decent lives (or so it seems). Good looking spouses, nice homes, nice cars, a couple kids,etc."
19. MamieJoJackson made an important distinction between actual cool kids and temporarily popular kids.
"Well, there were the actually-cool "cool kids" who are now happy, successful people, with fulfilling lives, and then there were the not-really-cool "cool kids" who are in MLMs, engaged to convicted child molesters, or in prison for killing one of their kids while driving super high and drunk with 3 other small children in the car."
"The actually-cool "cool kids" were kind to everyone, and everyone liked them because of it. The not-actually-cool "cool kids" took the stereotype to heart and lived it out, unfortunately."
"They all became Instagram 'Influencers'"