When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Are you?

[StellaBlue]

I wanted to be an architect from age six to age sixteen. I am now a part-time employeed library assistant with a masters in English who can barely scrape through each month, no improvement in sight. I decided not to become an architect because I HATE math (though I outscored everyone in my class on the SAT, go figure) and my high school drafting class was very elementary and boring.

Now I wish I'd stuck with it. I still love architecture.

[dorktv]

1. I was going to become a lawyer...instead I am running for JP.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. A ballet dancer and a mommy

Dancer for 35 years of my life :) Mommy for the last 27 years ;)

Am still pursuing childhood dreams and passions, and am getting there re: Interior Design, art, music.

[NNadir]

39. I thought I would like to be a surgeon.

When we got to the first frog though, I realized I was squeamish.

[miss_american_pie]

3. A ballerina

No, but I danced up through most of my first pregnancy.

[Whoa_Nelly]

14. Dancers Rule, map!

(borrowed from bridgit...Hi bridgit! I really did just borrow it...really! Will give it back in about 20 years :D :hi: )

You




Me



Dancing together



Hot Damn we're good!


(see my post above the one you made in this thread :loveya: )

[miss_american_pie]

52. Dancing girls!

Very cool. :D

:yourock:

[Whoa_Nelly]

59. Dang! For some reason, photobucket reduced the size of the dancing girl

Am trying again, to see of this is better...because it's such a cool dancing girl gif

[reyd reid reed]

4. I always wanted to be a teacher...

Instead, I'm a mom. I've been a waitress, a cashier, a legal secretary, a hotel clerk/cashier, a daycare provider and an agate clerk. Can't remember what else...seems like I'm missing something.

No teaching certificate, though. But that's okay.

[Kali]

28. Mom is the ULTIMATE teacher.

[femmocrat]

54. It's not too late.....

follow your dreams!

[lizziegrace]

5. Singer/musician

and no, now I'm an accountant. I practice harmonizing in the car on the way to work every day. Does that count?

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. Hey, Stella!

You still can pursue your dream, maybe in some other aspect that involves Architecture :)

I didn't go to Interior Design school until I was 49. It's never to late to learn, and always the right time to choose a path.


As Carlos Castaneda wrote about Don Juan, the Yaqui Sorceror, saying:

A path is only a path, and there is no affront,
to oneself or to others, in dropping it
if that is what your heart tells you.


Follow your passions...

[StellaBlue]

7. Well, I do toy with it off and on

and I am only 27. But my existing student debt and continuing aversion to math makes it highly unlikely.

haha!

I did work in a residential construction company in the UK for a while, though, and enjoyed that... especially getting to roam around the houses-in-progress in my hard hat!

[MrSlayer]

8. Rock Star and No.

Unfortunately I did not have the support needed to attain my goal. I'm a Union Electrical Constructor and while it's quite dangerous the pay is really good, when you work.

[dorktv]

9. you are a rock star to me.

[arwalden]

10. The Usual: Police Officer, Fireman, Construction Worker, Sailor...

... but I finally settled on what I really wanted to be:

[ForrestGump]

12. You're Lemmy from Motorhead?!?

:o

[ForrestGump]

11. I was

In that my primary career was at least a development, with higher academic credentials (as a kid I knew not of such things), of what I was mostly looking forward to being when I was a kid.

In some ways, I guess I kinda am now, if you consider that when the 12-year-old me saw his first Elvis movies he probably thought "cool! I wish I was that guy!" :D

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. I wanted to be a Chinese chop suey maker....

I am Irish, Luxembourgisch, French, German, Swiss, Iroquois. Go figure.

:shrug:

Note. I am not at all in the food service industry, but I love Chinese food.

[zanne]

38. That's cute nt

[MissB]

15. I wanted to be an astronaut.

My bestest route to that goal in college was Mechanical engineering. I figured I'd come at it sideways, as I couldn't really afford to go to a university that offered Aerospace engineering.

After a couple of terms of Mech E, I switched to Civil engineering.

Still haven't gotten into space, and I'm fine with that. :hi:

[ChickMagic]

63. I wanted to be an astronaut too

But then I found out they had to drink Tang.

[Broken_Hero]

16. Superman!

and no, i'm not superman...(yet)...:)

In all seriousness, I wanted to be a police officer...and I'm a substitute teacher. My degree was in social work, and I switched it to social work, because I "believe" that I would rather try and help people out, via that route than being a cop.

[femmocrat]

55. Subbing is a mix of police and social work...

I know, I did it for 12 years!

[hiro]

17. Wanted to be a fighter pilot, am now becoming an historian

[GOPisEvil]

18. I always wanted to work in insurance as a claims adjuster.

:rofl:


No, really, I thought about the law, but when I found out there was more school...

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. You studied drafting in HS?

So did I. Crammed five years of it into three school years. Our program wasn't elementary or boring, though.

I always figured I'd be a cartographer, since I was a freak for maps from about age 10. But, like you, I discovered in college that advanced drafting had a lotta math (although I was pretty good at descriptive geometry). But what really scared me were these "computer" things — it was 1975 and CAD was just over the horizon. I said, "Not me. I want my 13 different pencils and my Rapidograph™ pens and my track machine and my compasses."

So I went into journalism and a lifetime of making as much as $30,000 a year. :banghead:

[StellaBlue]

22. I toyed with journalism

But, when it comes down to it, I don't want to spend all day harrassing people with questions that they don't want to answer and that I couldn't care less about, for $20,000 a year. BORING. I like to write, but reporting is BORING. To me. I am much better with propaganda than journalism. Hey, actually, maybe there IS a career for me now...

[auntAgonist]

20. I wanted to be a Military Police Officer ..

I'm still sorry I didn't persue it as a career, but not sorry that I'm not in the military right now.

aA

[Jamastiene]

21. Rich, Rock and Roll Guitar Goddess, and

no it didn't happen. This area where I live is not exactly friendly to the arts in general. I wouldn't be rich for long anyhow even if I won a lottery. I can think of quite a few things to buy (a nice sturdy home sweet home being one of them) and charities to support.

[Mutley]

23. I changed my mind a million times.

Not necessarily in the right order: veterinarian, marine biologist, doctor, dog trainer, meteorologist, astronomer, and some other stuff. Then I found out I suck at math.

I started college as an Elementary Education major, then I switched to Special Education. Stuff happened at the school where I was interning, so I dropped that major. I'll be graduating next month with a B.S. in English.

:P

edit: And I can't spell. :cry:

[StellaBlue]

25. pardon me, but

how can you have a BS in English?

[Mutley]

26. My school is lame.

You have to have 12 credits in a foreign language to get a B.A. in English. I know, it doesn't make sense to me, either. :eyes:

[suzbaby]

24. Well,

I wanted to be a unicorn, so that was pretty hard to turn into a reality. :)


The movie "The Last Unicorn" was my mantra. :D

[Pale Blue Dot]

27. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a retail manager.

Mission accomplished!

[FILAM23]

30. Believe it or not,

I always wanted to be a small scale farmer of some sort.
Next year I start that career at age 56.

[Kali]

35. Welcome to Agriculture, and DU.

[graywarrior]

29. A slacker

I made it and I'm fucking good at it.

[Kali]

31. Kid: veternarian, lawyer, nurse (not for long) rock star, trucker, cowboy

turned out to use all but rock star skills all the time, Mom and Rancher.

[GirlinContempt]

32. A space bandito?

Sadly only sometimes./

[sendero]

33. I'm not too sure..

... you'd be any better off financially if you had stuck with architecture.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. A pirate. Arrghh.

That didn't work out, although I did eventually take up sailing.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

36. I wanted to be a teacher in third grade

As high school progressed I wanted to be a lawyer. I'm SO CLOSE to it - have a law degree, but can't seem to pass the ^%$#*)& bar exam.

[zanne]

37. An Indian.

I loved playing "cowboys and Indians" with my friends, but I always wanted to be one of the Indians and thought that when I grew up, I could move to where they live and become one. (No, I didn't become an Indian).

[johnnie]

40. Older

And yes, I have succeeded.

[Generic Brad]

41. I wanted to be a monkey

Eating fruit all day, swinging in trees, flinging turds at people you don't like. Now that would be the life!

Of course I was four when that was my dream. Some dreams deserve to remain unfulfilled. I can unequivocally assert that this very day I am in actuality NOT a monkey. Avatars do not count.

[trackfan]

42. I never wanted to be anything - so I guess I've had a measure of success.

[radwriter0555]

43. Hm, I never thought of it like that. I was never able to "know what I

wanted to be" when I grew up... and at age 39 (and holding) I still don't know. Not a single clue. Yet, I've managed to hold jobs, buy homes, sell them, make great profits, trade my own stocks, manage my own investments and partner up in my own successful business in the south of France.

But... I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. I'm bored, I want something fun to do that doesn't require a lot of work. I like being around my house all day, cooking, puttering in the garden and then traveling to astounding cities and towns all over the world.

I need some career counseling... but perhaps I've been successful and I didn't even know it? It seems like I've always struggled with goals.

[trackfan]

44. I guess my ideal job would be "retired",

the details of which sound not unlike your description.

[radwriter0555]

50. Hey, I'd be REALLY good at being retired! Can't we get a job

that let's us be retired? I'm good at doing nothing.

[mike_c]

45. scientist and artist-- doing the former for a profession...

...and working on the later to round out my life. All in all, despite some really tough years (um, decades) things have turned out pretty good in the end.

[Smudge]

46. A veterinarian, an astronaut..

In middle school I went as a bum for career day...

As soon as I started doing community theatre I realized what I do, become a stage manager.

Now we'll see if that comes true.

[DemsRBetterLovers]

47. A scientologist fighter pilot

like tom cruise...man i watched top gun way too much.

[CC]

48. Independently wealthy and nope.

Just don't have the cut throat go for blood heart to even try.

[MiniMandaRuth]

49. I want to be an author or a historian of something.

Possible medieval weapons and armor. That stuff has always and always will fascinate me.

Or maybe a photojournalist.

On edit: I'm just going into highschool so I'll know if my dream comes true in a few years! :hi:

[Fox Mulder]

51. I wanted to be a baseball player.

For the Minnesota Twins. I had that dream in 1987 when the Twins won the World Series and it was renewed in 1991 when they won again. I wanted to be like Kirby Puckett.

Now, I'm everyone's bitch at a printing press. I hate my job but it's only temporary until I can save up enough money to go back and finish college.

[femmocrat]

53. I wanted to be a veterinarian. But girls were not encouraged in science,

back then..... so I went the traditional route and became a teacher.

I would have made a great vet!

[wildhorses]

56. I never did want to grow up...

and so far I've succeeded:P

[Ramsey]

57. A veterinarian

But I became a doctor instead, which is pretty close to my original goal.

[qnr]

58. Well.. I was an alter boy, wanted to be a priest, now I'm a hard atheist.

Wanted to be an astronaut, that went nowhere, but I still feel that I'm only hanging around here while waiting for the first interstellar colonization effort. Wanted to be a Ranger or go into wildlife administration, but that took college and I dropped out of high school after three months. Wanted to be in the Coast Guard from the time I was five. I did that (and got some wildlife administration in that way, actually).

Now I'm retired and a developer for a Linux distro. I'm pretty sure the Linux bit never occurred to me as a child :)

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

60. An invisible mexican wrestler

And isn't it obvious?

[1gobluedem]

61. Also an architect

Until I learned how much geography was involved...

I used to fill up lab books with house plans.

Now I am an administrator for a public radio station. Not the same thing but I love it anyway.

[MissMillie]

62. Someone else

and no, I'm still myself, but I like me a whole lot more than I did then.

[terrya]

64. I did want to be President of the United States

And no, I didn't make it.

[Dervill Crow]

65. This will be quite the list.

1. Annie Oakley.
2. Movie star.
3. Lois Lane.
4. Secretary.
5. Teacher.*
6. Psychologist/social worker/counselor.*
7. Nun.*
8. Librarian.*
9. Proofreader.*

I ended up as a pagan medical transcription QA and training tech who owns a lot of books, and people tend to tell me their troubles, so the last four items on my list are sort of incorporated in my life. Nun is stretching it a bit, but I do use consecrated water and incense and wear black when I do my thing.

[TrogL]

66. Mad Scientist

...which is pretty much what I am.

[electron_blue]

67. Geologist, teacher, psychologist/counselor, writer, astronomer

At some point or another, I get to do all of the above in my current job as university professor LOL.

[Giant Robot]

68. Archaeologist(I was a geek as a kid)

And now I am a counselor, MSW to be precise. Eh, go figure.

[liontamer]

69. i went through phases

scientist, musician, pilot,psychiatrist, kept woman, scientist

Today I am a scientist, but I'm still holding out for being a kept woman ;)

[sakabatou]

70. A ninja

[ThomCat]

73. Did that work out for you?

:P

[sakabatou]

74. No

But I'm close enough.

[Karenca]

71. Fashion Designer. Am I one?

No, I'm not.

On those career type counseling and Meyer-Briggs
type tests, I always get 'Architect".

[ThomCat]

72. Sort of...

I wanted to be an expert in something. And now I'm a Telecommunications Management Consultant.

On the other hand, I also wanted to be a superhero. That hasn't worked out so well. :shrug:

[HEyHEY]

75. I wanted to be an industrial engineer at age six and up.

Lost that dream around grade eight when I realized I didn't care for getting good grades.

Then at around 16 I wanted to become a journalist... I'm that.

[pitohui]

76. a nurse until mom explained there was blood and sick people involved

not too many choices for women when i was a tiny tot, well, maybe upper class women, but not real women, they were either teachers or nurses and i could see that i didn't want to be a teacher, too much talking to people

so i thought i would be a nurse, which cracked up my mom, obviously nursing involves people, talking, and blood on top of it, don't know what the hell i thought nurses actually did

then i announced that i would be a firefighter at which point i had obviously departed from all known reality

however, i have a friend whose wish was even more bizarre -- he announced that he would be a rhinoceros when he grew up

[tigereye]

77. wanted to be a nun

(that one didn't happen.)

I did work in libraries for many years and now in the mental health field for about 20 years. :)

If I had it to do over again, I would have gone to medical school.