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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1096 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).

I'm curious how many folks here were nothing special in elementary and high school but went on to achieve something substantial academically?

The high school I graduated from was in the state top ten for per capita overdoses, vehicle deaths, suicides, and teen pregnancies. I was suspended multiple times, had six weeks of unexcused absences my senior year, and nearly got expelled once.

I graduated from college. It's not much, but it's a win for me.

The high school I graduated from was in the state top ten for per capita overdoses, vehicle deaths, suicides, and teen pregnancies.

Gotta say, even the existence of such statistics (ie. there being more than one per decade) already sounds bizarre to me. Cultural differences and all that.

I graduated from college. It's not much, but it's a win for me.

I say that definitely counts as a win.

had six weeks of unexcused absences my senior year

Ours was a very progressive high school as far as student freedom and responsibility went. You could be absent from up to 20% of classes from one course without requiring a reason and 30% if you had a doctor's note or similar. I had some "slight" motivation problems in my last year so I ended up skipping 50% of the math classes in the last period and the teacher didn't even notice (I missed something like 15 classes, he thought I missed 5). I outright arranged my schedule for that last period such that I only went to school three days a week. Good times.

Gotta say, even the existence of such statistics (ie. there being more than one per decade) already sounds bizarre to me. Cultural differences and all that.

How big are your high schools? It varies a lot across the US, but OP might be describing a school with over a thousand students per grade level, and you might be able to get meaningful statistics over a few years.

Location also matters. Rural schools usually have a much higher fatality rate than urban schools (some data here), typically due to a combination of dangerous farm work, dangerous driving habits, more miles driven, and more dangerous hobbies.

My own experience may be illustrative. I went to a rural high school of about 400 students. My freshman year was the first in 25 years not to see a single student death, though there were four more deaths my sophomore through senior years. In contrast, the large city schools near me (student population ~3,000–4,000) usually only have one or two deaths per decade.

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