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s/o - career aspirations when you were younger
Copz's thread has me thinking about what was going on in my head when I was babycopz's age about what career I wanted to pursue. I am LOLing about this and I'm sure you guys had equally random aspirations, or even more random than mine:
In elementary and middle school, at various times I wanted to become an archaeologist (thanks, Jurassic Park) or a marine biologist (thanks, Voyage of the Mimi with young Ben Affleck).
In HS, I wanted to be a sportscaster.
Then I started college and wanted to be a math professor.
Then I wanted to become a linguistics professor.
Post college, I wanted to work for either the CIA, FBI or Department of State. I had prospects for each of these at one point.
Now I'm a librarian. Heh. But I love what I do so even though the route to get here was circuitous, I'm happy I landed here.
Re: s/o - career aspirations when you were younger
Above Us Only Sky
When I was a kid, and before I realized how much I SUCK at math, I wanted to be a doctor.
When I went to college I majored in journalism.
Then I thought about trying to do legislative aide-type stuff.
Then I worked in a hospital as an admin, cardiac tech, etc and thought about nursing school.
Then I entered the corporate world and discovered a dorky love for contracts, and thus I am a contract paralegal.
ETA: Oh I almost went to law school about half a dozen times too. Soo glad I dodged that bullet.
I wanted to be a nurse when I was in elementary school. I grew out of that.
In middle school I wanted to be a flight attendant. My sister called them "glorified waitresses" and talked me out of it. She was wrong - I would have loved that job. My cousin is a flight attendant and has a very enviable life.
In college, I had no clue and ended up in law school. Meh. I should have been a flight attendant.
Always a doctor, but I took the cheaters way out
Accounting was never even in my mind. I hate numbers, yet here I sit
astronaut (until i figured out i was motion sick)
archeologist (didnt seem permanent enough for me)
architect (thought it was too creative for me)
psychology (wouldn't pay enough to cover my student loans)
I settled on accounting. Didn't like it too much, though I don't mind a lot of it. Now I've thought about becoming a nurse (but i'm afraid of killing someone), a doula (wouldn't like the hours) or a lactation consultant (still considering it).
Ultimately, I think I'd like to get a job that doesn't require a lot of thought after the day is done. I don't want to worry about work when I'm not working. I was thinking maybe recruiting for an acctg firm... we'll see.
ETA: i forgot my failed attempt at becoming a bschool professor. I couldn't had the econometrics and quit phd school.
Joseph Henry was born at home on March 9, 2009
Nora Mae was born at home on October 30, 2011
my read shelf:
kid: Animal trainer/breeder (before I know about overpopulation!)
Teen: artsy stuff and animals. I was undecided going into college.
College: I got a BA in Theatre Performance and took several classes in web and Graphic Design. If UofM didn't have such a f*ked up system, or if it had a Graphic Design Dept., I would have minored in that.
Now: Web and Graphics Designer. This didn't really exist back then as the position it is today, so I don't have the same sort of mocking of my past self for not knowing anything about it.
I think you'd be hard pressed to find kids who want a true desk job unless there motivation is to get pay *well*.
My first memory of a career aspiration was probably an archaeologist, inspired by watching stuff about ancient Egypt.
Then an anesthesiologist (sp?) around middle school. But I sucked at math and was never taught science. Creationist school FTW.
By the time I got to high school it was vague "international businessperson type thing."
In college I specifically became interested in international trade. Which I worked in for a few years, then went to law school because that was always in the back of my mind and I liked the maritime law class I took at my shipping company as part of the training. Oh, and because I liked to argue. Ugh.
To the PP with a dorky love of contracts... I wish I had that! Life would be so much simpler!
Up through high school I wanted to be an actress. I even was accepted into a very strong theater program for college, but my mom told me she felt I wasn't ready and to take a year off before college. That was the best thing she could have done for me.
I started college majoring in History with no idea what career path I wanted (huge mistake). I did very well in college and graduated at the top of my department and worked in a history museum all through college. Senior year I applied to and was accepted into law school, but couldn't figure out how to pay for it so did not go (I had nobody guiding me through the process, just applied on my own, and I had no idea people funded it entirely through loans).
I started working in a different history museum after graduation, was very unhappy there (they were in a period of major transition and had no business hiring someone fresh out of school) so I applied to PhD programs in History. Went to grad school for a year, saw career prospects for historians and the necessary geographic mobility in academia and was scared away, so after my wedding the following summer I left graduate school.
I was looking for a new career path (had a few freelance editing gigs and was substitute teaching and had returned p/t to the museum I worked in during college) when I had a surprise pregnancy and have been home since having my daughter. I've since come to realize that the reason I had so much trouble finding a career path is that I always assumed that when I had kids I would SAH, it just was unconscious. DH and I never discussed it because we thought kids were 5-7 year away so we hadn't thought about it (foolish on our parts, but we thought we had time).
At knocking-on-30 I'm just settling into being excited about accounting.
As a short person, I mostly wanted to be a teacher (because I idolized them).
In HS, I wanted to run off to Africa and be the Jane Goodall of lions. Short o leaving the continent, I wanted to work at zoos. My friends said I wanted to be a kangaroo shits picker upper.
I went to school with a major in Animal Science (I like Animals! I like Science! was literally the thought process as I filled out the online application hurriedly before the deadline). When I started getting packets welcoming me to the College of Agriculture, I pumped the breaks. After my first quarter, I xfered to Ecology and Systematic Biology.
By the time I graduated, I knew that field biology was not a practical option for what I wanted in lifestyle (namely, having plumbing more than once a month). I toyed with the idea of teaching again, and I applied for a substitute teaching license while looking into credential requirements.
In the 6 months it took the state to process my application, I got a job in sales operations. I spent about 5 years mostly hating that job until we got small enough that I reported to the Director of Finance. As we grew again, I had the opportunity to move away from customer service and towards accounting and inventory planning.
At this point in my career, I'm thankful for my "liberal arts" education. I couldn't get where I am without a bachelors in something, and a scientific education gave me the critical thinking tools necessary for accounting. I'm one of three in my dept with a biology degree.
Growing up, I went back and forth between a few different things-veterinarian, teacher, archaeologist, clothes buyer or something else fashion related, cosmetology school, etc. My dad had it in his head that I HAD to have a major declared when I started my freshman year at Ohio State (because, ya know, everyone has a major declared) but I didn't think I liked any of the above ideas enough to actually declare one as my major. My aunt suggested speech therapy b/c the SLPs she worked with at the hospital "love what they do and make a lot of money". I had shot down going into PT b/c I didn't want to make people cry, and figured how on earth would I make anyone cry being a speech therapist so I went ahead and declared Speech and Hearing Science as my undergrad major. The actual major classes started sophomore year, and I realized it didn't sound too horrible.
And even though I had second thoughts when I found out I'd have to go to grad school before I could actually be an SLP and about 5 zillion other times over the next four years...here I am. With a pile of student loan debt courtesy of that damn master's program that I haaaaad to have
The funny thing is, I didn't want to go into PT because I didn't want to make people cry...but now I make kids cry multiple times a week. And don't even flinch (because they're usually crying to try to get out of whatever it is I want them to do).
Kid - I wanted to be a comedian but then realized that I am not funny enough.
Pre-teen - wanted to be a doctor, watched my dad have a test to see how long it took his blood to clot and almost passed out. That dream was gone.
Teen - Something to do with math. I eventually became an engineer, so that one stuck.
Now - I would like to become a vet tech. My dream job would be to work at a zoo but that is too competitive and I am too burnt out from being an engineer.
In late elementary and junior high I wanted to go to Harvard and be a heart surgeon.
In high school and early college I wanted to be a news anchor. Then I met my ex. He was a secondary English major and since we knew we wanted to live in a small town, it was decided (pretty much by him) that I should be an elementary ed major so we wouldn't be competing for jobs. So I got a degree in elementary ed. Fuuuccked up, no?
I still think I would have been a great news anchor.
Yes,I'm smiling...I'm a marathoner!
Bloggy McBloggerson
CO Nestie Award Winner-Prettiest Brain-Back to Back!
2011 Bests
5K-22:49 10K-47:38 Half Mary-1:51:50
2012 Race Report
1/1-New Year's 5K-22:11
2/11-Sweetheart Classic 4-mile-29:49
3/24-Coulee Chase 5K-21:40
5/6-Colorado Marathon-4:08:30
5/28-Bolder Boulder 10K
I wanted to be a rock star until somewhere in lower elementary school when I realized I had no rock star talent. I had way too much Star Seach in my life.
Then I wanted to be a teacher, but I realized that most of classmates sucked and I couldn't imagine dealing with kids like them everyday.
Then I wanted to be a nurse. I got into nursing school and changed my major after one semester.
I have been working at being a writer/journalist since elementary school, where I was the founder and editor of our little newspaper (which was cut and pasted pieces printed out on long paper). I won an essay contest in elementary school (the prize was a savings bond that at 5 I gave to my Grandma -- the now 90-year-old one -- for safekeeping. Now, she will not let me have it back because, "you don't need all this money." It may be worth $50. LOL). I did a piece for a show called Kids News and in junior high, I befriended a local newscaster who was very nice and let me shadow her sometimes and by high school, I was planning to be the next Oprah.
I initially majored in broadcast news but figured out quickly that I preferred the writing to being in front of the camera and switched to print journalism and, WALLA! here I am today, a working journalist. I sometimes wish I had switched to broadcast production, but I've had a pretty good run with this career so far.
ETA: OH and a singer. I always wanted to be a working singer, but more Liza/Elaine Stritch than Beyonce because I've always been a Broadway baby.
AND I planned to marry Michael Jackson and be best friends with Janet.
Fashion designer. Even went to school for it briefly.
Or marine biologist.
I am neither.
Pantry Raid Blog | Travel blog | My Goodread shelf
Throughout high school, my entire career goal was to be an international superstar by the age of 24.
So I f cked off in high school and when the time came to apply to colleges nobody would take me because of my abysmal GPA (1.7, anyone?) and I had to appeal my rejection from the local party school just to get into a 4 year university. But oddly enough I did great on my standardized tests and since I was in and out of school (parents traveled a lot for business and took me with so my teachers assigned work outside of the curriculum and kind of let me plan my own lessons?) so much anyway I graduated quite early.
I wish I was more with it.
Now I'm having a career crisis and wondering if this is really what I want to do with the rest of my life.
Then I got involved in a bad relationship, dropped out spent 5 years living in a black hole, finally went back to school for web design, which was a hobby of mine, got a job and here I am.
I should have planned for a realistic, lucrative career back when I was planning to be the next Britney Spears. Now I'm playing catchup. But I guess if I want to change careers, better now than never; I'm only 27, right?
It sucks.
My brother wanted to be an archaeologist in kindergarten. For real. He now works in historic preservation.
I wanted to be a architect when I was in 8th and 9th grade. But I really don't like math that much.
I did want to be a broadcast journalist when I was 10 or 11. And I ended up majoring in journalism. Mainly because I liked to write and didn't want to major in something like English or creative writing.
40/112
As a child I wanted to be a "baby doctor"
As a teenager I wanted to be an elementary school teacher.
In college I wanted to be a lawyer/college professor, then there was my stint as an event/meeting planner.
Through it all I've always wanted to me a meteorologist- the weather fascinates me, but I SUCK in math.
My current job is a cross between the lawyer and college professor that didn't require the JD or PhD for now.
This is kind of eerie, because I majored in journalism and now I review contracts for my company. But this was after taking a detour into marketing (I work for a marketing company, in fact).
I also have a currently useless MA in US history. If I can combine marketing and history and have it pay decently, I think I'll be all set!
40/112