What did you want to be when you were younger and do you still think about it?

maureenseel1984
maureenseel1984 Posts: 395 Member
edited December 22 in Chit-Chat
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When I was little I really REALLY wanted to be an astronaut.
I had signed pictures and badges from several of the shuttle missions...even one from some of the Apollo missions...I still think about it from time to time...then I remember how much physics and math is involved and go back to it being a distant dream LOL.

What about you?

Replies

  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    I'm 39, out of college 15 years now, and still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up :)

    When I was little, I never really fixated on one occupation over any other - I played games where you had to pick a career, and I usually picked "jack of all trades" as there really wasn't one particular job I liked over any other. The only thing that I really wanted was to be a wife and mother; alas, that didn't happen, so I had to grab something that would pay the bills and keep a roof over my head......
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    edited July 2019
    Astronaut as well.
  • bobshuckleberry
    bobshuckleberry Posts: 281 Member
    A nurse. No I don't really think about it. I am glad I didn't do it because a. I have a weak stomach now (lol); and b. If I did that for a living I think I would have been burnt out when my mother, mother in law and one of my neighbors needed a caretaker. I was able to take care of all three when they got down. I think doing it for a living and came home to do the same type of work someone's care would suffer....and it would probably have been my own self care.
  • Alia_R
    Alia_R Posts: 410 Member
    edited July 2019
    I wanted to become a marine biologist when I was younger. Then someone told me there's "no money in it".
    Oh well, what I do for a living now is far more better; I work for a multi-organ transplant program :blush:
  • InkgirlKC
    InkgirlKC Posts: 251 Member
    I wanted to make pastries.
  • kevinflemming1982
    kevinflemming1982 Posts: 158 Member
    God, there were so many. LEGO designer, DJ/Producer, comic book artist. I do think about it regularly, but considering those things were great fun as hobbies, I don't think I could have stuck with them for long. Rarely is something you enjoy doing in your spare time as enjoyable when it becomes your job, plus I always took my time and was overly-critical of my own work (often scrapping projects and starting over if it wasn't perfect).
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    I wanted to be a nurse in an OR. I was a horrible student in a structured classroom environment but great with hands on learning and they frown on that in an OR. 😷
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    edited July 2019
    I do think about this sometimes. I wanted to be an artist or an Art teacher. I started out majoring in those areas at college but quickly became disillusioned and went down a different path instead. In the end, I'm very happy that I kept artistic endeavors as a hobby and passion instead of making it my career. I don't think I am talented enough to have become a successful artist and I know that teaching would not have been right for me.

    I was just thinking of this last night, actually. There's a friend of the family who is turning eleven today and she's very artistic. She has been ill, and I spent more than was necessary on art supplies for her gift. It made me feel very happy to do that, and to know that she would really get enjoyment out of my selections! I also really like it when I have opportunities to just chill out doing artsy things with friends, kids, or seniors. I may try to volunteer more in that vein soon but for now it's nice to just enjoy it now & then!

    ETA: I also wanted to be an architect when I was very young, and would draw blueprints all of the time. I still take a big interest in how buildings are set up and that sort of thing, but failing to pursue it is not something I regret.
  • CoffeeAndContour
    CoffeeAndContour Posts: 1,466 Member
    I wanted to be a lot of things. A vet, a firewoman, a newswoman, a paramedic, a journalist, a teacher. But the one that stuck with be was marine biology.
  • smoofinator
    smoofinator Posts: 635 Member
    Second on the marine biologist. I think about it a lot.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    I do think about this sometimes. I wanted to be an artist or an Art teacher. I started out majoring in those areas at college but quickly became disillusioned and went down a different path instead. In the end, I'm very happy that I kept artistic endeavors as a hobby and passion instead of making it my career. I don't think I am talented enough to have become a successful artist and I know that teaching would not have been right for me.

    I can relate to that. My outlet is playing the piano, though I'm only about the late intermediate/very early advanced stage and have never figured out how to play by ear - I can play what's on the music. Most people I knew growing up assumed I'd major in music and piano, but while I loved playing, I never wanted to make a career of it, and now, after talking to a few who did, I'm very glad I didn't. I've heard that music school is very tough and demanding, and the forced styles and constant practice would have definitely burned me out. I have a friend who told me that major in music nearly brought her to the point where she hated the piano!


    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    ETA: I also wanted to be an architect when I was very young, and would draw blueprints all of the time. I still take a big interest in how buildings are set up and that sort of thing, but failing to pursue it is not something I regret.

    I did the same thing when I was little! I designed all kinds of houses when I was younger - even kept a pack of graphing paper for it, and loved to look at house design books (and once in a while, i still poke around those kind of sites). But its' funny that while I could entertain myself with drawing a house floorplan for hours, I never considered doing it for a living......Now if the bug hits me, I just pull up Sims :)
  • mattig89ch
    mattig89ch Posts: 2,648 Member
    Is it bad, I never had a clear direction of where I wanted to go in life?

    I had so many fleeting dreams while growing up. None of them stuck.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    I really wanted to be a teacher. I ended up being a teacher. A lot of time, effort and resources went into it. There were a lot of things I loved about it, but the awesome moments were completely overshadowed by the many, many drawbacks (including abusive and neglectful/unsupportive administration.) Experiencing this firsthand, as well as observing the experiences of my co-workers, slowly sucked the joy out of my life. I can see why there is so much turnover in the profession. After 10 years they finally broke me, and I quit the profession because the job was stressing me out too much and literally harming my health. I'm so much happier (and healthier) now...I stayed way too long... B)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    What I wanted to be when I grew up changed all of the time...cop, firefighter, military, teacher, race car driver, professional football player, stunt man, mad scientist, FBI, CIA, Supreme Court Judge, POTUS, and about a billion other things.

    No, I don't really think about them as I haven't really had any interest in any of these since I was a kid except the military, which I joined out of high school...and that was a *kitten* show.
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    edited July 2019
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  • mattig89ch
    mattig89ch Posts: 2,648 Member
    1sphere wrote: »
    mattig89ch wrote: »
    I had so many fleeting dreams while growing up. None of them stuck.
    Maybe all of them were great. You just have to make a choice on what to give yourself to. That's what we humans do at the end of the day, we make choices.

    Hmm...maybe the problem is, I don't feel like I have a choice. I feel like I have to take what comes, and be greatfull it came.
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  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Behindblue_eyes wrote: »
    I always wanted to be a nurse. I spent a lot of time in the hospital when I was really young and I admired them very much. I'm happy to say that I'm kinda living my childhood dream! I am a caregiver for the elderly who suffer from Dementia/Alzheimer's. It's not easy, but it's rewarding and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

    <3o:)
  • Xiao_Ya_
    Xiao_Ya_ Posts: 495 Member
    When I was 5, I said I wanted to fly a plane for the Japanese military like Grandpa. I do think about that, and how silly it was for me to say that. My grandfather died a kamikaze pilot in the Battle of Okinawa, which we lost, with many tragic unnecessary deaths.
    Then at 7, I wanted to be a veterinarian and help animals.
    At 12, I became extremely interested in death and dying, and so I wanted to be an undertaker. I built myself a coffin to lie in and had skulls all over the place. This is when I become Gothic Lolita... I still am.
    At 13, I said I wanted to become a physician.
    Now, I think I will be an undertaker and a physician.
  • maureenseel1984
    maureenseel1984 Posts: 395 Member
    Alia_R wrote: »
    I wanted to become a marine biologist when I was younger. Then someone told me there's "no money in it".
    Oh well, what I do for a living now is far more better; I work for a multi-organ transplant program :blush:

    Whooooaaaa! Oh that is cool!

    I work with transplant patients but in a different capacity.
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  • kimber0607
    kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
    edited July 2019
    I wanted to be a makeup artist or masseuse...
    I felt I needed to go to college/graduate..than I wanted to be in my own, so I followed the money

    Now, I work in HR/actuarial recruiter

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