What did you want to be when you grew up?
- Thread starter Martha
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I wanted to become a medical doctor. But then I realized you had to be smart to do that, so I went to business school instead. 
But no regrets.
A long time ago, I also had a fantasy that I would marry a world-renown Professor who traveled the world and attended many important conferences to impart his vast knowledge. That didn't happen either. I think it would've been nice, but no regrets there, either.
But no regrets. A long time ago, I also had a fantasy that I would marry a world-renown Professor who traveled the world and attended many important conferences to impart his vast knowledge. That didn't happen either. I think it would've been nice, but no regrets there, either.
Fireup2020
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Age 5-17...I told EVERYBODY I was going to be a brain surgeon...later discovered this was a "neurosurgeon" - which sounded even better. Spent all night of my 18th birthday crying because I realized I did not want to be in college for the next 12 years - or on call thereafter....
age 18...switched those goals to become a lawyer...til I looked at all the history & other boring classes
age 18-29....mechanical engineering was the bomb!! Loved the classes (physics is phun!)
However, learned something along the way....I am a people person! Discovered my true calling as a recruiter then on to Veterans counselor! Love it! (whew!)
Some folks never get to match their interests and aptitudes with their livlihood - thank God that clicked in time!
age 18...switched those goals to become a lawyer...til I looked at all the history & other boring classes
age 18-29....mechanical engineering was the bomb!! Loved the classes (physics is phun!)
However, learned something along the way....I am a people person! Discovered my true calling as a recruiter then on to Veterans counselor! Love it! (whew!)
Some folks never get to match their interests and aptitudes with their livlihood - thank God that clicked in time!
OK - this can be scary - I had an assignment in 6th grade which asked us to write an essay on where we would be ten years later. I wrote:
Graduating from Ariz State Univ with a degree in mechanical engineering (Back then I didn't even know what it was--just that my Dad was one - Daddy's girl!)
Living in CA
Snow skiing a lot
Guess what - it all happened that way - so, I guess I knew what I wanted and then it became manifest. I'm actually a biomedical engineer now....but do lots of different types of engineering in general.
I redid the ten year timeframe and added twenty and thirty years after getting my masters........I'm on my way ten-fifteen years later. I've now added yearly 'goals' lists.
Graduating from Ariz State Univ with a degree in mechanical engineering (Back then I didn't even know what it was--just that my Dad was one - Daddy's girl!)
Living in CA
Snow skiing a lot
Guess what - it all happened that way - so, I guess I knew what I wanted and then it became manifest. I'm actually a biomedical engineer now....but do lots of different types of engineering in general.
I redid the ten year timeframe and added twenty and thirty years after getting my masters........I'm on my way ten-fifteen years later. I've now added yearly 'goals' lists.
Dog
Full time employment: Posting here.
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In grade school I wanted to be a sleuth like Nancy Drew. When I was in high school I wanted to be a PE teacher (but my mom said that wasn't a real job). Anyway...after HS graduation I started with megcorp and was fortunate to work in many different jobs over the years and earn a business degree. Fast forward, after too many years in megacorp I'm in a downshifting mode preparing for ER and have studied/certifided to work in the fitness industry (also working PT in a small studio for experience). Not sure where I will take it, but I do feel like I am fulfilling an aspiration.
tio z said:
Not necessarily a positive reflection on me but I'll tell you anyway.
In Jr High I loved B-ball. So of course I really wanted to be a pro B-ball player.
Then I learned about girls and pro sports groupies and then I really, really wanted to be a pro B-ball player. Such are the dreams of a 14 year old boy.
So what do I do but get a Ph.D. and become a R/D engineer. (Good jump shot but height and quickness challenged for the NBA.)
DW once told me that she went for the "nerdy type" so maybe it worked out for the best anyway.
MB
What do I want to be? My former boss, much younger during a review asked me. wher e do you want to be in 5 years? I said, I will be retired! That ended the conversation. Oh, by the way he no longer works for the company. I still do.
I wanted to be a Fighter pilot, Astronaut, ect. I am no where good enough. I am a pilot however.
I wanted to be a Fighter pilot, Astronaut, ect. I am no where good enough. I am a pilot however.
Deserat:
That is simply amazing!
I have always admired this ability, and I have not ever had it! Writing down goals like that was very difficult for me. I'd write them down, then my life would take a severe right or left turn.
I don't exactly know why... I think I live my life more from my 'gut' and less from long term planning. I'm certainly not saying it's a better way.. I envy people like you, Deserat...
Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement
That is simply amazing!
I have always admired this ability, and I have not ever had it! Writing down goals like that was very difficult for me. I'd write them down, then my life would take a severe right or left turn.
I don't exactly know why...
I think I live my life more from my 'gut' and less from long term planning. I'm certainly not saying it's a better way.. I envy people like you, Deserat... Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement
Deetso
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I was always going to be in the armed forces. Most of the time I was sure I would be a navy SEAL, but alas, in the end I just became a boring old lawyer. Not nearly as much fun, I still dream of being a SEAL... maybe ill see what my wife thinnks...
Life_is_Good
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Shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers.... just like Maury Wills.
It didn't happen.
It didn't happen.
Achiever51
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I'm loving this thread! Wish I had access to something like this when I was a lil girl.
When I was growing up, the only women I had as role models were either housewives, teachers/nuns, nurses or librarians. So, for most of my childhood, I thought I wanted to be a teacher. When I entered college, a well-meaning advisor suggested that I should become an engineer, based on my aptitude tests. I had NEVER met a female engineer. Ended up dropping out of college.
Took me 12 more years -- mostly at night -- to finally get my undergrad degree....in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations. Along the way, I studied in so many different disciplines that I graduated with something like 268 credit hours -- when I only needed 124. At the time, I thought it was just a ticket I had to get punched in order to get a good paying job.
After graduating, however, I was offered a job that sounded interesting and paid well-- although I had never before known anyone to do this kind of work....I became a corporate grantmaker, making grants from a MegaCorp to charities around the world. I had to know about education and art, social sciences, medicine, communities, you name it -- and I had to manage a staff of professionals as well. Funny how things work out -- all the stuff I dabbled in in college served me very well.
It was the job of a lifetime...and I know now that I was not meant to be a teacher or engineer!
When I was growing up, the only women I had as role models were either housewives, teachers/nuns, nurses or librarians. So, for most of my childhood, I thought I wanted to be a teacher. When I entered college, a well-meaning advisor suggested that I should become an engineer, based on my aptitude tests. I had NEVER met a female engineer. Ended up dropping out of college.
Took me 12 more years -- mostly at night -- to finally get my undergrad degree....in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations. Along the way, I studied in so many different disciplines that I graduated with something like 268 credit hours -- when I only needed 124. At the time, I thought it was just a ticket I had to get punched in order to get a good paying job.
After graduating, however, I was offered a job that sounded interesting and paid well-- although I had never before known anyone to do this kind of work....I became a corporate grantmaker, making grants from a MegaCorp to charities around the world. I had to know about education and art, social sciences, medicine, communities, you name it -- and I had to manage a staff of professionals as well. Funny how things work out -- all the stuff I dabbled in in college served me very well.
It was the job of a lifetime...and I know now that I was not meant to be a teacher or engineer!
I wanted to be a cat! It look me a really long time to understand why that wasn't possible.
Once I conceded that cat-hood just wasn't going to happen, I wanted to be a hypnotherapist, which eventually turned into wanted to be a psychologist. Then I decided that I didn't know enough about life or people's problems to become a psychologist, so I didn't know what I wanted to do. Started college in hotel/restuarant management, because that's what my mom wanted me to do & I couldn't think of anything better.
To make a long story short, I eventually switched schools & majors, to Textiles & Design, & now work as a fashion designer. What's weird is that so many people from grade school tell me that they *knew* that's what I was going to be, because of the way I dressed. I wish somebody would have told *me*, because I never even considered a career in clothing design.
And now...I love what I do, but I don't want to do it my whole life! So I'm working towards FI...and if I'm FI, then I could eat & sleep in the sun all day, & maybe fufill my dream of being a cat!
(long time lurker, btw, but I just couldn't pass this one up)
It look me a really long time to understand why that wasn't possible.Once I conceded that cat-hood just wasn't going to happen, I wanted to be a hypnotherapist, which eventually turned into wanted to be a psychologist. Then I decided that I didn't know enough about life or people's problems to become a psychologist, so I didn't know what I wanted to do. Started college in hotel/restuarant management, because that's what my mom wanted me to do & I couldn't think of anything better.
To make a long story short, I eventually switched schools & majors, to Textiles & Design, & now work as a fashion designer. What's weird is that so many people from grade school tell me that they *knew* that's what I was going to be, because of the way I dressed. I wish somebody would have told *me*, because I never even considered a career in clothing design.
And now...I love what I do, but I don't want to do it my whole life! So I'm working towards FI...and if I'm FI, then I could eat & sleep in the sun all day, & maybe fufill my dream of being a cat!
(long time lurker, btw, but I just couldn't pass this one up)
What an interesting thread!
When I was a girl I wanted to be a fashion designer, a dancer on TV shows, and a writer. Then I thought I'd be a commercial artist, but I became a mom at age 20 and married. So after the inevtiable divorce I thought I'd get practical and be an x-ray technician but they wouldn't let me in the program, so I went on to get a 4 yr degree and MA in English and became a college instructor. I wanted to be a novelist all during that time, but only was able to publish short stories.
Still wish I could have been a dancer on TV!
When I was a girl I wanted to be a fashion designer, a dancer on TV shows, and a writer. Then I thought I'd be a commercial artist, but I became a mom at age 20 and married. So after the inevtiable divorce I thought I'd get practical and be an x-ray technician but they wouldn't let me in the program, so I went on to get a 4 yr degree and MA in English and became a college instructor. I wanted to be a novelist all during that time, but only was able to publish short stories.
Still wish I could have been a dancer on TV!
Insanity
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I wanted to be a lot of things when I was a kid. Astronaut was really high on the list during the Apollo program heyday, but by the time I graduated from high school I was pretty set on becoming a biologist and professional writer.
It didn't quite work out that way. I wound up working as a computer programmer & communications specialist, not a biologist, but I did become a professional writer of computer books and magazine articles.
Now I'm back in school, working on two different courses of study, one to earn a degree in Biology and the other in Radiography.
--P
It didn't quite work out that way. I wound up working as a computer programmer & communications specialist, not a biologist, but I did become a professional writer of computer books and magazine articles.
Now I'm back in school, working on two different courses of study, one to earn a degree in Biology and the other in Radiography.
--P
Average Joe
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The Navy’s old recruiting line “It’s not just a job. It’s an adventure,” is memorable I think because it articulates exactly what a lot of kids (or at least kids of my generation – I’m not so sure about today) dream of. I think I was in the military already when they started using that recruiting slogan. I wasn’t in the Navy. My service’s slogans weren’t as cool (of course it wasn’t the slogan that I was signing up for). But the Navy’s slogan certainly resonated with me. I just googled it and there’s interesting info about it at: http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/yats/96-ch6.htm .
Anyway growing up I don’t recall ever dreaming of a job. I wanted an adventure. I dreamed of other times and other places (some that never actually existed). But Jason was not around recruiting Argonauts. Odysseus likewise was out of business. Francisco Pizarro and Hernan Cortez were no longer accepting applications to join them. Captain Cook, and Ferdinand Magellan were not taking on crew. There was no possibility of getting into Starfleet Academy (speaking of which – why was Kirk always the ship’s commander in the Start-Trek series – wouldn’t have been a much better adventure if there were episodes that followed him from the start of his career, dealing not just with the alien lands but also with changes in his role in action as his career progressed? Like Forester did with the Horatio Hornblower books?). I loved stories like Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, Tunnel in the Sky, Treasure Island, The Time Machine. Wilderness survival stories, science fiction, novels of exploration, colonizing new lands, and hunting for lost treasure all appealed to me, but I didn’t see it happening anywhere in my lifetime. Conventional careers didn’t sound interesting to me (not even conventional military careers). I figured early on that work would have to be a compromise between the need to earn a living and the desire for adventure.
Anyway growing up I don’t recall ever dreaming of a job. I wanted an adventure. I dreamed of other times and other places (some that never actually existed). But Jason was not around recruiting Argonauts. Odysseus likewise was out of business. Francisco Pizarro and Hernan Cortez were no longer accepting applications to join them. Captain Cook, and Ferdinand Magellan were not taking on crew. There was no possibility of getting into Starfleet Academy (speaking of which – why was Kirk always the ship’s commander in the Start-Trek series – wouldn’t have been a much better adventure if there were episodes that followed him from the start of his career, dealing not just with the alien lands but also with changes in his role in action as his career progressed? Like Forester did with the Horatio Hornblower books?). I loved stories like Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, Tunnel in the Sky, Treasure Island, The Time Machine. Wilderness survival stories, science fiction, novels of exploration, colonizing new lands, and hunting for lost treasure all appealed to me, but I didn’t see it happening anywhere in my lifetime. Conventional careers didn’t sound interesting to me (not even conventional military careers). I figured early on that work would have to be a compromise between the need to earn a living and the desire for adventure.
At my last command, which has done submarine training since the 1950s, I worked in a building built in the 1920s (it was actually shot up during the Pearl Harbor attack). Any renovation was an adventure of its own fraught with frail infrastructure, hazmat, and truly amazing rodents, but also with an occasional treasure.Average Joe said:
During one renovation we pulled out a wall to discover a vintage 1960s poster: "Take The Sub Way To Work". The line drawing showed an airborne perspective of a PERMIT class (formerly known as the THRESHER class) barrelling along on the surface with the OOD & lookout looking very professional. Every guy who'd ever served on a PERMIT winced when they saw that poster. But over 30 years later the magic still stirred a response in the 20-somethings.
After a protracted jurisdiction dispute ("Mine!" "No, mine!!"), we finally donated it to the USS BOWFIN Submarine Museum...
