20 Unbelievable Transformations People Saw At Their 10-Year High School Reunions

Not everybody remains the same as they were in high school. Various experiences and challenges transform a person eventually, and sometimes the transformation is too evident.

Someone asked on r/AskReddit “Redditors who have actually been to your 10 year high school reunion: what is the biggest transformation you’ve seen someone make in that 10 years?” Many people shared real-life stories of good and bad transformations they witnessed. Scroll below to read their answers.

More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: zapsharon, Dineshraj Goomany

I used to pass notes to a guy in Algebra class… mostly song lyrics. I’d write a line pass it to him, he’d write a line, back and forth. He was a quiet kid and friends with some other friends of mine who were big into BMX bikes and skateboards. I took a bunch of photos of these guys for my photography class. At graduation, he said he was heading to California to ride BMX. He never came to a reunion… he was too busy playing rhythm guitar in Guns N Roses as Izzy Stradlin.

#2

Image source: fragilestories, Tomaz Barcellos

One girl who sat next to me in English class in junior and senior year. Thick coke bottle glasses, a bird’s nest of thick curly hair. She was always very nice and very smart, but super quiet and introverted.

I was an extroverted, outgoing jacka** so I used to ask her to read parts when we studied Shakespeare, invited her into my group for group projects and made her take speaking roles, that kind of thing. She was never really comfortable talking about herself and we never hung out outside of class, so I left school not knowing much about her except that she was smart, quick to grin at a joke, and had strong feelings about “The Crucible”.

Ten years later, this gorgeous woman shows up at our reunion. Smoking hot redhead, sparkling blue eyes, stacked hourglass figure. That goofy teenage grin had turned into a confident, knowing smile. She knew how to dress and make herself up to emphasize her assets and minimize her flaws. She was jaw-droppingly stunning.

We talked for a good hour. She was just a late bloomer. I apologized for always volunteering her for public speaking and she said it was one of the things that made her start to confront her shyness. She ended up going to an ivy league school and became a journalist, of all things.

We still chat from time to time.

Edit: no, we didn’t bang. I was happily engaged by my 10 year reunion and well settled into my career. She lived in Africa on assignment from a wire service. We were in very different places in our lives and I was and am happy to count her as a friend.

#3

Image source: TexasScooter, wikipedia

One kid was fairly small, quiet and goofy. Nice kid, but nothing too special about him. We hung out a few times at speech/drama tournaments.

I had wondered what happened to him. Turns out he grew quite a lot and became quite popular. His acting career took him far. He’s been in several huge films, including X-Men.

We knew him as Jimmy. Today he goes by a more mature name of James – James Marsden.

I hope he’s still a cool, goofy guy deep down that I remember from the few times we hung out.

#4

Image source: specialdialingwand, Opollo Photography

Back in highschool we had a kid who has aspergers and was a little weird. He was, however, amazing at the yo-yo, having picked one up during middle school when we had that yo-yo trick assembly. After everyone else had stopped walking the dog in 8th grade, this guy was doing more and more elaborate tricks every day during lunch. He was bullied and teased but he continued doing what he loved.

So, at our ten year reunion, people from every strata of high school popularity was there, including this guy. He was his same old self, but more confident. I asked him if he still yo-yos, and he busted out his custom made titanium yo-yo that he said he made on a CNC lathe. He then starts to do some tricks and a large crowd gathered around. It was quite the show, he had gotten very good. When he finished, people clapped and cheered, and even the jockiest dudes from back in the day fist bumped him and told him how badass he was.

So I guess the biggest transformation was everyone else. Nobody teased him for being who he was anymore, they now admired him for being so passionate about something.

#5

Image source: anon, Marek Piwnicki

One of my neighbors growing up was that super motivated Type A do everything types. Co-valedictorian, captain of the hockey team, gifted musician…just always working.

10 year reunion, went just how we all expected. Full ride to Yale, Harvard MBA, six figure Wall Street job, gorgeous fiance…and he seemed utterly miserable.

10 years later, 20th reunion. He got sick of it all, quit his job, sold his house, got divorced, and got out of town. He now owns a pig farm in Upstate New York, spends his days working the farm, brewing beer, and hiking in the forest…and I’ve never met a happier, more satisfied person in my life.

#6

Image source: cubosh, Honey Fangs

mega obese quiet kid (so huge everyone just exempted him from cruel remarks etc) – lost hundreds of pounds and also ended up being fabulously gay – showed up with his sassy little boyfriend — i was so happy for him

#7

Image source: ptcptc, Jacky Lam

The kid who was stealing motorcycles and selling them for parts is now a police officer. He was never accused or convicted of course but I knew that for a fact.
Let’s hope people sometimes *do* change.

#8

Image source: johnnyseattle, Leah Kelley

The most popular and best-looking girl (biggest b***h, really) in my class weighed about 220 and was pregnant with kid #5. From head cheerleader on her way to UW, to college dropout stay-at-home mom. I probably *could* have enjoyed seeing that more, but I’m not sure how off the top of my head.

#9

Image source: RedditNmethodMan, Tani Eisenstein

There was a guy in my class that was a big meathead and was known to be a huge bully and womanizer. He is now an easy-going artist that hugs everyone and has a very zen demeanor. At our 10 year reunion, he told me how excited he was to atone and let everyone know that he has changed. I thought it was incredibly touching and my respect for him is fully restored.

#10

Image source: Lo452, Kateryna Hliznitsova

My boyfriend went to his 10 year over the weekend. Saw this woman he didn’t know. Turned out to be one of his old football buddies… So, I’d say that was a very big transformation.

#11

Image source: fluffywhiteduck, rayul

On the flip side I know someone who hasn’t aged since high school. No extra fat, no wobbles, no gray hair, nothing. Even his voice is the same at thirty as it was at fourteen. I’m pretty sure he’s a vampire.

#12

Image source: Brianthelion83, Pixabay

Twin sisters. The good one straight A student and a perfect angel is now 90 pounds soaking wet and just finished her 4th stint in rehab for drugs. The one who was a trouble maker and constantly in trouble even arrested a few times for drugs and shop lifting while in high school, is a doctor with a family.

#13

Image source: El_Raro, Engin Akyurt

Two [passed away], one became disabled after a car accident, a couple of them came out as gay, one became a super successful entrepreneur and HEAPS got really fat.

Meanwhile, I got a haircut.

#14

Image source: senefen, Ron Lach

One girl I went to high school with is now a guy I went to high school with. It’s an all girls school.

#15

Image source: DelbertDumbbutt, Mark Neal

A dude that I saw drop acid in class on multiple occasions had become a youth preacher. The girl voted best looking had become a chain-smoking drunk who had somehow aged 30 years in a decade. The goth girl that I would sometimes smoke weed and talk about John Waters movies with had become some kind of Stepford wife.

A lot of people seemed genuinely shocked that I hadn’t been stabbed to death in a back alley somewhere. Never realized I had such a reputation in high school :S

#16

Image source: OneBlueberry, Laurenz Heymann

It’s only been 5 years since I graduated and one of the girls in my class is a freaking rocket engineer. Working for nasa.

Like what. She used to cry about that douchebag she was dating. We did yoga in PE and talked about stupid highschool girl things.

And to think if I’d actually seriously applied myself It would have been possible for me too. good on her.

#17

Image source: anon, Ruthson Zimmerman

Not 10 but 5.

This kid that everyone made a scapegoat in high school is LOADED.
He was the kid that certain groups would pretend to be friends with and then do something horrible to him as a “joke” like depantsing him in front of the whole lunch room or teasing him about his small d**k till he cried (not sure if he actually had one or not just high school a**holes being a**holes)

Turns out that he won some sort of contest/scholarship thing for this space engineering idea and ended up going to school in California for free. I guess he worked super hard and was able to graduate a year early and now is just like rich as f**k working for some sort of space engineering thing that works closely with NASA.

It was funny listening to all the people who use to make fun of him just listen to his life story with their mouths hanging wide open. He has no debt, owns a beautiful home in California and another “cabin” home in our home state (MN), drives beautiful cars, hangs out with beautiful people. All at the ripe age of 24. You could practically smell the jealousy. Plus he brought his smoking hot gf.

It made me so happy for him 🙂

#18

Image source: nobody76, Keith Johnston

My husband and I went to the same high school but met years later. He was the football player all the girls wanted in bed and all the guys wanted to be with. I was the one people threw against lockers and treated like trash. When my reunion came around, one of the girls I had kept in contact with asked me to help with the website, so I said what the hell. When we showed up, quite a few people asked why he was there. He had graduated 2 years earlier. He said he was with his wife and just and took his seat. I walked in and took a seat as they were thanking those who helped with the reunion. When they announced my name, people looked around slightly confused. I stood, like the others and you could hear a pin drop. Apparently I changed quite a bit in that ten years. My husband raised his glass and smiled again. It was awesome.

#19

Image source: anon, Tyler Harris

This guy was poor. Nice kid, but really poor. Only owned 2 shirts and 1 pair of pants. People always donated clothes to school to give to family. Dirty, needed groomed, overall looked homeless. You know how most kids are, mean about it, but he was cool.

Millionaire. Has started and sold quite a few businesses and is overall very successful. Invests in lots of real estate now.

#20

Image source: r0botdevil, Yannic Läderach

Tough, bada** football player with shaved head, nicknamed “Iceman”. Came to the reunion a skinny, long-haired hippy/yogi and sporting one of the happiest smiles I’ve ever seen. I like to think he finally figured out who he really was.

Guy Explains Why His CEO Left Work At Exactly At 5 PM, Others Share Stories About The Wholesome Bosses They’ve Had)

Throughout the months, we’ve known some people who had conflicts with their higher-ups for not respecting their work schedules. For example, we met this man who wasn’t allowed to leave early even though there was no more work, so he saw to it that he wouldn’t work anymore after his time. We have also known this guy who wasn’t let go even after his work hours.

Today, we’ll end these kinds of stories on a positive note. In a TikTok video by Alec (@handle), he retold his story where he observed his boss leaving at 5 pm on the dot. He then discovered him doing some work in his car. When he asked him why he did his matters in the car and not in his office, the boss responded that he wanted his employees to appreciate their work schedules by making them comfortable at leaving at 5 pm as well.

More info: TikTok

Bosses who respect their employees’ work schedules still exist, and this man can attest to that

Image credits: pm_alec

In his video, he revealed that his CEO would leave the office exactly at the last minute of work



Image credits: pm_alec

The viewers applauded the CEO for such a positive habit



Some users shared that there are even more of those who care








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