I’m wondering what you wanted to be when you grew up, when you were a child? Has it changed since then and are you pursuing that thing right now?
I wanted to be a graphic designer, but that has definitely changed. I don’t have any plans or interest in going to college. I am happy doing what I am now. I had a lot of jobs since then, and I’m pretty sure my dream job would be one of those floor detailers (the ones that travel to different stores and just deep clean the floors and walls). I currently do that at my current job but it’s more of a side task and not part of my job description, but my manager loves how I clean. I love doing this, but I’m sure it requires trade school and that’s not something I want to commit to, at least not now. I know college isn’t necessary for that career though. I just love doing tasks like this and I don’t find it gross at all despite being female. I actually don’t mind it. I’m satisfied doing regular cleaning jobs though for right now, especially since I don’t want my current city of residence to be permanent and I’m working on relocating in the near future.
What did you want to do when you were younger? Did those plans change as you got older?
I wanted to be a surgeon. I realized as I got older that the job would probably provoke my anxiety too much, which isn't good in that field. I also do not want to go to school for that long. I am now pursuing nursing instead.
Cleaning is fun I enjoy that at my work now! I'm glad you could find a passion without college. That is amazing!
I wanted to be a veterinarian to help animals, but I developed a phobia of parasites at some point (actual phobia, not just disgust or anything) and a tremor that means I could never do surgery. I also would not have handled it well when I couldn’t help an animal. And that’s all assuming I’d even get into veterinary school, which I probably wouldn’t have because the only thing I had going for me at all was my love of animals, which I’m certain every other applicant also would have listed and there’s no way to test the strength of that or anything. I haven’t even thought about what job I’d want in years because I quickly realized that I have to take what I can get, which apparently is not much.
i wanted to be an author or detective for the most part. becoming an author is pretty tricky and, in my opinion, partly down to luck -- especially if you want to earn a living from it. people have always said i'm gifted re: creative writing, but as a career, it's even less feasible these days since my depression creates a lack of motivation, and i subsequently find it impossible to write anything much longer than 1.5k let alone an entire novel. i still wouldn't mind a "career" in that field though, even if it was just editing/proofreading other people's work.
i'd still actually love to be a detective, but the journey to the position isn't for me. i don't want to be a police officer first lmao even if they are similar jobs. honestly, since this dream has always been based on how detectives are portrayed on television (think law and order, ncis, fbi) my idea of the job is probably heavily glamorized anyway. that being said, my girlfriend works in a police station as a sort of... administrative assistant? i always forget what her actual job title is, but it's an apprenticeship with a chance of going into a full time position at the end. i'm super envious of her, because it's the sort of job i'd love and think i'd thrive in, but the only apprenticeships that are ever on offer in my area are hairdressing and social/health care stuff rip. maybe one day.
when i was in sixth form, there was a period where i wanted to be a nurse. again, it was an idea influenced by television, so probably not a very good idea to begin with. in the end, i did a placement at my local hospital and hated it. the head nurse shouted at me when i was too anxious to serve lunch to the patients (it was a geriatric ward) and sent me into a panic attack. i left and didn't come back -- only lasted a day and a half lmao when i was supposed to be there for the entire week. put me off nursing altogether, and i later realized i would've ended up hating it anyway. there was also a period a year or two before that where i had a hyperfixaton on geography and wanted to do something in that field. that idea didn't last long, partly because of an awful experience with the geography teacher who taught me. there was also a point when i was younger where i wanted to be a vet, and i would still like to work with animals, but a vet specifically is out of the question because i don't think i could watch pets die or put them down. pretty sure i also wanted to be a baker at some point too.
I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. I always changed my interests, and often tried new things to figure it out. The only consistency was (and still is) writing!
i wanted to be a marine mammal biologist and help monitor and preserve the oceans and protect marine life, specializing in marine mammals
i ended up with a degree in psychology and now i work in activities at an assisted living/memory care home. im really happy with my path now, but both seem like good careers to me. sometimes i think about how drastically different my life would be if i decided to stick with my original plan! id probably be diving a lot or in a lab or both and definitely living near the coast instead of the mountains. it still sounds really fun, but im satisfied with the choices ive made and i think i prefer the mountains anyways :3
When I was really young, like under 10, my dream jobs were veterinarian or horse trainer. I rarely had the opportunity to be around horses in real life, so being a horse trainer never really panned out. As I got older, I decided I couldn't handle being a vet because I would get too emotional if I couldn't save or help an animal.
Around 12 or 13, I started thinking about a career in writing, preferably as an author but I was interested in working in publishing as an editor, proofreader, or other such role as a back-up. I didn't end up going that route because I wasn't able to go to college and couldn't intern with any publishing houses because there are none in my area. I would still love to work solely as an author someday. I try to write in my free time, but that is very limited. I also often lose inspiration for whatever I was working on and move on to the next thing, so I have yet to complete a full novel to submit to anyone.
I originally wanted to be a vet since innocent me assumed being with animals that way would be fun... then I learned that I'd have to put them down and that they'd be scared the entire time so I yeeted out of that dream. Then I wanted to become a kindergarten teacher because I was doing kindergarten helping at that time. I still would've enjoyed that but eh. Now I'm a Graphic Designer.
I wanted to be a firefighter when I was a kid, solely because cartoons portrayed them as people who saved cats and 5-year-old me liked that idea. Then I realized they did more than saving cats and suddenly I thought it might not be for me.
Then I wanted to become a lawyer in grade school because I was playing Ace Attorney at the time. Safe to say I learned how stressful law school was and how I was bad at debating. Dead dream #2.
Then I wanted to become a writer, because teenage me loved writing stories and fanfics. I was actually Not Bad at writing, but I realized later on that while it was fun as a hobby, I was also extremely lazy at making my own characters and world-building. I still write short stories to this day but they're just for personal consumption. Dead dream #3.
Now I'm studying to become a doctor, and while I was initially very intimidated with the idea of become a surgeon, I'm slowly kinda... considering it? I'm definitely not the best at anatomy and dissecting, but I think with all things you don't know how to do, with practice you'll get better eventually, one way or another. Let's see what specialty I'll consider to pursue in maybe 5 years time.
I originally wanted to be a firefighter as a kid since I was obsessed with fire trucks. Once I learned about how time consuming the job was I lost interest.
For a while I wanted to be an author like my grandma. All of my teachers and family members said I had the talent. The problem was I lacked story ideas. I could write decent short stories, but I had no idea how to make something longer than 20 pages. For seven years I purely wrote for school purposes. Then this year hit me really badly. I suddenly got a decent story idea and began to write. I’m still working on the first draft. I might self publish it one day, but I have no interest in writing for a living.
Now I’m studying to become a translator. Most people give up on Japanese once they realize how hard it is, but I’m determined to become fluent. If, for whatever reason, that career path fails I’ll do something with my social psychology minor.
I love how we all had the same dream jobs growing up! So funny.
I started out wanting to be a vet until I found about putting down animals. Then I wanted to be a natural biologist so I could study animals in their natural habitats. Then I wanted to be a writer, but would tell everyone I wanted to be a teacher and spend my summers off doing my writing projects.
And I ended up becoming a doctor. I think it’s a good match actually. It still has the life science aspect that drew me to natural biology, but combines it with the examination of the human condition that drew me to literature. And bonus, I never have to kill animals.
I wanted to be either a teacher or a veterinarian. As a kid I loved going to school so I thought a teacher would be the best job. Then I wanted to be a veterinarian because I love animals and my neighbor owns a vet clinic where I volunteered a few times and enjoyed it. I’ve never had a job though because I’m too anxious and broken to leave the house.
I wanted to be a veterinarian, but then at some point, I think I lost interest but kept on doing things that would help me get into vet school later on because I thought everyone wanted me to be a veterinarian. Now I realized that I could never do surgery, so I'm pursuing criminal justice instead to hopefully become a crime scene investigator.
I wanted to be a veterinarian for a long time. I think I simply lost interest and realized job opportunities were fairly low. At the time it didn't mind me about the surgeries or euthanasia. Now I realize that I'd be shocking at either of those things.
I wanted to go into the medical field, radiography or a doctor, for a while as well. Then I realized my grades wouldn't be good enough unless I got a crap tonne of tutoring and motivation behind me. At the end of high school I was fairly burnt out and there was no way I'd be able to push through with it. Plus, it would've costed me a lot of money that I didn't have to go to med school. Not to mention I didn't have any independence at that time either.
So in the end I did a degree in engineering lol, and have a job as a graduate engineer for a large company.
I wanted to be an elementary school teacher ever since I was about 5. My uncle got me a big chalkboard and I would get extra worksheets from my teachers in elementary school and have my dad "mess up, so I could grade him".
I followed that dream all through college and in my junior year, severed both nerves and tendons in one of my fingers and had to pay for surgery instead. I never ended up finishing and becoming a teacher. BUT things have a funny way of happening, as I plan on homeschooling Nicholas, at least for a little while, and I can't think of a better student I'd love to have than my own son. ❤
A hero to be honest. Though that doesn’t pay anything and there’s no actual positions for it.
I wanted to be an astronomer at first. Then I realized how difficult getting into that field is and how good you have to be in science, and dropped it.
Then I wanted to be an author, and still kind of do, but just don’t have the time for it these days.
Also wanted to be a sports journalist, though like with being an astronomer, it’s a difficult field to break into.
There may have been other things I wanted to be, but they’re all dead and buried as well. Not even really sure what I want to be now that I’m an adult. As long as it pays the bills and I don’t hate it then we’re good.
I also wanted to be a graphic designer. I started really looking into it and getting interested in that line of work when I was 13-14 and it was something that I really wanted to work towards. I went to college for it but dropped out due to intense depression and anxiety issues but still tried to work towards it after. I started applying for internships and was still looking for tutorials and classes but after getting ghosted or rejected by everyone I went to it just kind of broke me. I haven't really been as into graphic design since and it's still really hard to get back into it for me. I was also in a relationship with someone who didn't really support me or care about anything that I was working towards so that contributed to it as well.
BUT things have a funny way of happening, as I plan on homeschooling Nicholas, at least for a little while, and I can't think of a better student I'd love to have than my own son. ❤
