What happened to the smartest person you went to school with?

We asked the internet: “What happened to the smartest person you went to school with?” The responses ranged from heart‑warming career milestones to tragic mishaps that would make your head spin. Below is a curated highlight reel of the most memorable replies (no usernames attached, just pure Reddit gold).

One is single with a doctorate traveling when their job allows, the other is married, several kids, strong respectable career. Both really good, kind people.

He died. He was hiking in Mexico and he got altitude sickness. His hiking partner thought he was okay and went on without him. His body wasn’t found for a few weeks, but they estimate his date of death as two days before his 24th birthday. I met his fiancée at his funeral.

We had known each other since kindergarten. He was one of my best friends. We were co‑valedictorians of our class, but he was smarter. I had to bust my ass to keep up with him.

We went in different directions after high school, but we stayed in sporadic contact. This was before we all had a phone in our pocket.

Our last conversation was a week or so before his trip to Mexico. He was excited, and he wanted me to meet his new fiancée as soon as we could manage it. I was making a hard pivot from my chosen career path into something else, and I was feeling a little lost. The last thing he said to me was, “You’ll be fine. You’re the smartest guy I know.”

I’m still not over it. I don’t think I ever will be.

He left him alone? Jeez

This classmate went on to become a doctor but tragically died in an accident that was caused by someone driving a commercial truck who shouldn't have been granted a license. Very sad story. The driver went across three lanes of traffic and hit her SUV. She died a short time later.

She's a Harvard professor.

TL;DR: Some classmates are on the road to a PhD, some are raising families, some accidentally became part of a tragic news headline, and one ended up a Harvard professor. The smartest people you know are as unpredictable as a cat on a keyboard.