Were you popular in school?

Ronni

Ronni

Well-known Member
Location
Nashville TN
It wasn’t till many years after I left school that I realized that we…my clique and I…were the popular kids. I know that sounds weird, but truly, I had no idea!

Lucy, Josephine (Jo,) Bernadette, Margaret, (Marg) Claire and Gillian (Jill) and me…we were the cool kids, the ones others wanted to hang with.

We’d sit on the same bleachers at recess every day, and other kids would come sort of ease in to those bleachers, sitting maybe a tier or two away. We’d say hi, wave, whatever, without once realizing (at least me anyway) that they were trying to be included. I feel like an absolute sh** when I think of that. I had no clue!!

At my catholic school, we’d play tennis and basketball (Australian rules) and all the other kids would want to be on our team. As the tallest, I was always the basketball game goalie and I did pretty well.

I wasn’t a bad tennis either, and would always be happy that so many kids would be willing to fetch the balls for me. It’s more thing I realize now that I was clueless about back then..they just wanted to be part of whatever the cool kids were doing.🤦🏼‍♀️

I find it interesting, looking back, that the nuns always assigned a new kid to one of us. We’d introduce them around, show them where the tuck shop (itty bitty lunch booth) was, where the lockers were, classes etc, again having no idea (at least *I* had no idea) that we were chosen because of our popularity. Maybe the nuns were trying to keep us humble or honest? 🤔

I’ve sometimes wanted to go back and do a better job of being nicer/more inclusive/less clueless about high school me! 😖

What about you?
 

I was very introverted, but was accepted by a group of popular girls .. one in particular, whose family took me in and treated me like their own. It was what I needed, just when my older sister left home (3,000 miles away) to live closer to our other sister and their father.
 
Yes because I pretty much liked everyone except a very few of the most snobby kids in school. Out of average class size of 50, there were two or three in each class like that. I was often part of the same group they were in but just didn't care to seek them out as close friends ...most were very fake behind the 'cool' veneer. I got elected to most everything ...class president every year of high school, class favorite, beauty revue representative, homecoming court but I didn't seek those things. Just think most everyone knew I liked them ...didn't mind sitting at the jocks' table or with the shy nerds. The nerds were usually the most interesting when we got past the too shy to talk stage.
 
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Thoughts about high school from one of my favorite writers, Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess):

"Pretty much everyone hates high school. It’s a measure of your humanity, I suspect. If you enjoyed high school, you were probably a psychopath or a cheerleader. Or possibly both. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive, you know.

…you should enjoy and appreciate your days in high school, because you will remember them the rest of your life. Like when you’re in prison, or you’re getting mugged at gunpoint, you can say to yourself, “Well, at least I’m not in high school.” High school is life’s way of giving you a record low to judge the rest of your life by."

~~from Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
 

Were you popular in school?​



Not the greatest thing.....by a lonnnnng shot

I knew of this kid
Larry L
Small
Slightly built
Fingers and hands were always grimy...old grime
Sneery smile
Zero friends
He never participated in anything

Seems he liked chemistry
During assembly, after Christmas vacation, it was announced he did himself in
Drank some sorta volatile concoction he cooked up

I wish I woulda said something to him......something
 
No, I wasn't. Being popular meant participating in whatever other students were doing.
That included ridiculing & bullying other students - especially ones with handicaps or birth defects or were overweight or wore glasses.
 
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I suppose I was more infamous than popular. I knew most of the other students and got along with most of them. I did not fall into any cliques. I pretty much blazed my own trail. I still do. I like and get along with most people but I have no problem being alone. Sometimes I prefer it. I was the same way in school. I had many acquaintances but only one or two of close friends.
 
I wouldn't call the group I was part of ~ excessively popular. We were very close friends and had a lot of fun our senior year. Our class had the most students ~ ever. 350+ For being a small town, we sure did have a lot of classmates. Some of my friends were quite popular but that didn't deter our friendships. Sure, I belonged to a few clubs but was too shy to run for office.
 
As time progressed, classes got smaller. At the minimum leaving age there was a definite split between those wanting to pursue a craft / trade career and those headed for university and (hopefully) a professional or academic life. In a small class, everyone got along OK inside school.
Being a small town, many of my school mates came from farms and surrounding areas, so you tended to have different friends in school and outside it.
 
Buckeye said:
There were <50 kids in my graduating class, and I certainly didn't concern myself with being "popular". I was one of the jocks (quarterback of the football team) and dated the prettiest cheer leader. Life was good.
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At my high school, being a jock or cheerleader meant you were automatically popular; so if it was the same at yours, no wonder life was good for you then, you didn't have to concern yourself with being popular since you automatically were.
 
win231 said:
Being popular meant participating in whatever other students were doing.
That included ridiculing & bullying other students - especially ones with handicaps or birth defects or were overweight or wore glasses.
Click to expand...
Remember jam/bull sessions?

Jocks and groupies would congregate
Could be the adm bldg steps
Could be mats in the gym, or weight room
Or locker, after practice
Maybe six...or eight....or ten of us
We'd sit around, slamming each other

Kinda fun

Kinda
 
Gary O' said:
Remember jam/bull sessions?

Jocks and groupies would congregate
Could be the adm bldg steps
Could be mats in the gym, or weight room
Or locker, after practice
Maybe six...or eight....or ten of us
We'd sit around, slamming each other

Kinda fun

Kinda
Click to expand...
I never heard of "Jam/bull sessions," but that's different & fun - with friends who amuse each other. I've done that.
 

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