# Are you what you wanted to be "when you grow up"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979 "2006-12-13T17:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/41 "2006-12-13T23:30:49Z")
As far back as I can remember I’ve always wanted to be a gangster. Well, I work in an Insurance claims office now so… 39 1/2 and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I guess where I went wrong was not thinking about growing up when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/42 "2006-12-14T00:22:42Z")
I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I was a kid, but I always thought that I would know at some point. Well, I never had the big revelation, unfortunately, but next fall I’m starting grad school in public health, field I’m interested in and I _think_ I’d like. Here’s hoping. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/43 "2006-12-14T01:19:05Z")
No. I’m not a rich world traveler that has seen everything of interest. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/44 "2006-12-14T01:19:27Z")
I always wanted to be a teacher. For some years I thought I’d like to be an archeaologist, but when I was about 18 I realized that all my daydreams involved _teachering_ archeaology, not actually doing it, and that really, the teaching part was what was interesting, and if that were the case, I might as well teach high school, since that was a heck of a lot easier to to into. From there, English seemed the most obvious choice–it was always my favorite class. I now teach high school English. And I really love my life. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/45 "2006-12-14T01:23:37Z")
No, when I was little I wanted to grow up to be Gerald Durrell and travel all over the world having adventures and collecting animals for zoos. Then as a teenager I wanted to be a journalist. Eventually my career aspirations came down to “do not want to work in a cubicle”. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/46 "2006-12-14T01:58:10Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Yeah, pretty much. I always wanted to be a teacher. After 10 years in the private sector, I finally went back to school and followed the dream. The jury’s still out on whether or not this was a Good Thing. 😃 [/QUOTE] Me, too. ---
**Author:** ![MrJackboots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/47 "2006-12-14T02:36:57Z")
I wanted to be a pilot. I didn’t need to be a fighter pilot or anything; I would’ve been perfectly happy flying passengers around, or even cargo. I mean, they _pay_ you to _fly_! And to go to _airports_! In _different countries sometimes_! I didn’t even know that pilots get paid quite a bit; I would’ve slept in the plane if they fed me (though not airline food, unless I got to fly Japan Air Lines, which had the tasty food). Sadly, I am not a pilot. I am a professional computer herder. I started being noticably nearsighted around the time I was 12, enough to be outside the commercial-pilot requirements by the time I had to consider ROTC (if the Air Force would even let me fly). I got LASIK, but I’m told it’s expensive to get credentialed privately, so eh. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/48 "2006-12-14T03:32:41Z")
Not by a long shot. When I was little, I hated writing, and I despised commercials. And now? I write commercials. When I was six I wanted to work at a gas station. Everyone in the 70’s was complaining about how expensive gasoline was, so I figured those guys must be raking in the dough. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/49 "2006-12-14T03:32:43Z")
I wanted to be, or aimed towards all of the following - each time, something happened to prevent me from doing it: astronaut singer French teacher Interpreter Translator Professor (Political Ethics) Foreign Policy Analyst Knowledge Manager Now I’m studying towards being a career counsellor to help people not follow the kind of convoluted career path I have followed. In the meantime I do library stuff or records management stuff. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/50 "2006-12-14T03:45:15Z")
from the age of 2 or 3, I wanted to be a Broadway Star (I blame Shirley Temple movies - I mean if she could dance and sing…) I took theatre classes in high school, majored in theatre in college, took voice lessons after that, did a lot of community theatre. I have (and have had for the past quarter century) a desk job that involves no acting of any kind. I do, however, sing with a Sweet Adelines chorus, so every now and then, my inner Diva is satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/51 "2006-12-14T03:56:50Z")
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cartoonist and a video game developer or computer programmer. I also wanted to own the car from The Dukes of Hazzard and have all of Superman’s powers. My hobby is an independent animated film which will _eventually_ be made, I work on computers all day in the printing field, I own the car from The Dukes of Hazzard (hence my username), and my super powers are…pending. So, I’m pretty close. So far, I’ve mastered the vulnerability to kryptonite. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/52 "2006-12-14T04:47:23Z")
I always wanted to be a doctor. _Looks down at white coat and checks neck for stethescope._ Yep-still boring and predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/53 "2006-12-14T04:52:44Z")
Does _anyone_ want to be a clinical trials coordinator when they grow up? I’m still “growing up,” though, I guess, because I’m going back to school to become a nurse sometime next year. There were times in my youth when I wanted to be a nurse. However, I spent most of it wanting to be a teacher or an actress, and those are right out–I no longer want to do either. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979/54 "2006-12-14T15:26:51Z")
Pretty damn close. For awhile, I wanted to be a _Mooooovie_ Star, but I’m actually damn glad that didn’t happen. I’m a chic New York “career girl” (yes, I’m _that_ old), living by myself in a glam apartment, and I write about old movie stars. If you told me when I was a kid that was actually to be my future, I’d have been thrilled. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-what-you-wanted-to-be-when-you-grow-up/383979.md?page=2)