Teachers Reveal Where Their Smartest Students Ended Up, And The Answers Defy Every Expectation

A post in the r/AskReddit community on Oct. 6 asked educators what happened to the brightest student they had ever taught. Within nine hours, it had received 3,300 upvotes, as teachers and other commenters contributed accounts of students who had taken very different paths from what their academic performance might have suggested.

Several commenters described conventional measures of success. One commenter mentioned that a former student had gone on to a Ph.D. at Stanford; another said that a former student is a professor at ETH Zürich. A third remembered a student who had studied at the University of Ottawa and then worked with a particle accelerator; they had an SAT score of 1,596, the commenter said.

Other stories took different paths. A special education teacher said that a former student with behavioral problems was eventually diagnosed with early-onset schizophrenia. This teacher added that they previously thought the student might end up in prison or in a residential facility. Years later, the teacher came across the former student again and learned that the student was studying to become a laboratory technician.

An educator said a former student with a disability now works in a shop. The teacher said they were proud that the student worked full time with very little supervision. Others described students whose accomplishments involved independence rather than degrees and their ability to live and work for themselves.

The thread also included stories of situations in which a person's academic ability did not carry over into adulthood. For example, a commenter mentioned a former student who excelled academically but had difficulty in college. Another commenter said that a former classmate who had been academically gifted had dropped out shortly before the final exams and had never entered the workforce.

Other commenters described similar experiences. One explained that they had graduated from high school with a low GPA, dropped out of college more than once, but served in the military before returning to school and earning a degree in computer networking. They said they now work as a director at a large company.

One former high-achieving student said that they had gone through school without the skills needed for higher education. Another commenter said they earned a degree in electrical engineering summa cum laude at 32 after leaving school during their secondary education.

One recurring theme was that being intelligent does not guarantee a particular path in life. A commenter said that most teachers are more concerned about whether a former student is happy than about conventional success. Another maintained that a student's potential is only one factor in their future. At the same time, several educators were particularly proud of students who overcame challenging circumstances to achieve personal goals.

Another commenter concluded that people's paths after school can be unpredictable.