24.
“I went to school with Breanna Stewart, the now WNBA player. She graduated two years before me, and I never knew her personally, but overall, she was really cool and nice. In middle school, she came and helped coach our after-school basketball camp that ran for about a week. My first year of high school, it was her senior year, and I remember she had a class next door to mine. It was a huge and heavily populated school, but she was so tall, well-known, and friendly that she could get through the crowd easily.”
“There were also a couple of times when the school would have an assembly or pep rally, and they’d act like it was for the entire girl’s basketball team — but then something unexpected would happen, like the people from Gatorade coming to surprise Breanna with an award. It was kinda wild to know we were becoming part of sports history and experiencing events that were not a part of most people’s high school experience. I know a few girls who were on the team with her at the time, and I think they remained friends even while she was becoming famous. It was fun, and I’ve enjoyed watching her journey since she graduated in 2012. Once a Northstar always a Northstar!”
—25, New York
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/lizmrichardson/celebs-before-fame-stories
