My senior yearbook is online. I haven't looked at it since 2004, almost certainly. I remember when I got it there were kids in there I had no idea I went to school with, let alone were in my class.
I was led to believe that everyone in my class was pretty much better than I was. We had nearly 60 valedictorians in a class of 345. They were smart and motivated and were getting 5.0 GPAs and would be Doing Things with their lives. Since I knew that I was going to be astonishing one day, the people around me must be as unto gods. They were going to take over the world.
Now that I have the names of all the people I don't think of, I discover most of them are perfectly normal. They have spouses and children and went back to school for their MBA and are accountants. One of them has invented an business networking installation app. Another one works for the Redskins in some executive capacity. Another is working for the public transportation system in a suburb of Vancouver. Some are teachers. Some are moms. None of them are household names.
I suppose most people live average, ordinary lives. Even if they are struggling to be the best business analyst they can be, or living in LA but managing a Starbucks. We are all the children of people who, by and large, decided to have children and lead ordinary, normal lives, so it's the model most people know. More and more, I don't think I was cut out for that.
Granted, I've failed to be extraordinary so far. I do know extraordinary people, or I think I do, but I need to work a little more at being one of them.
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