I Believe I Can Fly
If you’ve ever watched a teen movie, you know about the stereotypical “popular kids.” Beautiful, rich, and ready to make your life miserable, they rule the school. But the movies end before you get to find out what happened to Regina George or Steff McKee after they graduate high school, and real life is a lot more complicated than Hollywood.
The most popular girl in school may have also been super smart or even nice to the comic book club. But did her popularity carry her through adulthood? Internet users took a trip down memory lane to share details about the most popular kids in their high school and how their lives turned out after graduation. From arrests and weight gain to multiple degrees and small businesses, it seems that popularity can take you in many life directions (both good and bad). Read on for tales of how life turned out for the most beautiful and popular kids around.
She didn’t get enough scholarship money to go to the college she wanted to go to, and she ended up moving to Oregon with her mother. She worked as a barista and was taking community college classes for a while, and now she’s going to be a flight attendant. Of course, all the most friendly and beautiful people want to be flight attendants.
Jersey Girl
She struggled with a few real-world issues that even the most popular girl in school wasn’t exempt from: like needing to humble herself with a customer service job and a college that wasn’t exactly her top choice. But in the end, she still came out on top. She always had this crazy Judy Garland kind of poise about her, so she’ll probably be a great flight attendant. Reddit user: LippySmalls
I’d say there were at least three very pretty and popular girls. One was a basketball player and married another basketball player on the guys’ team. They have two kids and make them wear jerseys and jordans. The second girl was voted most likely to succeed and ended up marrying a water polo dude. I think he’s a realtor and she’s a doctor.
The Anti-Losers Club
He proposed to her at Disneyland. The third girl gained some weight and got a bunch of tattoos, and I’m not sure what she does honestly. But she still likes my Facebook posts. It was definitely interesting to see the juxtaposition between the first two girls who married athletes and take Instagram photos of their babies in jerseys and the third girl who may or may not be interested in me. Reddit user: [redacted]
They all still hang out with each other and post a lot of FaceTuned group photos on social media. Most people lose touch with friends after high school, but apparently popularity was such a life-changing experience that only other popular kids could understand. I’m glad it worked out for them and they made lifelong friends as they looked down on us from their popularity pedestal….
Back to School
Don’t get me wrong, I wish them nothing but the best. I’m sure all these girls are all lovely people these days, but they clearly still feel the need to keep up appearances…just like in high school. I’m willing to bet that in a few years, their children will all hang out together in matching outfits and become the new popular girl clique like in Mean Girls. Reddit user: prttyguardian
Most of them are teachers, actually. Good ones as well, from what I understand. It turns out that being popular and really enjoying school makes you want to go back there. Sure, being a teacher obviously comes with downsides like having to deal with overbearing parents and kids who think they’re cooler than they are, but it seems like they’re used to it….
A Secret Affair
When you grow up super popular and hit your prime in high school, you become accustomed to all kinds of students. Like the ones who need extra help or are just trying to get attention and/or look cool in front of their friends…but the joke’s on them, because you were cooler in school than they ever were. And it definitely helps being the hot teacher. Reddit user: troublemubble
These two jocks at my school were really “popular” but didn’t actually have many friends other than each other. The administration loved them, but all the students, except a couple other football players, absolutely hated their guts. They used to beat up my little brother until one of them got expelled and then moved. That’s when things started getting really sad.
Addiction Ruined Everything
After he left, the guy who stayed ended his life, and then it came out that they had been secretly dating each other since junior high. The guy who moved recently friended me on Facebook, and he seems all right. But it showed me that you never really know exactly what somebody’s going through, no matter how popular they are or how perfect their life may seem. Reddit user: [redacted]
A guy I went to school with and was good friends with…he’s had a pretty rough time since graduation. He was pretty popular and athletic. After high school, he went to college and joined and became president of a frat. Graduated college, started several successful businesses. Married a very pretty girl from a wealthy family. The problem was he loved (and still loves) to drink.
Over and Underachievers
Fast forward 25 years, and now he literally lives in a homeless tent camp and hangs out at the nearby convenience store begging for change. His story is the definition of “well, that escalated quickly,” it and makes it clear that good looks, charm, and even intelligence aren’t enough to have continued success in the real world. I hope he cleans up one day. Reddit user: Offandonandoffagain
One cheerleader got pregnant at 16 by a guy from another town. She went on to have three more kids in rapid succession. She had been very book smart but never got to go to college and has an office type job now. Her best friend, also a cheerleader, had terrible grades throughout high school and college. She managed to get a teaching degree and teaches Kindergarten.
Small Town Stuff
A very talented basketball player played at a big ten university for two years, then went on to play in the NBA. A very talented cello player received a full ride to Princeton. After getting her BA, she competed in the Miss America pageant and won the talent portion. She used that money to go to med school. She’s now a practicing physician and a medical correspondent on TV. Reddit user: aylandgirl
It’s been 15 years, but most of them still live in the poor town that I grew up in. On the few occasions that I’ve gone home since then, I’ve seen many of them, and they all gained a “freshman 50” and never lost it. A few are locked up for a variety of reasons. Small town stuff, you know?
It’s Always the Athletes
Sure, I may not have been the most attractive or popular kid in school, but I’m just glad I got out of my small town. But who knows? Maybe they’re all still back home because they genuinely enjoy living there. Things have changed a lot since high school, and I try not to judge others just because they think differently than I do. Reddit user: kione83
Of the two best athletes in my high school, one became a Navy Seal. Then after the military, he got a nice cushy job created for him at his dad’s company and later abandoned the job (screwing over his father) for a different job in another city. He has a wife and a couple kids and seems happy, but it’s still pretty oblivious to how much he ticks people off.
They Still Think They’re Hot
The other one got his girlfriend pregnant while she was still in high school (one grade lower). They broke up, the baby was put up for adoption, then he kinda disappeared. Last I heard he was a prison guard, but he isn’t on Facebook, so I don’t know. I try not to look up too many people from my past anyway, you know? Reddit user: monster_snowgoon
My school was pretty small, so a lot of the cliques overlapped. For example, everyone who played a sport, regardless of talent or appearance, was popular, even more so if they were also in AP classes. So popular kids were usually both nerds and jocks as well. Surprisingly, most of the popular kids are college dropouts now. Most are working crappy, low-paying, labor-intensive jobs.
Happy With Myself
And quite a few of them have serious issues in their personal lives. Also, a bunch of them act like they’re still hot stuff, even though the abs have been replaced with beer bellies and the hairlines have moved back several inches from where they were in their glory days. A lot more changes in 6 years than you’d think. Reddit user: simplysweet24
I grew up in one of those soul-sucking Midwest towns that tends to trap people who don’t get out as soon as they graduate. A lot of the popular girls who bullied me in high school (just your standard calling me fat, ugly, and a nerd stuff) are still at home and have babies now. The popular guy fathers are not in the picture, predictably.
Searching for a Sugar Daddy
I am glad, however, to see that most of them seem to be adjusting to single motherhood as best they can. The petty part of me is very aware of the fact that while I might still be a fat, ugly nerd, I’m a fat ugly nerd on the coast with a wonderful marriage and no kids to burn through my bank account. Reddit user: yikeswtf
I don’t keep up with the “popular kids,” as I was not one of them. However, I went to a nice bar in my hometown a couple of weeks ago, and my boyfriend, my sister, and I laughingly watched a girl hitting on a much older, visibly wealthy man. She and another slightly older woman were all over this guy, sitting on his lap, kissing him, and he was eating it up.
Mean Kid Marriage
He was buying them drinks, the whole 9 yards. It was awkward, and you could tell they were trying to get in with a “sugar daddy.” Near the end of the night, she got up to go to the bathroom, and the guy and the older lady sneakily closed the tab and left without the girl. She came back, visibly distressed. Then I realized it was the hottest girl from my graduation year. Reddit user: kingsandkeys
I’ve only ever looked up the ones that were nice to me, and they all did really well. One travels constantly and is living his best life, and another one does special effects makeup for horror movies. But on the other end, I did run into a boy and girl recently who were super mean to me in high school.
Flexing for the ‘Gram
They married each other, had 3 kids, got super fat, and hate each other. It’s kind of hilarious, because they were the two extremely stupidly popular kids. I know they say you should never be all giddy about other people’s unhappiness…but let’s just say it was a very, ahem, interesting thing to see after all these years. Reddit user: NewAgeAlice
From what I can see on my Instagram account, one of them is now working as a hairdresser, like her sister. Another girl has a modeling career and a boyfriend she’s so in love with. Very cute. This one dude is playing for FC Barcelona’s junior hockey team and has a modeling career on the side (I actually saw in a bunch of ads around town recently).
Meanwhile, this other dude plays for Wake Forest and is relatively famous (also helps that his dad was a well-known soccer player). His sister, meanwhile, is a sports journalist. Finally, there’s a friend of mine working for a church near Boston. Everyone else is finishing university, and only one of them has turned into a total jerk, so overall most of them are doing fine. Reddit user: Vasconium
He Got Hit by a Car
I was part of the popular group in high school. I’m going to school for radiology and am currently a medical receptionist, clinical assistant, as well as someone who authorizes insurance. People from my group have gone to college as well; one’s a model for an agency in Dallas, several got pregnant, and others got fat and work in call centers or fast food.
One of my old good friends is making a ton of money, as he got hit by a car and used the claim money to open up his own car dealership in north Dallas. But not everyone who wasn’t popular turned out all that great or got super attractive, although there were several kids that were deemed ugly in HS that are now very handsome and/or gorgeous. Reddit user: [redacted]
They Died After High School
I don’t really know for most of them; social media wasn’t much of a thing at the time I was in high school, so at most I had a few on Myspace. And I didn’t bother to hunt them down on Facebook. But I went to my reunion and found out that an abnormally high number of people from my graduating class died a year or two after high school.
A few of them were popular kids. A few others I met had pretty normal lives, nothing super successful or amazing. One popular girl was in one of my rival firms. One popular guy claimed to be a part of a baseball team, but I don’t know how true that was or how big the team he’s on even is. Reddit user: MikeyC86
Being Popular Isn’t Everything
The ones I’ve added on Facebook have mainly either fallen into the ‘wildly successful’ group or the ‘hot mess’ group. The first group includes a Broadway actress, a reporter, a few lawyers, and a CFO. The second group includes jail time, arrests, divorce, custody fights, and one adult film actress. I don’t think being popular or not popular really helped anyone in life long term.
I think how hard a worker and how privileged they were had a bigger impact. Life is hard and not always fair, and sometimes coming from a rich family or having a lot of connections can be the ticket to success, rather than how popular you were in high school. But I try to just worry about myself these days. Reddit user: hotel_girl985
She Came Out
The most popular girl came out a couple years ago as being a lesbian. She’s super gorgeous, and I had always wondered why she never dated any of the other equally gorgeous popular guys at school who always wanted her. She was always a cool chick and is doing really well now with her own hair salon. I’m really happy for her.
It’s interesting how you may think you really know someone, especially after spending 4 years, tons of homeroom classes, and a few parties with them. But ultimately, high school is a very short time of somebody’s life, and it’s hard to be your best self when you’re a teenager trying to find yourself among the crowd. I’m really glad she was able to find success and happiness. Reddit user: [redacted]
A Sharp Turn
Sometimes you can have everything going for you…until you end up losing your temper and stabbing someone, like the most popular guy from my high school. He was a semi popular musician for a few years in my home city before stabbing someone in a club and then fleeing to Jamaica. Last I knew, he was still on the run.
Popularity doesn’t always extend past high school, but it did for this guy. He got to do what he loved every day and play music, all while making decent money and acquiring a group of adoring fans. But then he had to go and ruin not only his life, but somebody else’s too. It’s actually pretty tragic…. Don’t be like him. Reddit user: MMaxs
She Apologized to Me
I was bullied really, really badly in high school. When I was given the option to nope out my junior year to take college-level classes at our local branch of university, I never looked back. I’m not in contact with anyone from high school besides following a few of my former classmates on FB. But I do have one interesting story….
One of the girls who bullied me the most (a popular girl who spread rumors that a certain geeky Harry Potter fan was into witchcraft) reached out a few years ago on FB and apologized. She seemed really sincere and has contacted me a few times about hanging out. I thought she did it as part of a 12-step program or something, but apparently she had become a yogi and was on a higher plane of existence. Reddit user: feelsinitalics
One Raging Rumor
They’re mostly doing okay. Most of them still live in my small town, are married to kids we went to high school with, and hang out at the same corner bars our parents went to. I ran into a few over the holidays, and they were nice enough, but it was definitely a ‘the cycle repeats itself’ kinda thing with their parents. I’m glad I got out.
Though I do have one fun story. In my junior year, a rumor went around that I was a lesbian because I played rugby. It sucked for awhile, mostly because I couldn’t find a boy to give me the time of day after that. I ran into a bunch of guys from school over winter holidays, and all of them were shocked I was engaged to a dude, except for one.
He sheepishly admitted he was the reason everyone thought I was into girls, because he found out one of his friends had a crush on me and thought if he started that rumor when his buddy made a move, it would give him a better shot…like I’d say yes to anyone willing to have me. I made him buy me a beer to make up for that. Reddit user: [redacted]
We Got Married
Turned out to be marriage material. I was an exchange student at a US high school, and I had a crush on a boy but never told him because he was so popular. You know…homecoming king, lots of friends and admirers, the whole deal. About 13 years later, we meet at Oktoberfest in Germany, and things start to get beautifully weird.
He tells me that he really liked me in high school but never told me because he thought I was just hanging out with him to improve my English. We get married. Here’s a lesson for everybody out there: never think you aren’t good enough for the popular kid. They may just have a crush on you too! Reddit user: Individualchaotin
Mustang Fidel
A friend of mine was a total jock and a football star. He was pretty cool, and I felt lucky he sat with me (I was friends with two girls) in art class (my only non-academic class). Anyways, he was actually a pretty cool guy and we both drove Mustangs, so we kind of “bonded” with that, but not much else.
He dropped off the face of the earth after high school. I graduated, finished college, and moved abroad. Anyways, I found out that he got his girlfriend pregnant right after high school, didn’t finish college, had two kids, got his act together, went back to school, and is doing great. Not all “popular” kids are bad, and I’m glad you’re doing alright, Fidel. Reddit user: uReallyShouldTrustMe
He’s Doing Just Fine
Our student body president was a really good guy. My most vivid memory was him dancing with a special needs girl with a crush on him during prom for the last dance and two or three other times. Reconnected with him recently and told him how cool I thought that was. He said, “Stacy? Yeah, we still talk every week, and I visit her as often as I can.”
He’s a very successful lawyer, super hot, and looks like he met the man of his dreams. It may be easy to hate on the popular kids, especially if you were a bit of an outcast in school, but they aren’t all bad. The good ones will go out of their way to make you feel special and included, and for the ones who don’t…karma is real! Reddit user: SparkleBAM
Going Off Track
You already know that being popular in high school doesn’t guarantee that you’ll have an easy life…but some kids go so far off track that it’s actually heartbreaking, like this really popular guy from my graduating class. He’s now deceased. Wrecked his car into a wall doing 110 because his girlfriend of 5 years had a kid with another dude.
Love can make you do truly insane things, and it was sad to see him come to such a terrible end. He wasn’t a bad guy, he had just lost sight of a lot of things. I’m hoping that in a few years when I go back for my next reunion, everybody else will be happy, healthy, alive, and thriving. Reddit user: icecreampopncereal
Big Revenge
In answering this question, I looked up the aforementioned girls and received a moment of extreme gratification. The girls in question made my life hell throughout school. I was not a popular kid to begin with, but they made the whole experience ten times worse. They picked on a multitude of things: my hair color, my freckles, my taste in music, everything and anything.
But their biggest (pardon the pun) target was my chest. It was violent and vicious enough that I’ve actually remained very self-conscious and self-loathing of them since. After school, turns out they all (save for one) got breast implants. It’s an old insecurity, but part of me feels better knowing that it wasn’t anything I did that caused them to pick on me. Reddit user: Danger_possum
She Got Sick
She got leukemia. She was terrible to me in elementary school and was one of the causes of me developing an eating disorder because she was cruel. All her friends left her. I went to visit her and we talked a lot. She apologized for the past, and now we’ve been best friends for five years. During chemo, we would listen to music and play Scrabble.
We had ping pong parties at my house, and we have a game where we go to the park in roller blades with water guns and spray each other and have a ball. She’s in remission now, and we’re both grateful that we got to put the past trauma behind us and become friends that are always there for each other. Reddit user: [redacted]
Reality Kicked In
The most popular girl in my school was insanely hot, and she desperately wanted to be a reality TV star. She was friends with a few of the girls on The Hills but never got very much screen time. She received a lot of negative publicity for her involvement on the show because she came across as super mean, which she kind of was.
Fast forward a few years and now she’s a real estate agent. Boring. Just checked her Instagram and apparently she has fake lips and a ton of plastic surgery now. She looks about 5 years older than she is and basically just like any other girl on Instagram. A far cry from the hot girl she used to be. Reddit user: [redacted]
The Fall of the Valedictorian
Remember on the show Shameless when Lip went to college and kind of lost his way when he realized that he was no longer the smartest one in the room? This same scenario happened to the valedictorian from my class, and one of the most popular kids in school, only much more tragic. Being a perfectionist can become dangerous for a select few.
He realized at university that he wasn’t nearly as smart or special as he thought he was. His grades began to suffer when he realized that he couldn’t just skate by without doing more work. He eventually failed out of college, tried unsuccessfully to kill himself and his girlfriend at the time, and now he’s institutionalized. It’s a very sad story. Reddit user: [redacted]
Valley Girls (And Guys)
The popular kids I knew all went in different directions, depending on their background and family support. For a few, their rich parents finally cut them off with financial support, and they’re having a difficult time adulting in their mid-20s. Others went on to start small businesses with a “small” loan of a few thousand bucks from their parents.
A lot of them also went and left town, stating on social media that they were finally getting out of this terrible town that they grew up in, only to be right back after a few years. As much as people rag on the Central Valley, it always seems to pull some people back. Maybe it’s the dry weather and fields to meet up in during the night. Reddit user: Vercingetorix_
Cop Out
The cheerleader valedictorian of my school married the preacher’s son. He tried to start a church, and the church failed. Mainly because he didn’t understand that A) churches are businesses and need to make money, B) starting a business is a lot of hard work, and C) people don’t always like going to church and they’re failing across the country.
Of the group of popular jocks, their outcomes: one went to a military academy and flunked out (because it was hard) and returned to become a police officer. Two others became police officers. Just SO many police officers, guys. One married one of the popular girls, became a firefighter and lives in his hometown. Several became cheeseball insurance salesmen. Reddit user: grby1812
Punk Kid Became a Lawyer
A handful of the popular jocks turned out to be losers, and I don’t use that word lightly…but not all of them. My friend, the prom king and quarterback of the football team, went ROTC, flew combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is now a colonel in the Air Force. He’s still the great guy he always was. So you know, not all popular people are bad.
My other friend, the punk rock kid that was always getting kicked out of class and sent home for wearing an offensive bandana to school, went to Yale Law School and became a prosecutor, then a partner at a law firm that sues corporations. Guess you could say he’s still sticking up for the little guys. Reddit user: [redacted]
I Stopped Being Judgmental
We had sort of a group of popular girls, and they were all pretty nice, smart people. One works for Snapchat, while another works for an international NGO and is pretty much constantly traveling to developing countries. One is a music teacher, and another one is going to medical school. So for the most part, they all turned out just fine.
For a while, I had that whole “ugh everyone in my school is so dumb and shallow and I’m REAL and COOL” attitude that I think some people tend to get when they’re insecure and already really different, but at my five-year reunion, I realized that so many people I wrote off in high school because they were popular and I wasn’t were really interesting, nice people. Reddit user: meiyoumayo
Glee Kid
There was this guy who was a year ahead of me in school and he was the “it guy.” He was homecoming king, king of Madrigal dinner that the choir hosts, and was one of the leads in the school musical. He was a really outgoing guy and had pretty much amassed a following within choir/drama and even outside of that (again, homecoming king).
He went to college and then came back home just after a semester. He came back to work as an assistant to the choir/drama director even though he wasn’t getting paid (budget cuts, so it was considered volunteer work) because he wanted to be where he was known and popular. Even the director thinks it’s pathetic. So, he’s back where he was, trying to relive his glory days. Reddit user: writingskimmons
One Beautiful Couple
There are a lot of things that can bring two people together and help them fall in love. For instance, a group of mutual friends, a chance encounter in the halls, or a shared affinity for action movies. Other times, it’s the fact that you’re both just really, really good looking, like the most popular guy and girl at my high school.
She was voted best looking and married the guy who was voted best looking. That was 34 years ago, still married, still good looking, and all around good people. I doubt that “best looking” would still be a category you can win in a high school today, but it brought two beautiful people together, and I’m sure their kids are going to be knockouts. Reddit user: timothytuxedo
From Mines to Modeling
Did some modeling, got a ton of plastic surgery, worked on a mine site for several years driving heavy machinery and pulling in the big bucks. Got featured on a reality TV show about FIFO (fly in fly out) miners, a few news articles picked up her story with her modeling past, and she eventually got a small feature on the Playboy website.
Most recently, she was on another reality show, this time a dating show where she was quite successful. Found a good person, and now she’s living it up. She’s had a very interesting career and seems to just be insanely good at everything she tries, which makes a lot of people super jealous. But good on her…she’s doing just fine for herself. Reddit user: hella_rando
Model Behavior
Well, she’s Emily Ratajkowski…so I guess she’s doing pretty well. Even then she was very popular, and I’m sure everybody in the school knew who she was. In contrast, I was super nerdy and introverted. I remember that she was very pretty, and she seemed pretty friendly the one or two times I said hi to her, but that’s the extent of our interaction.
You know how everybody says that the beauty of supermodels is all smoke, mirrors, and Photoshop? I hate to tell you, but that isn’t true. Emily was always super stunning and never really had the “awkward phase” that everybody claims to have as a teenager. She seemed like a decent person, so I’m glad she’s doing well. Reddit user: [redacted]
Picture Perfect Life
She got married to a dude that’s actually pretty average looking but super tall. I’m pretty sure he’s at least 6’7″. She immediately had a baby and started doing exactly what she did in high school: photography and being pretty and personable to get exclusive access to events that people want photographed (backstage at concerts, foodie events, festivals, political stuff, etc.).
She’s usually a nice girl. I won’t lie and tell you that she was nicer than average, because she wasn’t. She was just way prettier than average and fairly smart, so she successfully leveraged her good looks to get exactly what she wanted in life. Which is a cute kid, a husband that makes money and worships her, and a fat paycheck for maybe 15 hours of work a week.
If she was stupid or meaner, she wouldn’t have been half as successful. She also still looks exactly like she did in high school, just with better makeup, which helps. The rest of us just got older and fatter. Reddit user: [redacted]
Just Doing Me
This is going to sound like the most anti-climatic humblebrag ever, but the most popular girl in my high school was me. I was the cheer captain, homecoming and prom queen, voted “friendliest,” “best dressed,” and “most likely to become a supermodel” in the school. I graduated, went to college for a year, and dropped out due to mental health issues (depression and anxiety).
I now work in sales and marketing at a cable company. I live with my boyfriend, and that’s about it. I’m pretty happy, I guess. I quit wearing makeup or doing my hair fancy every day and deleted all social media. Except for Reddit of course, because that’s where I go for all the real answers and to share my high school experiences. Reddit user: [redacted]
Time Was Not Kind
I attended my 30-year high school reunion, mainly just to show off my beautiful wife, as in school I was the absolute loser with girls. In particular, there was this one gorgeous cheerleader whose legs went on for days. She openly ridiculed me, once I think due to the color of my socks. We had way too many classes together.
Photo: creativecommons.org/buba69
Anyway, at this 30-year reunion, this former cheerleader sits down next to me and starts talking to me like I’m a long lost friend. I play along, but time has not been kind to this woman. If I were single, I would not be interested at all. Moral of the story: some people peak in high school. You do NOT want to be one of those people. Reddit user: lucky_ducker