Been living in the US for a few years now and I’m amazed at how many people I’ve meet that are still stuck in their high school days (I was valedictorian in high school, I played in the foot ball team in high school, I did this or I did that in high school).
I’m interviewing candidates for a couple of positions in my team and wow the amount of 30+ year olds that still talk in the interview or mention in their resumes their high school “accomplishments”. What?!
I’ve never seen this in any of the other countries I’ve lived in, that’s why I don’t understand.
Comments
So many Americans peak in high school. I believe it’s influenced by the Hollywood culture.
Why are __ so obsessed with using blanket statements?
Peaked in highschool is a real thing for a lot of people
What would you rather them say, if they didn’t go to college?
The War on Education (R) have led some to believe that high school is considered “higher education”.
For a lot of Americans it’s a highlight period of their lives where they had time and access to the most varied number of activities and clubs where they could excel. Even those who go on to college tend to have to work harder and have less times to explore things like theater and art. And high school is a smaller stage where more average students can accomplish bigger roles like treasurer in a club or first chair in orchestra. After high school the competition and job struggles can eat you alive. If you get stuck working 40+ hours a week in a dead end job and take care of your kids the rest of the time what can you really highlight about yourself?
For a lot of people I have met high school was their peak.
The glory days are over so everything is downhill.
I don’t know anyone that talks about high school regularly.
It’s just the people you’ve met.
I barely even remember high school lmao
People relives their glory years when they use to have all the attention they wanted.
Aka… LATE ANAL RETENTIVES.
Because back then I bet I could’ve thrown a football over a mountain.
They peaked in high school that’s why they talk about it so much, cause those are their glory days!
I don’t know anybody who talks about high school still.
That gets replaced with college accomplishments which often gets replaced by grad school.
Sounds like an indictment of the people you are interacting with, not Americans as a whole.
I don’t think I have had anyone reference high school unless it was in the context of sports they use to play.
many peaked there
is your team a mcdonalds line cook lol
yeah those people are immature and probably havent done much since high school, which is pretty damn sad lol
Bro they peaked in high school and been riding that wave ever since. It’s giving “uncle at the BBQ reliving the glory days” vibes.
I’ve always wondered this myself even at mid 20. some folks are straight cringe. they seem stuck in their high school mindset because there aren’t many real rites of passage into adulthood here.
Without new responsibilities or challenges especially for those who don’t go to college or leave their hometown, they’ll often stay in the same social loops, clinging to old identities and roles.
From freshman to senior, High school becomes a comfort zone, it’s the last place MANY felt seen or validated, so they keep replaying those dynamics.
On top of that, our culture idolizes youth. Movies, music, and social media all paint teenage years as the “peak,” so people naturally hold onto that. think of the “popular” kids and athletes
And when someone hasn’t seen maturity modeled well, like people owning responsibility or leading with integrity, they don’t have a clear vision of what adulthood even looks like. So they just stay where it’s familiar.
I mean, if you were valedictorian of your high school, you might bring it up once in a while. That’s a pretty significant accomplishment.
PS I was NOT valedictorian
also even when someone goes to college, no one really tells them they can’t just be an adult high schooler. And sometimes it works, maybe they couldn’t pull in high school, but now they do. That kind of unchecked dynamic settles in and becomes part of who they are.
It sticks because it finally pays off, and nothing forces real change. Without something or someone to check it, they just stay stuck in that loop, same ego, same games, just older.
For some, like Al Bundy, it was their peak in life and everything went downhill after that.
Are you speaking mainly to non college grads? Everyone I know went to college and some to grad school. I’ve never heard them discuss HS unless asked.
Try adding “didn’t peak in high school” to the qualifications for the job.
Where in America? This feels more like a southern thing to me
They have nothing else to offer as accomplishment because this is how the U.S. education system is structured….You learn just enough to go out in the world and survive, not thrive
Compared to say Germany’s education system, where college and higher learning and apprenticeship are structured in as post high school studies, In America you get your high school diploma and are pretty much tossed out to sea
If you come from a wealthy family or are willing to take on a lifetime of debt of course higher education can be acheived but at great cost
Well, I just learned how to spell “valedictorian” so that explains why I wasn’t, LOL
BUT – I agree with you. I couldn’t wait to get out of HS and can’t relate to a lot of people I graduated with because they’re still stuck there in a sort of time warp.
ALSO When you’ve been told for 17- 19 years straight that you’re not an adult—and then suddenly you are—but no one shows you how to be one, how to move different, think different, carry yourself different… it makes sense why a lot of people just stay stuck in that high school mindset.
Even legally grown folks still get treated like kids, so they keep acting like it. Some never grow out of it, especially if they’ve always been spoiled or had things handed to them. I had a boss like that—terrible at his job, but came from money and always landed high-paying gigs. Mid-40s, still moved like a high school quarterback douche. It’s like when no one ever makes you need to grow up, you just don’t.
What kind of positions are you reviewing for?
Never seen this before in my line of work. It’s usually just work experience and maybe some college experience if they’re a freshly graduated junior.
Those are only people who peaked in high school.
I could squat 500 pounds in highschool!
Because for many Americans that is the last time in their lives when everything still made sense.
I think it’s because once we get out of high school the stuff that makes us popular in high school, doesn’t matter anymore. Popular because of sports or music? Doesn’t matter once you graduate, unless you are good enough to go pro, or get a scholarship.
Since we’re living longer now, they’re allowed to prolong their kids days
Joke aside but nowadays you have 25-30 year old man-children and it’s disturbing.
You’ve seen plenty of 25-30 year olds still acting like edgy teenagers.
These people must have no other accomplishments. I usually note that I graduated but that’s it.
I try not to even think about high school, let alone give it life through speech. Certainly formative years to which some people still strongly relate, while others spend years trying to get over.
It’s like Biff from Death of a Salesman.
The only time I mention high school is when I go to the doctor for hip and knee pain due to marching band. My band director didn’t allow us to bend our knees in band and it caused permanent damage, so I like to let doctors know the cause of my screwed up joints so they know it’s not an autoimmune disease
There’s probably at least a few things at play. I imagine if someone doesn’t have a lot of career accomplishments that some of the most recent awards and honors would be when they were high school.
Another factor could be that they aren’t able to objectively identify their marketable strengths and focused on only “documented” accomplishments (many of which are in high school).
Resumes are often viewed like a list of accomplishments. This may lead candidates to regurgitate every and any accomplishment they feel may improve their chances, even if no longer relevant. Something like valedictorian is a great accomplishment in school, so they may think adding it can only help.
I feel like also there isn’t much quality of life after high school. After high school, it feels like life is only stress and work, and especially with how workers are treated in the US, it’s very easy to view your lazy high school days as “the good old days”
Lots of mentions of football here for good reason. If you’re from a small town in the south or Texas, you are a local celebrity if you’re on the varsity team and win games and titles. That’s a pretty heady thing for a teen and most people who experience that never get that kind of attention again.
Listen to the song “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen. To me it’s just sad if you peaked at 16 or 18. College was better than high school. Post college was better than college. These people were popular teenagers who then spent the rest of their lives working low wage jobs or they wouldn’t still be stuck on high school.
High school gives you a chance to develop leadership skills. But you’re saying you don’t want to hear about those experiences. You sound like a really negative person and a shitty interviewer, to be completely honest.
I never gave a fuck about high school
Mental pictures of Al Bundy (“Married with Children” TV show). The highlight of his life was playing high school football. 😵💫
Unfortunately, Social media put a lot of us back in that social construct. Before, you had to find your own way and had a chance to reinvent yourself and introduce it to the world. Now people form the same clicks and follow the same trends as they would in high school. No time or chance to reinvent when you around the same people.
They do not have any university experience and lack luster work experience. Mentally a lot of people started drinking in High school so are mentally stunted as a result.
HS was hell for me. I prefer my college days.
But for others, HS was a great experience for them. Probably with friends, parties, etc. It’s the time where you don’t worry about adult things like bills.
This sounds like OP didn’t have a great HS experience
Edit: to add to this they tell kids in high school to do as much as possible because it will look good on their resumes and later on in life. According to OP that was for naught if people should let go of their HS experience
I hated high school. The only thing I do now that I did in high school is play in a hobby band with a few old friends.
No-one really answering OPs question in the context that it was asked, which is why this is such a uniquely American thing. I think the simple answer is that US high school *is* a bigger deal. Concepts like Valedictorian don’t really exist in other countries, school sports are more recreational and low-key in other countries, and not part of the professional sports pathway (there is more of a club/academy system elsewhere). I don’t think it’s helpful to imply that Americans are somehow stuck in some state of arrested development or that people have less fulfilling adult lives that elsewhere. It’s just that there is more social capital wrapped up in these roles.
The real all stars of high school come back years later as teachers taking up some type of coaching job. FB profile pic is usually them on the sidelines with a head set. And the other half turn out to be town drunks still passing Ol Peggy sue around like they did after winning the 85’ state title
American culture is uniquely wrapped up in high school social standing. We connect sports and popularity contests to the affair so the intersection of immaturity, topical/sexual awakening, tribalism, and a need for standing have resulted in a nation that spends $100 million on high school football stadiums while other schools have to share books and graduate illiterate kids
I specifically do not mention HS. It sucked and I moved on.
I’m not American, but I think “high school experiences” are very much mytholigised by the American media. Films starring adult actors about prom, football games, first love… the country’s just a bit obsessed with the second decade of their lives.
My class had a 20 year reunion and by mutual agreement, we never planned another one.
We all peak at different levels, maybe it’s an American thing, maybe it’s a human thing, but many of us who don’t have happy lives can’t let go of any good years we had.
Me personally, I hated high school and college, but I have good memories in my late 20s and I tend to be nostalgic about those years. I would give anything to go back to that time if I could. I mean anything. Do you hear me Satan?
The world was new and the experiences have more of a lasting impression from that time in life. As life goes on you get more used to the ebbs and flows of life and the experiences aren’t new or less surprising or just generally have less of an effect on one’s persona for whatever reason. But I think that’s why people find the things from the high school age to be more agreeable.
Nostalgia is a drug in the US. Once you leave high school it’s time to grow up and you realize that everything is stacked against you in the US. So many things are out of reach of the average Joe. Healthcare, housing, saving money, having a family…. people want to go back to a simpler time.
No bills, No adulting…only freedom, parties and girls!
I’ve noticed the same thing when people’s only friends are the ones they had from high school. It suggests they haven’t had many adult life experiences, travelled or evolved much.
Listen to Glory Days by Bruce springsteen.
It’s really not going to explain it but it will take up a few minutes of your time.
I had a friend was a big baseball player
Back in high school
He could throw that speedball by you
Make you look like a fool boy
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar
I was walking in, he was walking out
We went back inside sat down had a few drinks
But all he kept talking about was
Glory days, well they’ll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days
Well there’s a girl that lives up the block
Back in school she could turn all the boy’s heads
Sometimes on a Friday I’ll stop by
And have a few drinks after she put her kids to bed
Her and her husband Bobby well they split up
I guess it’s two years gone by now
We just sit around talking about the old times
She says when she feels like crying
She starts laughing thinking bout
Glory days, well they’ll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days
My old man worked 20 years on the line
And they let him go
Now everywhere he goes out looking for work
They just tell him that he’s too old
I was 9 nine years old and he was working at the
Metuchen Ford plant assembly line
Now he just sits on a stool down at the Legion hall
But I can tell what’s on his mind
Glory days yeah goin back
Glory days aw he ain’t never had
Glory days, glory days
In fact I think I’m going down to the well tonight
And I’m gonna drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it
But I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
A little of the glory yeah
Well time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but
Boring stories of
Glory days, well they’ll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days
I think it’s the people who really “peaked” or had the all American movie type version of high-school. They were popular, well liked by teachers, came from money, played sports, got everything they wanted basically. I think actually saying they “peaked,” isn’t right. It was just a good time for them.
It was not a good time for me. My version of “high school,” nostalgia is my mid to late 20s when I finally got comfortable with myself.
Maybe their current lives are just not fulfilling. Could be bad of me but when older ppl reminisce about HS or even college I think they sound like a loser. Some 60+yo guy at the bar the other week was talking about his HS achievement and it just came off as sad.
I could not care less about high school and had not thought about it in a long time until reading this post
I know in Germany your CV is supposed to go back and include grades from middle school…that always struck me as very strange.
What you’re describing though is anecdotal. I personally couldn’t get away from my time in high school fast enough and never talk about it. I have to say in my experience it’s pretty rare for the Americans I encounter to talk about high school, too.
I’m sure AF not and I’m an America
Because back in the days when I was young I’m not a kid anymore but some days I sit and wish I was a kid again.
I’m from a small town. A number of people still live for those days.
For a lot of young adults, high school was the last time hard work resulted in recognition and advancement. They’re stuck in low level corporate hell, and are trying to tell you they will put effort in if you, or anyone, will just give them a little support and recognition of said effort.
I know this has been said over and over and no one ever absorbs it, but you can’t really generalize 340 million people by the handful you’ve met. There are certainly people who do this, but it’s not a character trait I’d slap on the entire population.
I barely remember high school and what I do remember I would prefer not to ruminate on.
The people that you meet that are stuck in their HS days are people that peaked in high school.
Watch some anime, Japan is pretty obsessed with their high school days too.
There are a lot of reasons, but specific to your complaint, It’s the last time most people ever got awards for something. A lot of us work jobs where there’s no way to distinguish yourself. I’ve only worked at one place that even did “employee of the month”. It’s hard to put “my supervisor said I did good work” on a resume.
Resume builders are always saying “list your accomplishments, like the time you restructured your department and saved 40% on logistics costs,” while most of us get stuck in jobs where we straight up aren’t allowed to make decisions.
Because it’s before they figured out the American dream is really just a scam
Because as Americans high school was a time where every one of us was free to do basicly whatever we wanted to. We all spent the vast majority of our highschool days in some way or another having fun and figuring out who we are. After high School everything is work work work work work work. The majority of daily life After high School is very mundane and banal.
High school was the last time where you felt invincible. Everything in your life seemed extra important because you’re emotions and hormones ran high. A lot of firsts for many, like first love, first kiss, first car, etc. You made lasting decisions sometimes in high school, like what college to go to or what career to have. American media glorifies high school a lot. It’s deep in our subconscious. The time after high school is just filled with worry and a lot of fast growing up.
I think for a lot of people it is the only time they got recognition and praise from others.
Lack of personality.
That isn’t all of us. Do you want me to stereotype the people where you’re from?
Accomplishments are still accomplishments regardless of high school, college or adult career. If you’d met a child actor who was in their 30s, you wouldn’t downplay their accomplishment. Don’t downplay people’s achievements. This shows that they are capable to achieve something more. How about instead of making them feel bad, use what they did and help, guide or motivate them towards their next one.
Straw dog syndrome basically so many people experienced the best days of their lives whether it is athletes being venerated, or a wall flower just hanging with friends. When they leave school they are casted aside like straw dogs after the ceremony is over. They then are left looking back to their glory days while life kicks them on the face.
Because now sucks
Lack of third spaces in the US makes high school the last time you’ll interact with that many people on the daily (minus uni). For a lot of people they are stuck in high school because that’s the last time they were socially relevant because community was at an all time high.
For some people, that was their most significant accomplishment in life, highest education. I also see and hear similar things from people’s military experience, even if it was just 3-4 years.
As an American who didn’t go to high school. I can tell you it’s because that was the last time they were happy