What do/did you want to be?

[DoctorP]

When we were young, many of us had dreams of joining a particular profession some day...be it a firefighter, poilceman, professional athlete, whatever. What I am asking is what was your dream? Did you achieve it? If not, are you glad, or do you still wonder what could have been?

Here's mine: First I wanted to be a policeman. Then as a teen I wanted to be a DJ. Then I hoped to be a pro golfer.

I never attempted to be a policeman (rather glad) but I did serve the military which I view as the same thing. I worked as a DJ for 7 years and became quite successful, but it was too much sitting around for me...maybe I'll go back to it some day. Pro-golfer? I only played a little in college, then took a different path...was I good enough to make it...maybe...regrets? Yeah, a little, because I believe I could have competed. Maybe someday I'll try the Senior Tour?

But now I'm happy with my job, operating a power plant, repairing things that others break, etc... I'll change again in the near future, but I'm happy with where I am...how about you guys?

 

[Mike Cash]

I remember one of my teachers in junior high school sitting me down and asking me what I would like to be. I told her I would like to be an engineer.

She told me I would need to study algebra, calculus, trigonometry, physics, geometry, etc etc etc.

And I sat there thinking, "All that just to drive a damned train????"

 

[Flashjeff]

Well, I had two dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up. My first ambition was to be----a trashman! Ever since I a kid, I was (and, to an extent, still am) fascinated with trash trucks. During summer vacation, I would follow the trucks through the neighborhood on pick up day (Wednesday) and would be absolutely transfixed thinking what a super cool job that would be. When I told my mom about my unusual ambition, needless to say she wasn't too terribly thrilled with career choice and, um, politely steered me away from that.

My second ambition wasn't as filthy: comic book artist. A huge fan of comics, I was wowed by artists from the 60's and 70's like (I forgive you if none of these names are familiar to you) Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Sal and John Buscema, John Romita, Gene Colan, Joe Kubert, Jim Aparo, Carmine Infantino, George Perez and John Byrne. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, and I tried for years, I couldn't draw to save my life, and that saddened me greatly, and eventually, I had to give up on that ambition as well.

In 1976, not quite knowing what I wanted to do with my life, I joined the Navy, which turned out to have been quite a turning point since I wound up in Japan while the service gave me a career which I stuck with for 20 years. These days, I toil away in the Federal government as a personnel clerk, hardly exciting, but it pays the bills, and that's all I care about these days.

 

[ullvarg]

As a kid I whanted to work with electronics, didn't realy know what feild of electroniks, but still.
Now I'm a electritian and I hate it 5%of the job is fun, the rest is just ****, witch is why im leaving for Japan to get a degree so i can be a enginere or something, get away from the shity part of the electritian job and just konsentrate on the fun stuff.

P.S. The fun stuff is the electronics stuff and the shity stuff is pulling cabels and stuff like that

 

[GoldCoinLover]

ull, thats a nasty signature, LOL

I don't know what I want to do. I'm 17 now, when I was younger I wanted to be a surgeron (I'm still very interested in the medical field, but a 3.2 GPA probably wont get me into med school), and once I found out how hard it is, I douted I could do it.

Then I wanted to study physics, I like physics concepts, and I go to a physicsforum, except the people there bash me for not undrestanding the 'math' behind the physics when talking about it. Not sure if thas what I want to do either

More recently (But ive always loved flying) I wanted to be an airline pilot. I recently had the chance to speak to one here, and he told me, again, a very difficult job. Im also interested in forensic science as well, I wanted do this too. Maybe work at coca cola? That'd be fun too, I'm a huge soda drinker

I've been interested in japanese since I was in karate at age 7, and learned how to count 1 to 10 in japaanese at this age.

I thought maybe a translator for video games, but ive gotten basically all people saying I couldnt do it, etc. And that i have a long ways to go (Probably do, but still isnt encouraging).

What I DO want to do, however, is move to japan once i get a BS.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

From the time I started watching cop shows on TV....

I wanted to be a SWAT sniper. Took 2 years of Law Enforcement Tech. at school and worked the streets for a year as patrolman. I finally figured out a SWAT situation would come up about every five years in a small crime free town if that often. I let dear ol dad talk me into quiting the force and joining his company and that was the end of my dreams.

Frank

☝

 

[silver angel]

Well, I'm 18 and I've switch career choices about 2-3 times ever. When I was in grade 4, I wanted to be a marine biologist, but I don't enjoy the sciences very much...In high school my strengths were music and art. I was a huge anime nerd back in the day and that got me started on drawing and strengthened my knowledge of colours. It was a tough choice deciding on going to the school of music or the school of art...Now that I'm in Art school I hope to become either an animator (stop motion, CG or 2D) or a story board developer/artist. I still love animation, just not japanese animation (except the old school classics).
My absolute dream is to work for PIXAR, but wee's see's...

 

[Kinsao]

I had quite a few dreams, and although I'm getting old, I still haven't given them up!

I want/ed to be a singer.

 

[Pachipro]

As with alot of kids I wanted at first to be a fireman. I used to love to watch the fire trucks go by in Brooklyn, New York when I was a kid and would run down to the corner everytime I heard them coming. Then one day when I was about 15 I visited my uncle in Maine by myself. I went by bus. He arranged to have me come back to New York in an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer rig that was delivering a few bus stops from my house. I was just fascinated by this...driving around the country and getting paid for it. This is what I wanted to be as I knew I would not be going to college as I didn't like school.

My dream was still driving a big-rig. However, circumstances led me into the military at 17 and over to Japan where I stayed for 4 years until they told me I had to either get out or re-enlist as they wouldn't allow me to stay in Japan any longer and I so much wanted to stay in Japan.

I heard about a university in Tokyo that was taught in English, applied, was accepted and took an in-country discharge. Then I wanted to be a big time businessman. Circumstances led me to work for The Bank of Tokyo on Wall St. in New York. Good position, but I soon became disillusioned with that and the low salary and returned to Japan a year later to start my own English school. Driving a big-rig was still there, but I thought, "Hey, I'm an educated man now. That's no job for a person with a college degree."

With skyrocketing housing prices in the late 80's I decided it would be better and cheaper to live in the states and I would be a businessman which I thought I would enjoy. However, driving a big-rig was still there.

I worked for a Japanese company for eight years that made conveyors for the automotive industry. Even though I had an excellent position and salary and a good future, I hated every minute of it after about a year. The stress, travelling, deadlines, budgets, meetings, dinners with clients, forced golf on the weekends, overtime, office politics, etc. finally got to me and began to take its toll on me, but I figured I was stuck there as "I'm an educated man with a good salary and position." I remember staring out the window at the big rigs that would pass by and wondering where they were going and wishing I was doing that.

My brother, who was driving a big-rig at the time kept telling me how much he was making, but I did not believe him as I thought the pay was small. One day I asked to see a pay stub and was shocked to find out how much he actually was making. Hell, it was not that much less than I was making and I was making alot!

I arranged to get a license and he got me hired at his company and I have never looked back. That was eight years ago. Today I am happier driving a big-rig than I ever was in any job I ever had. This truely is my dream job and where I belong for the present, and it was something I wanted to do ever since I was a kid. I look forward to going to "work", if that's what you want to call it, (to me it's a hobby I get paid for) whereas I would always think of ways to get off, or think of schemes to call in sick, anything to not have to go that place when I worked in an office. Today they have to tell me to take my vacation or I'll lose them after a year.

As my signature says........

 

[Da Monstar]

I don't really know what I'm good at.
I heard there was really good money in being a realtor here in Denmark. Though I don't think I will find it funny I think I will try that one out. then I can work for a couple of years and earn big money, and then quit and do something fun afterwards.

Currently my dream is to be a pro Fighter. It's fun and its easy. It's nice to train the body and becomming stronger, and if you're lucky you can become a celebrity (just look at Bob Sapp, A really bad fighter but acknowlegded by most of the world, and most important in Japan)

Also I believe my dreams of being a lead singer or guitarist in a band is about zero

 

[Duo]

My dream... EU commissioner

 

[Pachipro]

Currently my dream is to be a pro Fighter. It's fun and its easy. It's nice to train the body and becomming stronger, and if you're lucky you can become a celebrity (just look at Bob Sapp, A really bad fighter but acknowlegded by most of the world, and most important in Japan)

Bob Sapp used to play college football with Brigham Young University (BYU) or the University of Utah (I cannot remember which) and was very good. He was set to be drafted by the NFL. I think his manager or someone told him that he could make good money in Japan by being a wrestler. He went on a whim and the rest is history. Maybe he is a bad fighter, but he made his fortune in Japan. With not knowing a single word of Japanese he became an overnight sensation in Japan and is very rich today because of it. He was even featured on a pachislo in Japan (slot machine at pachinko parlors) last year. See attached photo

 

[sadakoyamamura]

My primary schooling started in a school run by nuns. I remember I was about 6 or 7 when I was decided on becoming a nun. Then I transferred to a public school and that's where I began to see other things. I wanted to study psychology or psychiatry after graduating from high school but my mom wanted me to take up another course and being the dutiful daughter that I am, I followed her advice. Something that I haven't regretted doing because I'm happy where I'm standing.

 

[Da Monstar]

nice to hear that your happy where you're standing. That's an important thing in life.

Yeah Bob Sapp has really onde most of things. Even featuring in movie projects like Izo and The Longest Yard and more. I guess he had a very lucky life, being where the sun shined at exact that moment. It could be nice if things worked out like that for everyone.

 

[Clawn]

I have no clue what in the world I'm going to do, seeing as I'm still very young. But I do know that I could excell at almost anything I wanted to try out. Stuff just comes naturally to me. ^_^ I could be anything from a lawyer to a surgeon to president of North America (it could happen!). I have extremely high grades, can argue a point, can understand just about anything if I want to, and am extremely optimistic (the glass is FULL dammit!).

The only problem I have right now is, I want to do a lot of things, a whole lot of things. I've thought about going into the clergy (yeah right), starting a crime ring, rising to power in one of the world's more powerful governments, flying an airplane (kick @$$ job if you ask me), being a teacher (runs in the family), being a pro-wrestler (greco-roman, not WWE), being a lawyer, becoming a surgeon (which is very possible, I have no qualms over living organs in front of me), being a field reporter, working for the US govt, having the US govt. working for me ( ), starting a new religion, becoming British, being a scientist of some sort, going into psychology or psychiatry (sorry for misspellings), becoming a writer, living in a tree while making cars that run off of hydrogen (and only produce water and air), working with computers (programming), becoming a comedian, becoming a bodyguard, joining the army (paratrooper), developing weapons that have no need for a direct human pilot (remote operation), developing cures for diseases, being an astronaut, building things (bridges, planes, buildings, telescopes, airships, ships, space vehicles, monuments), singing, making a band, forming a choir, forming a legion of bagpipes to play at my funeral (imagine it, hundreds upon hundreds of bagpipes, as far as the eye can see!), creating (i don't know what), becoming a magician, becoming a pro Magic: the Gathering card player, and working for some cause that could help animals or the human race (such as finding a way to make edible plants grow in harsh conditions, or building massive above and below ground cities to house the populace, or we could build floating cities, 10 x 5 miles big, 3 levels, lowest for power generation, waste disposal, anchoring, and other devices to keep the oceanic city in place, middle level would consist of housing, some businesses, train system, and some other stuff, top level would consist of airport, power generation (solar), food production (fishing, fruit and vegetable growing, and on-board populations of animals), school, and some buildings used for business, operation, etc.)

As you can see, I think too much for my own good. But I have time left to dwell upon the matters of working life, and I'm quite positive that I'll find something or other to keep me occupied.

 

[Mike Cash]

I think Clawn has watched "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" one time too many.

 

[Clawn]

I think Clawn has watched "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" one time too many.

Actually, I've never even heard of it...

 

[DoctorP]

Bob Sapp used to play college football with Brigham Young University (BYU) or the University of Utah (I cannot remember which) and was very good. He was set to be drafted by the NFL. I think his manager or someone told him that he could make good money in Japan by being a wrestler. He went on a whim and the rest is history. Maybe he is a bad fighter, but he made his fortune in Japan. With not knowing a single word of Japanese he became an overnight sensation in Japan and is very rich today because of it. He was even featured on a pachislo in Japan (slot machine at pachinko parlors) last year. See attached photo

He played at the University of Washington! He was drafted by Chicago, and then bounced around a bit...he never lived up to his potential in the pros and was cut loose! That is when he started wrestling...and it turned out ok for him. Many former pro football (US) players who either don't make it or become injured turn to wrestling to pay the bills.

 

[Apollo]

When I was a little girl, I wanted to become a vet because I loved (still do love) animals....
Then, in the early 1990s, I wanted to become a lawyer because of the TV series "L.A. Law."

But....I ended up studying history and politics because I became interested in those subjects in high school.

Since university, I have shifted from external lecturing, to communications in museum and ministeries to a consulting business in an internationally well-known consulting firm.

 

[Duo]

That's the thing... people end up doing stuff that are not really related to what they studied for or took an initial aproach to, life can take you in the most unexpected directions

 

[Apollo]

That's the thing... people end up doing stuff that are not really related to what they studied for or took an initial aproach to, life can take you in the most unexpected directions

so true!

 

[Mike Cash]

Actually, I've never even heard of it...

Watch it. You'll identify with it strongly.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) - IMDb

Oddly enough, it seems there is a remake in the works:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) - IMDb

 

[Hyde_is_my_anti-drug]

When I was young I dreamed of being a Ballet Dancer. But that dream was never meant to be. I don't have the right body for it, and injuries and set backs led to my dicission to quite. My choices after that were Voice Training or Acting. I chose Acting even though I don't plan to make it my life-long profession. I want to sing but not in this country. So I plan to Act until I can get out of here.

 

[sadakoyamamura]

@Clawn:

Too much going on in that young head of yours. Seeing that you're still age 5 , you have all the time to choose among the things you mentioned, what you want to be... So I wish you all the best.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

@Clawn:

Too much going on in that young head of yours. Seeing that you're still age 5 , you have all the time to choose among the things you mentioned, what you want to be... So I wish you all the best.

How the hell could someone who's 5 write that?