This has a couple of answers.
I mainly remember wanting to grow up, get married, have children, and run a household.
(I think we can put a pretty solid check beside that desire!)
Since one can’t really guarantee that path in life, though, I did spend childhood/teen years thinking about job options too.
At first, I thought I would want to be a music major. But as a teen, I developed overuse problems in my wrists and hands (too much practicing!), and I decided that I would not be able to handle the hours upon hours of practicing required of a music major.
So, then I decided that I’d major in nutrition.
But then I got engaged, and since marriage/likely kids were on the horizon, I decided to scrap that plan, since my degree would require pretty regular upkeep to stay certified.
I used the rest of my college money to buy a piano, and I taught piano lessons part time for many years; that worked out way better than my nutrition degree would have.
And now, with empty nesting on the horizon, I’m thinking about becoming a nurse when I grow up. (ha)
I have never had a clear idea. Still don’t. Although when I was in high school, I briefly considered going to the Air Force Academy like my dad. I even visited the Academy with him and talked to the female cadets in their dorm and everything.
It’s clear to me now that that would have been a disastrously bad fit for me, so it’s a good thing I gave up on that idea. I ended up getting a plain old English degree, which was actually required for the job (proofreader) that supported us while my husband was in law school, and also came in handy when I got the certification for an Educational Assistant. Without a degree, I would have had to take tests to see if I remember fifth-grade math (I do not, although I’m learning it again!). So even though my parents were all, “And what kind of job, exactly, will you get with an English degree?” it turned out fine.
It’s funny. I always wanted to do *something* with computers because I seemed to be good at them and I was always told how people who worked with them made a lot of money.
I don’t make a lot of money but I do work in IT and do okay for myself. I can’t say I have a passion for my job but at the end of the day, it’s a job.
I wanted to be an astronaut! My dad was instrumental in putting up the first geosynchronous satellite, so I was pretty well steeped in the space program. Well, that didn’t happen, but I always liked math and science, and ended up with a college double major in Chemistry and Math, and a minor in Earth Sciences (which includes astronomy!).
I started out my career as a chemist, and ended it as an environmental manager, steering companies through the labyrinth of industrial cleanups. Stewardship of the Earth!
Oh wow, that’s an impressive collection of college focuses!
(particularly to me, a person who is not naturally drawn to science and math)
Oh I know! I decided ballet would hurt my feet (plus I have very little coordination, as I discovered when I took a year of class when I was seven) and that being a farmer would mean too early a start. Practical thinking there 😛 Being a librarian was a definite fit for me though – I was so absorbed in my book when I was eight or nine that I didn’t hear the bell ring for closing, and nearly got locked in!
*Nearly got locked in the library, I meant to say!
Ah – I meant to put this under my original comment, sorry!
I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was young. I was famous for subjecting family/friends/stuffed animals to my pretend classroom. I considered a few other ideas over the years such as nursing and social work but ended up back at teaching with a degree in Early Childhood and Special Ed.
My earliest ambitions included being a ballerina or a farmer, but it very quickly became clear that I was suited for neither haha! I thought about being a teacher for a long time, and am still open to it, but as I always loved reading and going to the library I fell in love with becoming a librarian 🙂 The career certainly suits me!
A ballerina or a farmer…those are two very diverse first choices! Heh.
An actress, which I am, although not in the scope that my young mind imagined. Back then I didn’t know that being able to fully support yourself as an actor would be challenging enough let alone achieving uber stardom. My love has always been for theatre which is what I get to do from time to time.
I wanted to be a nun and applied to join the convent where I went to boarding school. They turned me down, saying the committee all agreed that while they felt certain I could deal with the poverty and chastity issues, obeying would be beyond me. Turns out they knew me better than I knew myself! So I changed my orientation to one where I could order others to obey and became an attorney, which was many years ago when few women attended law school—there were four in my class. I still correspond with two of the nuns from that order, both in their 90s now.
These are all so interesting! Every person has a story to tell if we take the time to listen/read.
From oldest to newest, I wanted to be an elementary teacher, harvester, copy editor, civil engineer, civil lawyer, college-level math teacher, soil chemist, architect, welder.
I started college in the civil lawyer phase but inexplicably chose and finished with math and chemistry majors and physics and philosophy emphases. Here am I, a grad school math dropout who definitely knows teaching isn’t my answer. These days I do get to teach most subjects, but that is NOT intentional, and I guarantee I would not have chosen to do so had I the option to decline.
During a copy editing career (thank you, college paper cocurricular experience, for being my career starter), I became a farm wife, and now I’m a stay-home parent who works freelance as a designer and editor.
For years, I was (from time to time vociferously) opposed to marrying and having kids and had no inkling whatsoever that production agriculture would be part of my future. Just goes to show you never can tell.
I would like to be an architect or a welder when I grow up, please.
Also I do love math and wish I could invent a Karen-specific job in the field.
I was big on math in high school and thought about being an accountant for a while, but my dad knew I’d need more interaction with people than that would provide. At the end of high school, I wanted to go to college, get my degree, and become a stay-at-home mom. (A friend got me a feather duster as a funny graduation gift!) I started college as a math major, then eventually switched to business with a concentration in information systems. I used each part of my degree until my first baby was 9 months old and we were finally in a position where I could stay home with her. My last job was a great mix of working with people, computers, and numbers. And now I love being home with my kiddos.
A zookeeper, until I realised it mostly involves shoveling stinky stuff. I did take a biology degree though and went into medical research.
I wanted to be several things… an archeologist, a veterinarian, a police officer and join the air force. Unfortunately affording college wasn’t in the cards for me, so the first 2 were out. I ended up getting married and he squashed the last 2. (He’s long gone! LOL)
I’ve been a Children’s Librarian (which I absolutely loved!), an office manager for a brokerage firm and now I am the property manager for a Senior housing complex.
Kirstin I just wanted to say I don’t know how it’s possible but you seemed to have aged backwards since the photo you posted. You look as young now. Also I am a nurse and from your blog at least I think you would be great at it. A ton of the nursing students on our floor are older people who went back to school for nursing so you would fit right in.