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When I was in high school I thought the nerds would be nerds forever and the cool kids would be cool forever. I never saw a reason why it would change. Thank god I was wrong.
I don't know whether I thought I would be, but as it turns out, I'm pretty much the exact same person that I was in high school. Oh well.
I read somewhere that a person's personality is 95% formed at the age of 5, so I guess I am still basically the same person I was when I started high school, and when I finished. I didn't think about it then, since the future was a total unknown, but I worked hard, got good grades, had a few friends, was satisfied with what I had, wasn't envious of anyone. I retired 9 years ago at the age of 62. At the age of 40 I finally fell into the right technical job and career for me and was very good at it, paid off my house, got a pension, don't have any money worries, have a few friends, never wanted to climb the ladder of success, never envious of what others had, more than satisfied with what I got.
I took bits of who I was then and sort of tucked them away in my memories. For a bunch of years with my ex and while raising small kids, I was a completely different person. Eventually though, I started slowly bringing more and more of my real self back out, and adding to it and growing it. I was neither my old self nor someone totally different, but a blend of all that and more.
For a time though I did look back and think sadly that I might have peaked in high school. Sad, because when I was in high school I had a lot of dreams of the sort of person I could become. She was cooler than what I was seeing in a mirror those days of young motherhood.
Embracing more genuine expressions of self really ramped up in my 30s. Now at 38, I think I am way cooler than I ever was then. I know myself better. But the person I am and want to be isn't what I was dreaming of as a teenager though.
My teenage self was a sexually aggressive feral goth girl, who thought that one day she'd run some sort of spooky nightclub full of people who dressed like vampires. It was the 90's. Vampires were cool then. While that is most definitely not who I am today, there are bits and pieces I still enjoy. I have my Cleopatra CDs and my old Tripp pants. But the real adventures I have lived have made the 2-dimensional images of my teenage fantasies look so silly and flimsy.
My worldview in high school was very small ... my life has greatly exceeded my expectations!
Exactly this.
Other than a pervasive sense of unhappiness and discomfort, which I tried to quell with lots of daydreaming, I didn't really have a honest sense of myself. I don't think I could have imagined who I am today.
I've always felt high school was simply an annoying box to check off on the way to "real" life. Left behind with very little regret or memories.
This, exactly! HS was something to get over with, and leave behind. My solution to HS was to have a lot of friends outside of HS, some of whom were university students already, whom I was able to visit on school breaks, for a week or two, now and then through the year. My weekends and school breaks were my escape. That's what I considered "real life", vs. the artificial, stifling environment of HS.
Cheerleaders became "linebackers"
Football players were "fat bald guys"
Kids that had it all in high school were working at home depot!
I didn't do too bad in hindsight! Highlight for me, a girl that was a softball player (rough around the edges) had become a beautiful girl 25 years later. I told her that she had become the most beautiful girl in our class and she should be really proud of herself! She blushed and said that was the nicest thing anyone from our class ever said to her.
I liked high school.
But no, I didn't think that was who I'd be forever. However, I am also not who I imagined I'd be either
Really?
I'm very much the same person.
More life experience, definitely much more diverse exposure, etc.,of course, but the core of who I am (personality, traits, behaviors, values) is much the same. Maybe I just had a very early developed identity. But I don't think I've undergone any drastic changes. The things in life that were important to me then are still important to me. I haven't had any massive turnarounds in values. High school me would nod if now-me came back from the future and told her what my life is like, what I'm doing, what is important to me, etc. Details, like where I'm living, some of the places I've gone, etc. might surprise her, but not who I am. No. But, again, I was pretty mature and focused early on...wasn't really a flighty, immature adolescent like you often see. I think I've pretty predictably grown into the person I was always likely to be.
More life experience, definitely much more diverse exposure, etc.,of course, but the core of who I am (personality, traits, behaviors, values) is much the same. Maybe I just had a very early developed identity. But I don't think I've undergone any drastic changes. The things in life that were important to me then are still important to me. I haven't had any massive turnarounds in values. High school me would nod if now-me came back from the future and told her what my life is like, what I'm doing, what is important to me, etc. Details, like where I'm living, some of the places I've gone, etc. might surprise her, but not who I am. No. But, again, I was pretty mature and focused early on...wasn't really a flighty, immature adolescent like you often see. I think I've pretty predictably grown into the person I was always likely to be.
I'm so radically different that I'm virtually not even the same person:
High school me (graduated 1993):
Outspoken liberal
Voted for Bill Clinton at age 18
Femi-nazi
Pro-abortion
Cussed like a sailor
No fear, would fight (and win) at the drop of a hat, bad-a$$ reputation (I was popular, though)
Wanted to be a Homicide Agent with the FBI.
Went to college - majored in Criminal Justice.
Interviewed a serial killer.
Me now:
Devout Christian since 1995
Married 24 years
Baptist Pastor's wife
5 children
SAHM
Veteran homeschooler
Voted against Hillary twice
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