What did you want to be when you grew up?

[OkieTexan]

At 6: A professional baseball player
At 9: A chemist. I got a chemistry set for Christmas
At 10: A doctor... chemistry is a big part of their education.
At 11: A geologist. We took a vacation to Utah and Colorado and learned about rocks, mining and oil exploration.
At 14: An electronics engineer -- I discovered radio and built several from scratch.
At 20: I considered pharmacy school.
At 35: Considered law school. Career placement tests ranked law as the profession that matched my aptitude, preferences, and personality.

Right now: Er'd and I have no idea when I will grow up.

[Andre1969]

I went through a few phases, just like everyone else, I'm sure! When I was a real little kid, like nursery school age, I just wanted to be a kid forever! When I was around 9 or 10, I wanted to be a real estate agent. I remember how much fun it was looking at houses when Mom was in the market at that time, and I thought it would be a fun job.

When I was around 11-12, I wanted to own my own trucking company. That was around 1981-82, when big rigs were really cool to us kids. "Smokey and the Bandit" and "BJ and the Bear" and stuff like that was fresh on our minds, before they messed it all up with "Smokey and the Bandit 3", and long before I learned the double meaning of "BJ and the Bear", as told on Wil and Grace!

Soon after the trucking phase, I wanted to be a videogame designer for Mattel Electronics. I got an Intellivision for my 12th birthday, and thought it was the coolest thing. Little did I realize how far videogames would come by the time I would reach adulthood, and how ancient history Mattel Electronics and the Intellivison would become! Back then they complained about videogame violence because you could fly over WWII Europe in all its 96X160 pixel resolution, 16-color glory. Nowadays in videogames you can kill your hooker after having sex with her and get your money back!

Anyway, after I outgrew videogames (the first time), I wanted to be a computer programmer. And at some point, I wanted to be an architect.

Ultimately, I ended up in a job where I sit in front of a computer all day and slowly go brain-dead. But I do like to check the real estate listings in far off locales from time to time. And I have an Intellivision emulator on the computer. And I still like trucks. And I'd still like to be a little kid with no responsibilities. I think I'll go play out in the snow now, although I guess I should be shoveling it. :

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc I wanted to be a firefighter ever since I could remember.

I have to tell you that I don't admire too many people (since most of us are assholes, down deep), but I do admire the local volunteer firefighters I have come to know. My neighbor is a 20+ year firefighter and a captain of one of the local houses. He and his bussies became firefighters because when they were kids they watched the mayor's house burn down and nobody could stop it. They didn't want to see any more neighbors lose their houses. So these guys go pull shifts as firefighters as well as carry one or two paying jobs.

[kat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billy Kate: Do you have any regrets about not becoming a doctor? Or are you satisfied with your choice? just curious... Thanks!

Nothing I can really call a regret. What I wanted to do was practice on an Indian reservation or a very poor rural area in the deep South. I can still picture it, the daydream. I can't call it a regret because I am sure there would be downsides that I can't see. But I do still picture it and am immensely curious how it would have been.

kate

[Lusitan]

Evolution of my career ambitions:

Astronaut (childhood) ... fighter pilot (teenager) ... filmmaker (college) ... retired (attorney).

[SteveR]

Scientist...... I are one.

Fire fighter....I were one (volunteer)

Astronaut...not in a millon years.

Doctor....paramedic was a close as I got.

Early retiree....I am on schedule to be one.

[saluki9]

I always wanted to be an airline pilot.

I don't forsee myself being able to ever do it full time considering the flight hours required, so part time will have to do.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Quote:

Chemistry was too much fun to care about money!

I was about 24 and out of the Army when I decided what to major in. Time to get serious.

Earlier, I wanted to be Bob Dylan. Didn't last long.

[Sarah in SC]

I wanted to ride/train horses for a living. Funny that it took me reading all of your posts to remember just what it was I wanted to do...

Sarah

[yelnad]

As a small child, I wanted to be a nurse. Then a teacher (middle school). Then a lawyer (high school). Then in college I decided I didn't want to leave and now I work in higher education.

[maddythebeagle]

A millionaire industrialist...

[SLC Tortfeasor]

Oh how far I've fallen. I wanted to be an astronaut until, at about age 10, I learned that due to my bad eyes and lack of math skills, I'd never make it.

My next dream job was to be the POTUS. That lasted until college, when I realized that I hate campaigns and love my privacy.

So now I'm a lawyer. Still dream about being an astronaut though . . .

[laurence]

Jazz musician. Fell in love with Coltrain and Charlie Parker early, played it on my saxaphone earnestly (and poorly). I was o.k., I can carry a tune, but there came a point where the amount of dedication and passion it took just wasn't in me. I still put Giant Steps on once in a while and smile, though.

[eyeonFI]

In elementary school I wanted to be a lawyer. I don't remember why.

By high school I wanted to be a Professor. I didn't have any particualr field chosen, but the lifestyle appealed to me.

By the time I was finishing grad school and had a job as a professor, I wanted to be retired.

[MikeD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kate My brother, when he finished law school, walked across the street to the med school which said they'd take him...... He almost did it. After I had been practicing law for five years, I almost did it.

My orthopedic surgeon (Naval acd grad but not 1st in his class) became a lawyer at age 60. He loves it. He only defends Drs.

Mike D.

[Outtahere]

I told DH about this thread and he reminded me about wanting to be a history teacher. I love history but in my 3rd year of HS I had the worst US History teacher in the whole city, he turned my dream into a nightmare.

[Kwirk]

Electrical engineer. Never had anything that I didn't want to take apart and rebuild. Collected all sorts of electrical cr*p to play with.

[Meadbh]

I wanted to be an artist or a writer until I realized that only ~2% of creative people can earn a living at it. Maybe in ER I will achieve my childhood dream!

[kat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD My orthopedic surgeon (Naval acd grad but not 1st in his class) became a lawyer at age 60. He loves it. He only defends Drs. Mike D.

My brother represents doctors too, ones in trouble with the state of NY. He loves all the time he spends reading medical journals and texts so he can tell the other lawyers why his client did nothing wrong, or find and question experts better if he has to do that.

[savedapile]

wanted to be an artist but listened to my dad and became a nurse like my sisters. I still do a lot of art design type stuff through textiles though. I am designing a quilt now and my passion is slowly taking over my life. I doubt I could have made much of a living at it but I have been published in some magazines.

But one of my kids wanted to make video games and he figured it out and does it. We never thought he would do it but never discouraged him, as long as he got a college degree in something. I didn't want to be like my family was to me. Turned out he knew what he was talking about.