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One's a professor of astronomy and department head... one's an illustrator for magazines such as the New Yorker... one's a world-famous opera singer and voice coach for Hollywood actors... one's a very famous televison star... one's an Oscar-winning Hollywood producer... some are doctors, nurses, teachers, artists, musicians, authors, screenwriters...
And some are drunks, some are dead from years of drinking and drug abuse.
My freshman college roommate - I was google searching for him and discovered that he was killed and Dateline did a story on him being terrorized. What a waste.
Astronaut, CEO of a major computer company, head legal eagle for Johns Hopkins and that is just the tip of the surface. I don't know what was in the water but my classmates are super successful. Also a major Hollywood tv host. Scads of MDs.
Remembering a group of seven close friends who graduated from Penn State in 1971-72:
One lived out his dream, got a doctorate in his most passionate interest (marine biology), teaches and publishes
One climbed the ladder in a major accounting firm
One used his passion for computers (he was a systems analyst while still in high school) to land a series of defense-related jobs; unfortunately, he outlived the marketability of his expertise, died of emphysema (too many Pall Malls) while in his fifties
One worked in his field (biochemistry), but for the State of New York in an environmentally-related capacity
One stayed in the college community and sold textbooks
One stayed in the home town, worked as an electrical engineer in a coal mine, died at age 40 -- circumstances unknown
and my own strange path is well-documented at this site.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 08-26-2017 at 02:07 PM..
Many of my female friends had office jobs (several in government). One was a nurse another was a model. Males included military, various government jobs (police or deputy sheriffs), one guy took over his fathers fishing business.
Of those who left, most have normal lives...went to college, work, started relationships & usually did not return unless they had to.
Of those who stayed, most turned to alcohol & drugs. Many have died premature deaths related to this.
Many who stayed are "on disability", starting at a young age.
A good HS friend of mine died in October of last year...drugs probably contributed, no one will say.
Most shocking to me was the recent death of my high school boyfriend. He had cardiac bypass surgery in 2001, way too young for that. He had a debilitating stroke 3 days after Christmas, 2010. He was never able to talk or get out of a wheelchair again after that. Again, too young. He died in January of this year.
Like blueherons and BucFan, a lot of my high school classmates were/are very successful. Two are partners that write for TV and one of them started out in acting, even starring in a short-lived sitcom. I know of at least a couple of doctors, many executives, a couple of successful artists... I'd say that at least 3/4 of my classmates stayed on the east coast.
Me, I floundered for years; finally settled on a "career" in healthcare (I'm a respiratory therapist, counting down the months 'til retirement. Hopefully 11 1/2 to go.)
And I moved far away from New England. (Currently in Colorado; previously Salt Lake City; hoping to retire in Arizona or New Mexico.) No regrets there.
I have my own life to live and I'm rather intent on living it NOW, not 50 years ago in high school.
There is nothing more interesting than other people, including what has become of them after a lifetime. Catching up with someone, or keeping up with someone, is not living in the past, but on the contrary in the present - a present which is rooted in the past.
We do not spring miraculously into bloom today, as if we hadn't existed before, but rather what we are today is the sum of many past experiences (for good and for ill) and of the influences of many other people (again, for good and for ill).
A few people from my school ended up in jail for all sorts , a lot of them had kids when they were quite young , and one ended up appearing in Waterloo Road for 1 episode.
You mean like high school? That long ago? Heck, I don't know. I moved away and left that sorry place behind.
I do know that one person I ran around with ended up looking much older than her years (due to drugs & booze), & ended up an alcoholic & working at WalMart.
Someone else very pretty & from a good family married well, and no doubt raised very attractive kids, who would also be from a good family.
Someone else married a couple of times, ended up working in HR at a law firm, but moved around to different states. Have no idea where she is.
I knew a group of ne'er do wells. They ended up like ne'er do wells end up.
My ex (a deadbeat adulterer) finally inherited after his dad died. He lives in a nice house not far from the local boat docks (he fishes & boats). Not surprisingly, he dumped his second wife when his inheritance came in.
I moved away, worked really hard for many years, and retired early. So I was one of those who beat the odds. Because I moved away.
Unfortunately, I'm back now for complicated reasons. Hoping to move away again by next year.
I did not have a set crowd in school. I had a couple of friends at school, but my main friends did not go to my school. My bf was older, and I hung around with him and a hippie crowd.
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