The Glory Days
What were you like in high school? Were you the popular kid, or the quiet one at the back of the class? If you were the “star quarterback” or “queen bee” in your teenage years and still bring it up to people around you, that’s a clear sign you peaked in high school and are still chasing those glory days. Or maybe you’re the one silently judging those who can’t stop talking about high school, even decades later. So, which side are you on? Here are 10 signs you peaked in high school—and 10 signs your glow-up came later.
1. You Still Talk About High School
A glaring sign that you peaked in high school is if you still talk about the "good old days." You still remember all the funny stories and memories you made when you were a teenager, and you still constantly bring them up even now, even when everyone else around you has heard them a million times.
2. You're Still Friends with Your High School Clique
Sure, there's no harm in being close to all the friends you had in high school or keeping in regular contact with a few of them. But if you're always strictly hanging out with your old "crew," that's a pretty strong sign your entire group peaked in high school and you're all still keen on living in the past.
3. You Regularly Post Throwbacks
Your social media isn't just a gallery of your current life but a place to post throwbacks. And while it's fine to bring up past photos for nostalgia's sake, you don't upload them purely because you love the memory—you show them off because it makes you feel a sense of pride or glory. For example, you might still post your teenage self in your football uniform.
4. You Keep All Your Uniforms & Jackets
Speaking of uniforms, you probably still keep all your old clothes and jackets from when you were in high school. That letterman jacket you got in senior year? Yup—you still have it. In fact, you still wear it, and you love showing it off to other people.
5. You Still Act Like the Mean Girl
If you were the popular girl in high school, you still act like it even now. You're fully convinced that people who hate you are just jealous of you, even though people have said it's your personality that drives others away. You don't care, though—after all, you were the head cheerleader in your teenage years, so who cares about what other people say?
6. You Think Popularity Is Everything
To you, popularity and social status are everything. It doesn't matter how smart or skilled a person is, if they could've been considered an outcast or nerd in high school, you're not giving them the time of day. If you think this way, that's another telltale sign you peaked in your teenage years.
7. You Talk Like You're Still a Teenager
In your mind, you still feel like you're 17. So, like, what's the big deal if, like, you act like you're still, um, super young, right? If you try to fit in with the "cool kids" even now, or try to talk like your teenage daughter or son, it's a clear sign you're still hung up on your past years.
8. You Refuse to Age
You might already be well into your 30s or 40s, but you still feel like a teenager at heart, which is why you can't let your high school years go. To you, as long as you still feel young, who says you have to act your age? Your high school days were the best time of your life, and you'll keep reminding everyone of that fact.
9. You Brag About Your High School Achievements
Sure, it's great that you won MVP when you were 16, but it's been well over a decade since graduation, and you probably need to move on. But instead, you're clinging onto those achievements like they define who you are as a person, and you're not one to shy away from bragging about them to everyone you know.
10. You Constantly Try to Recreate Your High School Days
Another glaring sign that you peaked in high school? You constantly try to recreate your teenage years. You might do so by always hanging out with the same crowd, or only being friends with people you think are "cool" or have a certain "popular" status.
What, then, are some signs that you didn't peak in high school, and your glow-up actually came after your teenage years? Let's jump into that next.
1. You Cringe at High School Photos
Every time you see a photo of your high school self, you don't rejoice and wish you could go back in time. Instead, you cringe at that old teenage version of yourself and are so much happier with the person you are now. It's not that you hate the person you were back then, but that it was a version of you that you no longer identify with.
2. You Talk About High School in Passing
You don't avoid talks about high school, but you don't go out of your way to bring it up, either. To you, high school was just a time that happened in your life, and it wasn't that important or unimportant to you. You're fine with sharing old stories and memories, but you don't think of high school as the "good old days."
3. The Popular Kids in High School Now Pay Attention to You
One telltale sign that you had your glow-up later is that the kids who were popular in high school now pay attention to you or follow you on social media. Back then, they would've gone out of their way to avoid you completely. But now they deem you "worthy enough" to be on their radar.
4. You Found Your Style
Instead of chasing your old teenage style and trying to dress like you're still 17, you've found a style that suits you and reflects your personality. You're not one to blindly follow trends, either—you wear what you like, not what others like.
5. You Found Your Lifelong Group of Friends
You don't cling to the crew you had in high school and try to recreate your popularity. Instead, even though you might still keep in contact with your old classmates, you've found a group of friends outside the ones you had in your teenage years. You're also always open to befriending all types of people, not just those who have high social status.
6. You're Comfortable in Your Skin Now
Another sign that your glow-up came later is that you're much more comfortable in your own skin now than you were in high school. You rock the style you like, surround yourself with the people you love, and you're much happier with the life you're living now than the one your teenage self was living.
7. You've Stopped Caring What People Think
Sure, maybe in high school you cared more about what others thought, but now that you've grown up, you're confident enough not to let people's opinions weigh you down. You don't make decisions based on how "cool" they'll make you seem—you make them based on your own opinions.
8. You Think People Who Peaked in High School Are Cringe
To you, the people who peaked in high school kind of make you cringe. You're not one to judge, but you know that there's so much more to life than your teenage years, and it's odd that the "popular crew" in high school doesn't seem to think the same.
9. You Grew Up on Your Own Terms
Instead of having your choices be dictated by others, you've grown up on your own terms. Those who peaked in high school might be so stuck in the past that they've never moved on from their teenage self and continue to be influenced by what's considered "popular," but your decisions, motivations, and ambitions have always been your own, and for your own sake.
10. You Wouldn't Want to Go Back
Sure, you might still feel nostalgic on some days, but you're happy with your life now, and you wouldn't want to go back to your high school years even if you were given the chance. Again, you realize there's so much more to life once you grow up, and you're happy with where you are now.
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