Not that it matters now, but I’m curious. I don’t know if I was popular. I had a lot of friends in middle school and I would say I did in high school too, but a lot less people knew me as the middle school I went to was smaller.
Not really during gradeschool or highschool. We moved around a lot so being the New kid every time was not easy. That changed when I entered college, I had a blast and was super popular: Got invited to parties all the time, karaoke contests, barbecues, summer outings, etc.but kind of an anomally at the same time because of the fact I was a scholarship student in a private university surrounded by rich kids. I graduated top of my class and elected valedictorian. With time most of those relationships fizzled down and while I still keep in touch with some of my classmates who were closer to me, I only keep one good friend from that time. Me and him are tight as thieves and have been through many many things together over the years. Now in my mid forties I have been able to make new true friends through shared interests or some who started as clients or neighbors or other roles, that have now become friends and I feel happy and content about it.
I was popular in primary school. Then, in High School I hung out with friends who were into Dr Who and nerdy stuff, because I knew and liked them and could never play the social status game by just cutting them off to be cool.
Four years in, when i was about 15, one of the jocks decided that we were gay (which was social death in the early 90s in rural Scotland), so my status plummeted even further.
That summer, at 16, I got drunk and had sex with a girl, which was something we both regretted. The rumour got out and that seemd to elevate me, socially. By this point me and my friends were big into Nirvana and had formed our own little clique of stoners so the jocks left us alone.
I look back on it all with some regret. I wish I’d been more confident. I would have liked to have been involved in team sports and activities that I was drawn to, but my friends derided.
My understanding is that these days kids are less socially segregated and you’ll find nerds doing physical stuff and jocks trying to be academic. Dunno if that’s true, but it sounds like progress.
It was really university that changed me. I left the small town and found people outside that tiny place to be friendlier, and I grew in confidence.
Looking back, I think the socially harder times in school made me who I am. I’m fairly resilient and find it easier than my colleagues to communicate with others and find common ground. It was a baptism of fire and I was miserable through my teens, but now life is pretty manageable.
no, i was more of the silent dumb kid
lolno. I was teased relentlessly. My parents did nothing to stop it either. They could have home schooled me or changed schools or whatever. But nope. Did nothing
I was liked amongst the nerds and band people. Outside of that nobody knew me. I’m fine with that.
nope. i have various disorders, including autism, making my “friends” think i was incredibly stupid and had the intelligence of an animal. i was bullied, had rumors spread about me, and all sorts of things happened.
Man, I’m sorry :((
THOSE WERE NOT FRIENDS
In highschool I was popular in the literal sense, that I was well liked by most. I was a nerd by the hollywood definition. Middleschool was hell
I went to a private elementary school where I was pretty picked on. One of my parents grew up poor and was an immigrant, the other grew up poor and rural, so neither really understood why I had a hard time socially in a suburban private school with mostly wealthy kids.They didn’t know how to help.
I transferred to a public middle school where I was neither popular nor unpopular. My elementary years taught me to avoid relationships so I just tried to blend in and keep things very surface level with other kids. I had no close friends but I was not being picked on.
In high school I developed a couple of closer friendships, but I would not say that I ever completely let my guard down. Like middle school, I wasn’t really picked on but I was certainly not one of the popular kids. I did let myself join athletics so I developed more self confidence, but social relationships were still superficial.
I’m now in my 40s and have been confronting myself about the fact that other than my wife and kids, I’ve not let myself have too many close relationships. I know it was self protective, but it also kept me isolated. My wife cannot and should not be the one person who meets all my needs.
I’m putting myself out there a bit more but man is it hard to make new friends at this age. Better late than never I guess.
Seems a lot of us learned to avoid relationships. School isn’t really a good place for socialization
Exactly! You said it. Just because you stick a bunch of kids together for hours on end does not mean they will become friends. Some do but many of these relationships would not happen outside of a school setting, same as friends from work enviroments I guess. Some friendships can be formed IMO if the school/work setting bond can be translated/migrate to other settings. For example, I now have friends who started as clients of teachers or whatever and our relationship has many different layers and tendrils. I like that.
I have one friend with whom I just celebrated 25 years of friendship with and we have been through ot all: Family deaths, marriages, having kids, getting jobs, losing jobs, moving countries, etc. And we could not be more different from each other if we tried lol. What I am trying to say is that making friends is not for the weak and I applaud you for putting yourself out there as scary or stupid it can feel sometimes.
Schools also make a lot of structural decitions that make genuine socialization harder
Bingo bango. I seethe inside when I hear people talking about forming friendships and smoothly sailing around in social situations, telling others to just be themselves and be happy. The majority of them could never even comprehend what true bullying is. That shit affects you for life, and you’d be lucky if you ever get someone close enough to be able to be open again.
The fact that schools are fertile ground for this type of abuse isn’t talked about enough. It’s only good because it’s the only option left where large numbers of kids gather in one place. If school sucks for you the internet is your only other option
Hey I applaud you for putting yourself out there!
I think the fact that you’ve managed to marry and have kids is fantastic. It’s a big social hurtle that a lot of hermits never end up making it with, so you should be very proud of yourself for being vulnerable with another human being like that.
Tbh, I think over time that it ends up quite normal for people as they age to really just have their spouse and kids as their main “friends” without many others externally. So I think you’re doing pretty good on the weirdness and socialization scales haha.
But yeah I totally get you wanting to allow your wife a breather and have some other buddies to share the “social burden” with (I don’t mean it negatively, just not sure how to phrase it).
Best of luck to you!
I was. Started out really shy until something clicked in the sixth grade and I became a lot outgoing. Might also have to do with being appointed to deliver the morning announcements for a year. At the end of each morning’s announcements, we’d call students up to the office if it was their birthday so I and the office staff could sing happy birthday to them and give a birthday gift (usually a pencil, sticker, or mini candy bar).
For some reason, I did maintain the popularity despite how little I socialized outside of school hours and official extracurriculars. Many students would greet me by name and it was awkward when I didn’t know their names. By the nature of taking AP classes, my usual friend group consisted mostly of well-off and somewhat nerdy students.
Writing this made me realize how much being socially connected brought to my morale and well-being. It was a privilege and I most certainly enjoyed it.
I was an outcast
From kindergarten through high school I was always adjacent to popularity but never popular. I got along with all the subgroups, which was convenient since I never really had to worry about being a target.
Not me, but my producer, Neigsendoig. He was into rap since 2014 or so, and really started getting popular for his charisma since 2015 (despite some things he did that were just awful). Ultimately, his charisma was what got him to be popular, not to mention his beginner rap skills at the time.
My highschool was a smaller charter school that was essentially a bunch of connected / encircled modular buildings.
I actually kinda miss it because it had different vocational paths and I ended up in a student-run computer shop. We actually fixed things around the campus and other people’s machines and stuff. Shame that sort of thing kinda fell out of relevance, job-wise!
We also had a large computer lab where we played things like CounterStrike Source, Battlefield Desert Combat or 2142, and sometimes Unreal Tournament maybe?
Lol anyway, to your question: I think I might have been popular-ish. In the sense that I think I was a sort of “ambassador” between groups.
I made friends with the drama kids, the nerds, had some goth friends, stoner / skater friends, and I’d often introduce them to each other. I had my “circle” but I was that guy who sorta knew almost everybody.
I think the thing I miss most is that everyone saw each other as individuals back then. Surface level you might fit with a “group” sure, but we tended to see each other as people and for the most part they got along.
But sadly when I moved away after graduation, only like one friend really made the effort to keep up with me over the years. :( Quality best friend though!
But I still think of them often and hope they’re doing okay in this crazy world…
Hell no, I was far more popular out of school, I went to a small private school and was the poor kid there. I was also mentally ill and and addict, so at a Christian school I was reviled. However in my neighborhood and other areas I was well liked and did well socially.
Now I’m sober, and mentally stable and would say I’m popular within our recovery community
No, I was not and unfortunately was often picked to be bullied until I raged and went to his throat to close it (English isn’t my native language so don’t know to explain it otherwise).
After that no bullying but wasn’t popular either. However, fun fact; no one who was popular at that time succeeded it life. They didn’t really went far either education and some even went to jail.
And myself? I got myself from a practical school to now having bachelor degree. So, fuck them.
School is a prisonlike environment, so it’s not surprising that the people who did well there went on to prison
Hope you’re doing better now.
Growing up for me, the popular kids were actually also usually intelligent and got into good universities. So the stereotype of popular kids being dumb really doesn’t ring true everywhere.
Hope you’re doing better now.
Yeah, definitely. Got my bachelor degree in Finance and currently having a immensely relaxing but boring job (which is alright, bit of a relax after years of studying). Just having this as my first Finance job while searching for another better one.
Honestly though, I know it sounds really mean and rude but: I’m truly satisfied seeing them having less good than me.
- One works at McDonalds and served my order 6 years ago and complained how he got ‘‘fucked over’’ by the teachers which he blames for not being able to continue studies.
- One went to jail for a 6-12 months.
- Another guy always acted smart and tried to put me down when we were 13-15. He did not entirely finished his studies, works retail and ended up jobless because the company went bankrupt (probably now having another retail job with a meh-salary).
From what I have heard here and there many of them never got their Bachelor degree. We all come from a ‘‘practical’’ school (teenagers who could not or did not want to actually study). I worked my ass off to actually climb the ‘‘study-stairs’’ and got the Bachelor degree and might go for Masters (Chartered Controller, Public Chartered Controller or Accountancy).
- Important note 1: I’m not saying that working in retail is bad. However, it does feel satisfying seen bullies serving my orders.
- Important note 2: English is not my native language, so some sentences or words might be worded a bit odd.
Growing up for me, the popular kids were actually also usually intelligent and got into good universities. So the stereotype of popular kids being dumb really doesn’t ring true everywhere.
Unfortunately to hear, I at least hope you are also doing better now. Honestly, fuck them. They might be ‘‘smart’’ or having a ‘good job’ but believe me, some parts of their live are quite shit. People always try to show-off their ‘‘good side’’ and hide their bad sides.