The last time I've seen this done it was pretty hilarious. What did you want to do when you were kid? Fireman? Astronaut? Just waiting around for your parents to die? Focus: Tell us what you wanted to be when you were a kid. What are you doing now? Would you be happier doing what you are now or living out your childhood dream? Pictures are encouraged, especially if your name is Gris.
I wanted to make video games! Then I wanted to be a rock star! Then I went back to video games. After spending most of highschool and three years of university on the path to becoming a lawyer, I realized I hated what I was doing, said fuck that, switched programs and am back on my way to programming making video games. I don't think I could take the gaming industry pressure these days, but I like coding so I'll roll with it anywhere, see what happens. Fun trivia: Since dropping law my dad has started throwing away my old possessions claiming "life isn't easy in the IT world" (because he'd know as.. er... an accountant)
I wanted to be a chemist. Currently a pharmacy student. I was, as you may guess, a well adjusted and socially involved little boy.
When I was young I was quite single-minded, I wanted to became the guy who drives the Steamroller. That didn't happen, so now I'm at university studying Criminology.
I wanted to be a park ranger because I loved being outside. When I told my Dad about my career aspirations, he told me that I'd make no money and spend all my time chasing kids out of the woods who were doing drugs. Right now, I don't really have a job title per se. I do finance, marketing/advertising/sales, shipping and receiving, publication editing, etc. for three vastly different companies. When people ask what I do, I tell them that I work with cigars, oysters, and blind people. Some get confused and change the topic, others hit me with more questions. I appreciate the confused, former group.
I wanted to be an artist. Then an orthopedic surgeon. Then an artist. Dad knew I was something different when I came home from 3rd grade one day. I had a bag of skittles and arranged them on the kitchen table, sorting them out by color and eating piles until there were only three left, to which I exclaimed "Daddy! These colors are analagous!" That pretty much settled it. I was going to be an artist. First illustration, then graphic design, now industrial design (more or less requires graphic design and illustration anyway), and I love it. Dad was pretty pissed (Fortune 500 executive, go figure) and wanted me to go into law or business, so to make him happier I tacked on a Business Management and Entrepreneurship minor. I couldn't be happier with my life at this point.
Professional Hockey Player. My thought proceess as a young child: "well if I play high school, then I'll play college, and then I'll go right to the pros." Nevermind the odds are something like 50,000:1.* On a more attainable level, I wanted to be a club golf pro. I grew up playing all the Junior PGA tour events here and was a pretty damn good golfer. Then I started working and what not in high school and lost my ambition to practice relentlessly, and ultimately go into that program. *I heard a stat like this a long time ago, have no idea what it really is though. I asked my 3.5 year old cousin what he wanted to be when he grows up, at Thanksgiving. He pointed to his shirt and said, "ROBOT DINOSAUR". Sure as hell, that was his shirt. The kid has high hopes.
When I was little, I wanted to be a lawyer. Now that I'm a "grown-up", I want to be a time-traveler who goes back to 1992 and punches children in the dick as punishment for having terrible, unimaginative life goals.
When I was little? Pffft. I've wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader since I was 5. Despite trying out and being rejected in the second round, I didn't actually give up the dream until the day I turned 30. And considering I own an unholy number of white cowboy boots, one could argue that I still haven't given up the dream.
When I was 3 or 4 years old, my Aunt asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I told her that I wanted to be Michelangelo, and she was very excited that her nephew wanted be the next great painter/sculptor. When I told her that I wanted to be Michelangelo the ninja turtle, she laughed at me. From the time I was 5 until 12, I wanted to be a weatherman. I probably watched the Weather Channel more than any cartoons in my childhood. I was really into tracking hurricanes and measuring the rainfall amounts in my backyard. Today, I am in charge of the training department of a small software company. I'd much rather be tracking hurricanes and shit than trying to teach people who have no business touching a computer how to use our software. Blegh.
I wanted to be a fireman, then a fishing guide, then a vet, then a fishing guide again. I got pretty close. I worked in wholesale tropical fish sales. I guided for a little while. Now I work in the gun business. I'm pretty happy and I'm pretty sure that 7 year old me would be too.
I wanted to be an airline pilot when I was a kid. Due to being color blind I found out that wasn't going to happen. Now I'm 24 and going to school to be a millwright. I had also thought of a fishing guide since I live in MN and I liked meteorology but I hate math.
The first thing I remember ever wanting to be was a cashier at a super market. Don't ask. Once I got a bit older, I wanted to be a dentist. Again, Don't ask. Then through most of high school and a fair amount of college I had my sights set on being an FBI agent. I think I watched too many episodes of the X-Files. Then I decided I wanted to be a video game programmer. I even got a graduate degree for that one, but for some reason ended up working as a software developer for an HVAC manufacturer instead of a game development studio.
I've always wanted to be more like my father. Still do. Seeing as he was, by education, a mathematician and worked in applied fields, but also used to have a job teaching karate and sambo in the USSR, I thought I would combine the two. That's right; during the day, I would be a brilliant mathematician. At night, I would become a badass ninja that would decapitate dozens of people with either my sword OR bare hands...whichever I felt like more. As for what I became, I have a degree in math and economics, and work in an applied field. Never used a sword, though...real ninjas use guns.
When I was little I always wanted to be unemployed for a lengthy period. For the last year I have been living that dream! Focus: I always remember wanting to be a Zookeeper. My aunt was a Zookeeper, I loved animals(still do) and watched every show about wild animals that a motivated little Zookerper could. Whenever I went to the zoo I knew every fact about every animal, even enough so to impress any adults around me listening to me banter on about the mating habits of Sloths. I honestly don't remember what happened to that dream.
Growing up, I always wanted to be an inventor and now I have a degree in mechanical engineering so I got pretty close. My job as a metallurgist, unfortunately, does not have much inventing involved.
When I was young, I wanted to be a rock star. Some kids dream about becoming a rock star; I actually went to career services about it. Started a band and everything. When I told my mom that I wanted to grow up to be a musician, I'll never forget what she said to me. "You can't do both." Ouch. So, I became a finance guy. I sit in front of a computer eighty hours a week figuring out ways to lose other people's money. I still manage to play a few gigs a year on the weekends.
First thing I wanted to be was an astro-physicist. Seriously, I think I could have been the only 8 year old that even knew what the fuck an astro-physicist was. Secondly, as a junior in high-school, I wanted to be a professional clarinet player in a chamber orchestra. Well, to this day I spoke to about a half-a-dozen people in each field and am so glad that I decided to be neither. That, and my parents stated that you'd have to pry the tuition money for a performance art degree out of their "cold, dead hands." Both professions introduce a very small margin for personal success and reward, so I decided that being an electronic warfare engineer for the government would be the best path to achieve the same end state. As I grow up, I want to come home to my house with a smile, not worry about money too much, and do what I want to do for the most part. The path I have chosen, so far, has allowed me to do just that.
Watched too much Law&Order and wanted to be a Lawyer/Judge as a kid. Realized those jobs kinda suck so went a long time with no clue. Very nearly started college as a Chemical Engineering Major and did some of the classes my first semester. Decided then that I liked non-fiction/opinion writing a lot more than calc and am now working on a Journalism Major with a Science expertise (mostly Bio).