Happy Sunday! The work week is just around the corner, and honestly I'm not 100% sure if or when this or a similar question had been asked in the recent past, so apologies for any redundancy.

When I grow up, I want to be...

What was your answer at 5 years old?

At 15 years old?

At 25 years old (and 35 and 45 and 55, and so on - if these ages apply to you)?

 

What kind of career did you look forward to? What career, if you currently have or had retired from one, did you end up with? Is it one you find fulfilling? Was it a logical progression from your dreams or was your young self way off the charts?

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.  I had a blackboard on the wall in my bedroom and I used to play teacher.

When I got a little older I wanted to be a nurse.

I wound up being neither, most of my working career was being a data entry operator. 

I never really had a burning desire to be in any profession, it would change from week to week.  That is why I didn't finish college, I still really hadn't settled on anything I really wanted to be.  Of course I should have finished.  Even a degree on what has always been my favorite thing to study, history, would've helped in the employment market.  I wouldn't have worked in it because I never had a desire to teach but that degree even in the infamous basket weaving would've been a huge help with employment.

I was in the military for 8 years in electronics repair.  I worked as a computer operator for a number of years than a credit card production facility.  I am now filing health insurance claims for fire dept ambulance service.  Though I never found anything that I was passionate about that I could earn a paycheck with, I have been fortunate in staying gainfully employed.

I was going to be a lawyer. My dad always said law would suit me as I was always very good at arguing my case when I got in trouble. 

But I took the business curriculum in high school, and then I got pregnant and Rick and I got married when I was 16. College was not in my future, even though college was my dream. I worked for a paper company for years, swing-shift, 7 day work weeks, etc. When the company locked out the union back in the mid-80s, I knew I couldn't continue that path. I started out at a local university taking General Ed classes while trying to figure out a major. When I took a couple Geography classes, I liked them! And it turned out that I liked everything about Geography. It's not just about the capital of Nebraska or where North Vietnam is located....it's so much more than that. And then I got into Environmental Planning and everything fell into place. Took me ten years going to classes part-time while working full time, but I got my degree. (Our son, who majored in Physics, even got his degree three years before me....I was like a turtle, slow, but kept plugging away.)

And now I'm a Land Use Planner in my county. 

I've often thought about going for my Masters degree, but well, at my age, I'm not up for it. There are too many other things I want to do and I don't want to get back into that mid-term, final, constantly studying, constantly writing, constant classes lifestyle. I don't think I could do it again. 

LaRussa said:

 
When I was a little girl I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.  I had a blackboard on the wall in my bedroom and I used to play teacher.

When I got a little older I wanted to be a nurse.

I wound up being neither, most of my working career was being a data entry operator. 

Click to expand...

Me, too! I also had a blackboard--one of those free-standing, double-sided ones, and played teacher. I also wanted to be a nurse (Mom was one), or a librarian.

My parents wouldn't send me to college: "Girls don't need to go to college" was what I was told.    I did take a couple of courses on my own many years later. I do work in a library, and have for many years. I'm not a librarian ; one must have a Master of Library Science Degree (MLS) to be a librarian.  I am a cataloger, which does not require the MLS degree, unless one is the head of Cataloging, but we basically do the same work. I enjoy working in the library field.

My dream job: selling fine jewelry, or being a buyer for a fine jewelry store. I'm not interested in making the jewelry, but I am fascinated by gemstones and jewelry in general. I've looked into acquiring my AJP certification (Accredited Jewelry Professional) from GIA.  I considered becoming a Graduate Gemologist (G.G.), but it's EXPENSIVE--and, even though I could do most of the course online, you have to have 2 all-day lab sessions in New York City, at $800 each--and I don't like to travel (I'm somewhat agoraphobic).  

I always wanted to be a vet, since I was old enough to think about it, and had almost every creature imaginable, from lizards and snakes to skunks and racoons. When I married my husband when I was 20, we started remodeling and then eventually building houses ( after our full time jobs) and I got into the construction business, working at lumber yards and Pay -N - Pak, a business much like Menards. They sent me to classes from plumbing and welding to designing kitchens and I enjoyed that very much. Then they closed, and then the next two businesses I worked at closed,(I started getting a complex). My husband encouraged me to go into the medical field since I had all my 'animal' experience with injuries and such, ( and the need for medical personnel will never end)so I became an RN at the old age of 45. I love it! I'm a school nurse now and would encourage anyone to go into the field, it pays well and you can always find a job! My other jobs in life included - waitress, jewelry store, Clothing shop manager, and bartender, but by far my job now is the best!

I wanted to be a nurse but that passed. I went into secretarial work and was a legal secretary when I left England. I spent the next 34 years working as a clerk. Not fulfilling but a great laugh with us Anglos who brought our children.up together and went to weddings etc and ended up as 'mad middle aged menopausal women' as we were called by a 20 something child. I wasn't fulfilled but it paid the bills.