Growing Up - What Did You Want To Be?

March 4, 2010 2:51pm CST
Can you remember when you were a child what you wanted to be when you grew up? I was thinking about this because at the age of 11 I made a time capsule and put in it everything that was important to me at the time. When I opened it up at christmas (20 years later) there was a little figure of an astronaught, and that's what I wanted to be back then. Outer space fascinated me but I never got to live out my dream, i became a real estate agent instead! How about you, what did you want to be when you grew up, and did you achieve it?
2 people like this
21 responses
@freeboy90 (456)
• Italy
4 Mar 10
I remember since early age I wanted to become a doctor, I can't remember why but I really wanted to, and that went on for quite some years, I have chose my school to start that kind of career, then since I couldn't probably send suffering people all day with blood all over their bodies, i changed to veterinarian, then for a year I was fascinated by the movies world and dreamed to be an actor, then I grew up a little more and put my feet on the ground and now my goals are different :)
1 person likes this
4 Mar 10
That's an interesting combination. If you don't mind me asking, what are your goals now?
1 person likes this
• Italy
4 Mar 10
I'm studying to probably enter in a psychology faculty that is the field where I'd love to work, about the specializzation I will have time to study and decide what I like the most....
1 person likes this
7 Mar 10
Good for you, I hope it all works out well for you :)
@CarmenA (127)
• United States
4 Mar 10
I remember when I was in the 5th grade, I wanted to be a lawyer. I just knew I would be a lawyer. Once I made it to about the 10th grade.. I totally changed my mind about going to law school. But it was a neat dream I guess.
1 person likes this
• Canada
5 Mar 10
Hello beautyfactor! Oh my!! what a great idea that you had a time capsule !!! Im thinking all kids should do this. My parents were quite conventional and I was brought up to be a wife and/or mother. So I never wanted to be anything else. Oh of course as a teenager, I was hoping to find a very rich husband and spend the rest of my days shopping Well it didnt quite happen that way and Im glad it didnt in a way, I would have hated to be married to the rich man I had an eye on as a teen....!!! AND, happens that I hate shopping!!
7 Mar 10
I hate shopping too, but I still think I could manage a rich husband! LOL! Thanks for posting your response.
5 Mar 10
What a great question. When I was in primary school all I wanted to do was write. I wrote lots of stories and my teacher said I had a vivid imagination. Then when I went to secondary school, creative writing wasn't encouraged. I was good at English Literature and put my efforts into studying other people's writing. After school I was busy working and bringing up a family. In my spare time I still do a little creative writing. Recently I have started to think about that childhood ambition and at the moment I am considering taking a correspondence ccourse or online course in creative writing to see if I'm any good or just deluding myself!
@namiya (1713)
• Philippines
6 Mar 10
louisefrank, i admire people who have inherent writing skills. why not find ways to pursue it despite being busy with family activities?
5 Mar 10
What a great question. When I was in primary school all I wanted to do was write. I wrote lots of stories and my teacher said I had a vivid imagination. Then when I went to secondary school, creative writing wasn't encouraged. I was good at English literature and put my efforts into studying other people's writing. After school I had a variety of jobs and did a little writing in my spare time. It's only recently that I have thought about that childhood ambition and at the moment I am considering taking a home-based or online creative writing course to see if I'm any good at it or just deluding myself!
7 Mar 10
Thankyou! If you have the time then I would certainly commend you for doing a course. A little bit of self doubt is all it takes to ruin a dream. if it's something you really want to do then persuit it and I wish you every success.
@Tambunan (28)
• Indonesia
5 Mar 10
When I was growing up I wanted to be an Archeologist... I thought. What I was really interested in was skeletons which I'm pretty sure is not archeology , but anyway. I used to go out hiking with a friend who also had the same interests. When I was 11 a wildfire burned hundreds of acres near my house. We spent the weekends exploring the scorched terrain and collecting any bones we found, then cleaning and studying them. We found whole coiled up rattlesnakes and bob-cat skulls. These rare pieces we kept in glass aquariums in our bedrooms. Now that I think about it, it's pretty sick. I'm surprised that people actually let their kids hang out with me.
7 Mar 10
That's not sick. I would have loved to have hung around with you huntig for bones and stuff.
• Philippines
5 Mar 10
wow. i think we're so related. because when i was like 6 or 7 years old, i want to be an astronomer. and i'm so much interested with the outer space that time. i studied science so much when i was 6 or 7. i also think of becoming a teacher since i was 4. when i thought i want to be an astronomer, i imagined i could be both. at 14, i decided i want to be a model. but at the same time i also wanted to be a flight stewardess. and until now i still want both. :)
7 Mar 10
Related...well maybe we could be mylot sisters or something. Astronomy still fascinates me but we never studied it much in school, maybe if we had then things could have taken a different turn for me.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
4 Mar 10
beautyfactor no I didn't achieve it but at my advanced age I am still' pursuing the idea of being a published author. I have written a lot but have not sold any yet. But I am still trying and now hoping to write my autobiography and someday have it published for real money. I love to write and have been often told I am very good at it. However its not easy to breakinto the publishing world and sell your works.But I must write as I cannot not write anymore than I could stop breathing. its just part of me now.I am journaling right now and hoping to start on the novel soon.
7 Mar 10
I know! I've always fancied myself as a bit of a writer but I think it would be such a difficult field to break into. Have you ever thought about self publishing?
@mymelodake (1338)
• Philippines
5 Mar 10
Growing up, I remember how I wanted to be a doctor. I even wrote it on my 6th grade yearbook. When I hit high school, I guess I still wanted to be a doctor, but my mind was more open to other possibilities. One day, we had this field trip to a medical school, and they had all these exhibits. The science exhibits were awesome, and I enjoyed them, but then came the cadavers. Yes, they even showed us the human cadavers they've dissected and I was sooo grossed out. The smell of formaldehyde was so nauseating, I couldn't stand it. I was also weirded out by how the college students nonchalantly handled their cadaver exhibits. After I got home, I made up my mind that I didn't want to be a doctor anymore. Sure enough, I didn't become one. I picked computer science instead in university as that was what I was most interested in, but now, what I do is web and graphic design, and I also help out in our family business.
7 Mar 10
Wow, How old were you when you saw the cadaver exhibits? That would have been enough to put anybody off becoming a doctor!
• Philippines
5 Mar 10
Cool! I never thought of making a time capsule when I was still a kid. When I was a child, I dreamed of being a (drum roll) doctor, actress, singer, chef, restaurant owner, and flight attendant. None of those came true though. I was pretty much close to proceeding to medicine. I'm a nurse now. Well, at least, it was still in the medical field. If time and money allow it, I would like to study more and be a surgeon ! Happy MyLotting!
7 Mar 10
A nurse, that's a great thing to be. I could never do it...too much blood for my liking! We made the time capsule as part of a school project so I cannot take credit for the idea, but I'm glad we did it now.
@namiya (1713)
• Philippines
6 Mar 10
I want to be an artist. I love to draw then, but financial reasons had been a deterrent in pursuing this dream and ended up with a totally different course in college. This has affected the quality of effort i put in my studies. My consolation however is that my youngest son sort of inherited my growing up dream and is making a reality of it. He is bound to graduate this April.
@junil_jk (496)
• India
5 Mar 10
there are several things that i wanted to be when i grow up. but the one and only that i strongly wanted to be and influenced me most - i wanted to be a footballer(soccer player). i played lots of soccer for many years from my childhood till i was well grown up. it was my life and passion and it was the only thing i wanted to be seriously. but lack of support from my family and developing myopia in my eyes(i wear glasses) stopped me from becoming one. i love the game so much and follow teams and players around the world through tv and the net. now guitar has become another passion and i'm learning hard on my own how to play it. hope i can become a good guitarist sometime soon!
7 Mar 10
Hi and thanks for your response. I am sure if you put as much passion into the guitar as you have for football you will be strumming away effortlessly very soon.
@nykel88 (999)
• Philippines
14 Mar 10
Haha bringing the thought of that time capsule I didn't know where I put my stuff and it all got lost. I didn't bury it or anything. My bad. Anyways I still remember what I wanted to be.. I'd be a Hollywood director but now it seems I haven't even come close to do videos. I'm just intrigue about technical stuff especially videos.
• Philippines
5 Mar 10
when i was a kid, i was inspired by the movie "Armageddon" so i really wanted to become an astronaut. sadly, when i grew up, i've realized that theres no school here in our country that offer a course with a relation to my ambition hahaha.. now im taking up hotel and restaurant management since i discovered that i have hands for cooking. i really miss being a kid! do you? :)
7 Mar 10
Yes, I miss being a kid. Nothing seemed impossible back then, all you get with adulthood is responsibility and a realisation that you need to work to pay the bills. Sometimes your dreams just have to be dreams and life just keeps getting in the way!
• Philippines
5 Mar 10
I wanted to be a Vet back then, well, actually until now I still do, but I ended up being a CPA instead. hehehe. If I get the chance to study again, without thinking about my expenses then I would probably do it. I think it is really important to follow your dream, but of course, think about practicality at the same time. hehehe.
@wishuluck (233)
• Lithuania
5 Mar 10
to be honest I can't remember what i wanted to be while I was little. when i was a bit older I used to say that the only thing i will never study is Economics. And that's the thing I finally end up studying :) funny as it is..but finishing the high school I finally realized that that's what is really interestng to me. As my studies are done now, I'd love to work as a macroeconomist, but I'm a real estate agent at the moment instead. hope to end up in what i really want to do one day :)
• India
5 Mar 10
ya i can remeber that . right from my childhood i was aiming to become a doctoe . but at my high school when i was nearing my final exams that i realised that i dont want to be a doctor and i decided to become an engineer . now i am doing my engineering degree in a famous university . but i feel that my childhood dream was not achieved . my parents were also expecting that i will become a doctoe but at the important time certain things changed my thinkings and i got into the other way .
• India
5 Mar 10
I wanted to work with robots and now I'm aspiring to pursue robotics from some reputed university around the world after completing masters in mechatronics and bachelors in information technology.Currently I'm working as a junior research fellow.
• Philippines
5 Mar 10
Oh, I wanted to be a lot of things, and there's no specific ambition I had when I was a child. I remember I wanted to be a saleslady, coz they're all pretty and surrounded by pretty things in the mall. hehehe ;) Then later on, I wanted to become a manager of a mall. I also wanted to be the traditional ambitions like doctor, nurse or teacher. Then I wanted to become a businesswoman or an accountant. But I find math difficult. I hard a hard time deciding on what course to take when I'm about to enter college, and I ended up taking nursing. I'm a nurse now and the rest is history. ;)
@ET28LV (1890)
• Latvia
5 Mar 10
Good question, when i was a kid I wanted to be a fireman, because I liked all the movies with fireman's and his work. Over the years i wanted to be something else, almost every year, my thoughts changed. I wanted to be airplane pilot, racer, cosmonaut. But then in one Christmas Santa Claus brought to me, and placed under the Christmas tree army base with all figurines, cars, tanks helicopters. And the end I wanted to be a army man. But now i am bigger, and thinking to study for cooking profession.