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PaperclipPerfector  17hr ago (text post)   620 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 29, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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We know the common cliche of a guy (or girl) who's "the brain" at their school but has a major crisis when they find out they're merely average compared to everyone else when they start university. I'm curious how many folks here were nothing special in elementary and high school but went on to achieve something substantial academically?

I did mostly decently in school but was never anywhere close to a top tier student. Barely got into the high school I wanted, ie. the one with the shortest distance from my home (Finnish high school entrance is determined by your grades in 9th year). Had to settle for my second choice in university (EE) because I couldn't get in to study CS (and the actually hard to get in programs would have been right out). I went on to publish a couple of semi-influential papers in a subfield and AFAIK my professor still considers me one of his star students even though I never ended up doing a PhD (and let me tell you it's really fucking weird to keep receiving fan mail about a publication for a full decade from random people who've gone to the effort of figuring out your twice changed email address just for a single message).

First, Congrats! Hopefully the weirdness is offset by the enjoyment of being seen as important. For what it's worth I'm one of the people that will dig a bit to say "Thank you" when a piece of art or science transcends the mundane. I pretty much never receive a response but I figure people get negative feedback so often on things it's a way to put some positivity out there.

I was unable to meaningfully achieve anything academically. My ascent from a mediocre student to decent mid-level professional guy was a happy surprise. It's still crazy that the company I "co-founded" is still around almost a decade later and making $40m a year from $0.

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