One earned C’s, but liked to set up token ring and Ethernet networks and code network games. Nice guy, kind of a shlub but not a genius.
Another got straight A’s while mostly drunk, long hair, liked sports but still a metalhead. Breezed through any new concept as if he was born with the knowledge of complex math and advanced physics.
First guy became a VP at Google. Has multiple houses and fancy cars. Doesn’t need to work anymore but loves it.
Second guy became fellow and major CPu/gpu company. Money falling out his ass.
Me: worked hard, got B’s mostly, followed the path but never got promoted too far. Got a few mil in the 401k, but never got a big break.
I’m totally satisfied with where I’m at but these friends just hit the effing centimillionaire jackpot through stocks and weird luck.
Wish there was some consistency in my peer group. We (about 12 friends) all did well with EE degrees in the 80s. Some just did 10-100x better than others for no obvious reason.