Me. Was on the straight and narrow through middle school, friends with all the “good” kids and was pretty much an under the radar, middle of the road kid. I got to high school and somehow immediately ended up in “the wrong crowd” and stopped talking to all my old friends.

My new friends and I were in a competition to see who could hit bottom the fastest. I was into punk rock and idolized all the imagery and themes that came along with it. 9th grade was drugs, smoking, drinking, and before long, skipping school far more than I was in it. Long story short, I dropped out in 9th grade after attending a couple months of high school at most, destroyed my relationship with my mother (it’s better now for the most part) and ended up homeless (I don’t blame her, I was terrible) and living on friends coaches for the next couple years while I continued to be a drop out from the world.

I continued with the fuck-the-world lifestyle, partying every day, getting arrested for stupid things (non-violent), never holding a job more than a couple months, and generally just being a completely hopeless and selfish twat until I was in my early 20’s and my girlfriend got pregnant.

I was scared shitless and knew only that I needed a job and to quit my bad vices so I could support my pregnant girlfriend (who lived just like I did). I quit smoking immediately and I got the first factory job I could find and worked my ass off from day one, never missing an opportunity to take on more work or get myself in front of management.

13 years later, I’m married to the mother of my child (granted it was years later), we moved from our home town years ago (it was a toxic influence) and I’ve been fortunate enough to provide a very nice life for my wife and son. I have, by any standard, an excellent job as a top executive for a large multinational company, I dress like I’m going to a GQ shoot (no more Mohawk and leather) and our circle of friends are made up of the most stereotypically wholesome people you could imagine (and I’m sure people view us in the same light).

I’ve ran into people from my adolescence a few times over the years and without fail they look at me like an alien. None of them bet on me doing anything but sitting in prison or dying of a drug overdose, and nobody in our current life would ever guess I was anything but the product of an upper middle class upbringing and a good college education.