"I was there" vs. "I was up there"

Hi,

Please what's the difference between "I was there" and "I was up there" ? Is "I was up there" just informal way of saying "I was there"?
It depends on the context. Here are a couple of examples. There are others.

eg You go up a tall tower. Then you come back down. Looking up, you say 'I was up there'.

eg You become famous. Then, later in life, you lose your fame.

Hi Clive,
thx for the answer. Okay. Here is the context: Guy is telling his brother how he lived at the military school. It turned out earlier that he had there a problems with sleeping, because of the nightmares from his childhood. He was being abused by his father. But before he had that bad dreams he was one the best students at that school...He said...
I'm really tired, you

Hi,

. I was up there, and, uh...Well, I was doing good.

The meaning here is, I think, that ' I was doing good (well) in class, my name was high up the list, near the top of the list of good students'.

Best wishes, Clive

Thanks Clive...it's clear to me now...[Y]