<p>I recently stumbled across a high school classmate of mine. Solid B (not B+) student in high school. After school flipped burgers for awhile, working himself up to assistant manager of the burger joint. (And, in high school, that was his life’s plan.) At age 25 decided he wanted to do something more. Went to college, working himself through. Got a Phd in some sort of biology from UCBerkeley. Did cancer research. Now, at age 50, runs the lab of a pharmaceutical company doing cancer research.</p>
<p>If you have a particularly short sighted definition of “long run”, yes, not having a stellar high school career means you probably won’t get to go to an Ivy. (Having a particularly stellar high school career doesn’t really guarantee that either, but whatever.) However, if by “long run” you mean 30 years, and by “messing up” you mean something less than being a convicted felon, well no, messing up in high school doesn’t mean you can’t have a successful, rewarding life.</p>