How Popular Were You When You Were In High School?

I wasn't one of the "popular" kids, but wasn't one considered to have "cooties". I did invite them to have lunch with myself and three good friends. I mostly was friends with the "brains", (now called geeks or nerds.) Of the four of us I was the one who did not earn straight "A's". We are still friends, except one who died of pneumonia in her fifties.

We were in after school clubs and with others started a folk music and a science fiction club.  Once SF club member's mother expected him to go to medical school. Later she was proud of her rocket science son who helped us get to the moon.

I belonged to neither groups.

I was shy (still am), smart, artistic, and a dreamer. For the most part, I stayed with the same close friends and family.

I attribute my success to 3 teachers ... all during different phases in my education. All had a HUGE impact on me. ALL went out of their way to help me.

(1st generation in our family to go to college)

I had a couple of decent friends, a handful of people who were supposed to be friends but didn't always act that way... And one lifelong best friend whom I had started growing apart from at the beginning of high school.  

I was pretty shy and anxious most of the time.  I was in band.  I was pretty artistic.  My passion was listening to my music collection and my dream was actually to be a famous disk jockey.  I was, for the most part, miserable, until I would get holed up into my bedroom and either get to listening to and dancing to my music, or reading a good book.

I was a bullied kid and teen and infamous for being queer but not popular.  In fact being friends with me was toxic.  Although I did have some friends. 

I chronicled it here at Allnurses in 2010

22 hours ago, kbrn2002 said:

What an odd thing to think about so many years later.  I wasn't super popular, but I had friends that ran the gamut from the popular jocks and cheerleaders to the drama geeks and stoners.  I was in drama club, forensics [speech] and the elite small group choir so I mostly hung out with those kids.  I see some old high school friends occasionally but I didn't stay close to any of them after graduation.  Oddly due to a work connection the one I talk to the most now is my old high school sweetheart, fortunately I have a husband that doesn't mind. 

Honey, I think about high school about once a week at least, and I'm 46 years old.  I guess it is because it was such a traumatic time for me, that it has had a very lasting effect..

"Traumatic" may be the wrong word to use.  My parents were good to me, I wasn't HORRIBLY bullied, I wasn't beat up daily... However I was an anxious mess.  I won't use the word "depressed" because I truly was not.  I was in love with this boy who rejected me.  He was actually one of my best friends, and I didn't want anyone else. I had "friends" who would make fun of me.  I was quite unpopular.  I was tall, overweight, and shy.  Top it all off, I got horrible grades, mainly because I just didn't CARE.