What Did You Want To Be When You Grew Up?

[TeddyBearCowboy]

Simple question…. when you were real life little and a child growing up, what were your aspirations or dreams of who you wanted to become?

 

[LittleAndAlone]

Computer and electronics engineer. I was into it when I was 5-6, and was etching my own circuit boards and learning DOS and x86 assembler when I was in like 3rd or 4th grade. I had to be the smart kid that rejected the shackles of poverty and degradation I was born into without a say and be the one who got the last laugh when I got older. "How Do You Like Me Now?" might as well be my theme song. I do genuinely enjoy it regardless.

These days I do datacenter network architecture and infrastructure. Would love to teach microprocessor architecture and design or something as a side gig. Love this stuff. Love seeing the click in people's faces as I ruin the magic and hand them the keys to the universe.

 

[Tommy10]

A radiologist. I broke both my arms twice, my hip, and a leg, all before the age of 10, so I got to know a few of them and thought what they did was cool. But, life happens, and I now enjoy being a machinist. Funny how things turn out

 

[TeddyBearCowboy]

A radiologist. I broke both my arms twice, my hip, and a leg, all before the age of 10, so I got to know a few of them and thought what they did was cool. But, life happens, and I now enjoy being a machinist. Funny how things turn out

Oh wow, a radiologist isn’t something I would have expected.

 

[ChrisChris]

i didnt want to grow up :/ but i ended up going to school to be a automotive mechanic

 

[Pelusos]

Archeologist, antropologist.

 

[greatlake5]

Just like many kids I wanted to be a fireman. Then as I grew up I wanted to be like my dad (studied accounting, graduated law school and is now a CEO). I didn't want to go for law school so I went to grad school and got a MBA degree. After working for my dad's firm I moved to another state
(I live on the west Lake Michigan's dunes). I bought a small business (thanks dad). I like my work and I enjoy the lake.

 

[IncontinentArtist]

An artist. Always and for ever. Since I was able to talk that what I has always been. It took 28 years (January 2016) to start pursuing it and another 7 after that to start disciplining my self and being serious with it. I don't regret not starting it earlier because I learned a lot of important and vital lesson along the way. Some were hard and expensive but if you learn something from them it's worth it.

 

[littleFeathers]

Dolphins always interested me and I thought I'd go into marine biology/cetology. One semester in high school I wrote three reports all on dolphins for different classes. I got information from several oceanographic institutes I might attend.
But, sigh, by that time I already had a job in what we now call IT and was speeding down that career track.

 

[Seasonedcitizen]

Sixty years ago I wanted to be a scientist. That door of opportunity was never found.

 

[PaddedCub]

Veterinarian!!

 

[lilSorcerer]

A bounty hunter.

 

[Edgewater]

I first wanted to design building, but fell in love with the structure and then into the wider field of Mechanical Engineering, which has turned into a life of learning. Educated and life long, Mechanical Engineer has lead to a life of travel and creativity.

 

[dogboy]

I always wanted to be a musician and create music. By the time I was 10, I knew I wanted to be a church organist. I loved the power of a pipe organ. It was like playing an entire orchestra so that is what I pursued and accomplished. I've never regretted it even though I've never made a lot of money. Wednesday I played a community Lenten service and was surprised when they stayed for the postlude and applauded. That is a thrill.

 

[Sealander]

Happy.

I don't think I was ever set on a specific career. I remember becoming convinced around middle school that work could be really tiresome if you didn't find something you enjoyed doing. So I tried to do well in school so I could have the option to get by doing something I liked rather than just pursue money. That is more or less what I am doing with my current career path, although now that I am an adult I do sometimes regret not going after the big bucks.

 

[ade]

Simple question…. when you were real life little and a child growing up, what were your aspirations or dreams of who you wanted to become?

Big and strong.....but I also didn't want to grow up; see enough of what adults are really like (overgrown, bratty, drunken 13 year olds ) and it puts you off.
The film, Geordie (as from the perspective of him as a boy) was my only real inspiration for my aspirations. Things like 'careers' and 'well paid jobs' don't apply to us; it's just, leave school as soon as possible and get a job to put food on the table.

 

[ElPulpo]

Garbage collector. I was hugely impressed by the mighty compactor vehicle.

 

[gmate1713]

How has no one said video game playtester yet?
I grew up being more intellectually mature than average. It made it absolutely impossible to socialize, since kids couldn't keep up with me, and adults treated me like I was... well, a kid. It didn't help that I didn't understand irony or humor for a long time, especially the concept of making fun of yourself. It led to me resorting to violence as a way to express myself.

The only way for me to have fun was to either play board games or video games, and I couldn't do the former by myself. I didn't like anything else to the same extent. And once I saw a professional game tester on TV, I knew that's what I wanted to do. I hated school and only wanted to play video games for the rest of my life.

... and now I'm studying to become a teacher while also heavily cutting back on gaming. Life happens

 

[ade]

Garbage collector. I was hugely impressed by the mighty compactor vehicle.

That was what a lad school, whom I've previously mentioned, wanted to be
Not sure if we had the compacting wagons in the 70s, though

 

[Cottontail]

As a kid, my interests fluctuated between electrical and software engineering. I was playing with Radio Shack electronics kits in kindergarten, but I wasn't the type to follow directions, so I tended to blow things up and burn things out, and then I'd get discouraged and put them away for a while. I got really into video games when I was about ten years old, and shortly after that became interested in making my own. With that goal in mind, I taught myself to code on various platforms (mainly Mac and Amiga) through middle school and high school, turning out a steady stream of crappy mini-games.

My interest in games faded a bit during college, but my general interest in software development held on. I also ended up rooming with an electrical engineering major who rekindled my interest in electronics. I left college with a bachelor's degree in computer science and minors in both information systems and electrical engineering. And years later, somewhat by accident, I ended up working on an operating system for a game console. I now do both software and hardware development for a small electronics company, basically combining my two main childhood interests.