No matter how old I become, when I think of myself in relation to the people I went to school with, I still see us all as idiotic 17-year-olds. It’s only with hindsight that you really appreciate how clueless you were as a teenager and how wise your parents and teachers were. I still try and find out what the people in my year are up to, either through Facebook or Friends Reunited, but ultimately I’ve lost touch with almost everyone. Every now and then, however, I find out that someone has gone on to do something interesting.

Tom Payne was a kid I never had any ill feeling toward except one time when he accidentally ran into me and smacked me in the head. He was always in the school plays and you could tell from an early age that acting was his thing. According to Wikipedia, Tom is now best known for playing Brett Aspinall in the TV show Waterloo Road. He’s also been in Skins, Casualty and Gossip Girl. I heard that he had been to Hollywood and filmed a part for a movie.

Another Tom, Tom Knights, stood out because he had ginger hair. Thinking back to my school days, I really have no idea what he was like. I think he was quite popular and I remember that at one point (about 14 years old or so) he had a very pretty girlfriend. Tom Knights has now become some sort of electro-cyber-indie punk. He’s a musician, a model and a photographer. He goes by the name The Knight and he’s made a lot of music, although I’ve no idea how popular he is. He’s a fashion photographer, which isn’t my cup of tea, but his pictures are interesting.

Other than these two, the brother of one of my best friends has become a professional poker play. I could see that one becoming because he was always playing PS2 online.

It’s only natural that you compare yourself with the people you grew up with, even if you didn’t really know them at the time. I don’t imagine that many people form my year know what I am doing or have any idea where I am. If someone were to ask me what I do I’m not sure I’d have an answer, especially in light of my move next week.

I haven’t even paid my student loan back next, speaking of which, I’ve decided that I’m going to set up some sort of monthly payment to start clearing that massive debt.