What Did You Want To Be When You Grew Up?

Ps76 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:31 am

Hi!

Apologies for another thread but just thought I'd ask people who are older what they wanted to be when they grew up when they were young. Did your dreams come true? I had two dreams when I was a teenager. One was to be an engineer living in San Francisco or San Jose with a wife and kids like my cousin. The other was to be a film music composer as I'm really into film music. I worked in film music for a bit and have an engineering degree but I never really achieved either. I'm a bit like my brother in that we have wild dreams but not as wild as my bro. He was obsessed with becoming a fighter pilot like Tom Cruise in Top Gun. He's now a cleaner in a gym but I'm still proud of him.

Many thanks,

Pierre

tz757300 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:39 am

A Pilot of some sorts

darthluke12694 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:42 am

My dream was to be an airline pilot, but I decided not to do it because of the salary, working conditions, etc. So now I'm currently in college studying to be a meteorologist, and hopefully that "dream" comes true.

September11 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:08 am

I did want to be a school principal.

einsteinboricua · Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:12 am

I wanted to be a pilot, but unfortunately it's too expensive, so I'm pursuing my second passion which is meteorology, although it's a minor and my major is computer engineering. I expect to continue graduate studies in meteorology however.

Quoting darthluke12694 (Reply 2):
So now I'm currently in college studying to be a meteorologist, and hopefully that "dream" comes true.

Surprise surprise...where are you studying and what level (undergrad? grad?)?

DeltaMD90 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:14 am

An airline pilot... in pilot training in the Navy now. 10 or so years then I will hopefully be hired by an airline (hopefully Delta!)

darthluke12694 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:47 am

Quoting einsteinboricua (Reply 4):
Surprise surprise...where are you studying and what level (undergrad? grad?)?

I'm an undergraduate student and I go to Westen Kentucky University. I also plan on furthering my education in meteorology and get my masters degree once I get my bachelors degree. I don't currently have a minor, but I'm thinking about minoring in leadership studies.

[Edited 2012-06-29 19:49:13]

Cadet985 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:06 am

I wanted to be a soldier. That dream was killed by an injury when I was 17. Then I wanted to be a pilot. That dream was killed when I found out the costs. So I went to school for journalism. That dream has been dead since I've sent out 2000 resumes with no response. I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life. I'm 26.

Marc

DeltaMD90 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:17 am

Quoting Cadet985 (Reply 7):

I wanted to be a soldier. That dream was killed by an injury when I was 17. Then I wanted to be a pilot. That dream was killed when I found out the costs.

I feel for you... I loved my short time in the Army and am now in aviation... I take it the injury you got prevents you from all branches of the military?

kiwiandrew · Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:22 am

I wanted to be happy..... and although I haven't quite grown up yet (after all, I'm only 48) I am pleased to report that I am indeed happy ... some childhood dreams do come true

Ken777 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:57 am

My original thoughts were to be a doctor - when I was young (elementary school) I was impressed with how they could help others and wanted to do that.

Then the reality of medicine hit me - a mountain of "stuff" to memorize and I don't have that great a memory.

Closest I got was my only (provisional) patent was in the medical field.

Cadet985 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:59 am

Quoting DeltaMD90 (Reply 8):
I feel for you... I loved my short time in the Army and am now in aviation... I take it the injury you got prevents you from all branches of the military?

Yeah. I have a bunch of other conditions that I had waivers for, but when lingering leg and lower back pain was diagnosed as 3 herniated discs, no branch of the military would take me.

Marc

zrs70 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 4:35 am

A progressive rabbi! After 4 years undergrad and 5 years in rabbinical school, I was ordained in 1997.

YVRLTN · Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:18 am

I didnt know what it was called, but I am doing what I always wanted to do - send cargo all round the world by truck, planes and ships. Its fascinating, but some (most...) days I wonder there was a better way to make a living!

FlyboyOz · Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:20 am

a pilot... but cos of my eyesight problems

AirPacific747 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:39 am

I wanted to be an airline pilot.. And now I am indeed an airline pilot flying the A32X series based in Ukraine. I am considering a two year contract in South East Asia, but right now I am studying at university as well and I really want to get at least a bachelors degree as well.

Max Q · Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:50 am

Professional Motocross rider, Rock Star, Commercial Diver, Policeman and a few others.

Then I took my first introductory flight at 16 years old and I knew all I wanted to do was be an Airline Pilot.

Six years later I was one.

I would do the same thing again, no regrets.

vc10 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 9:16 am

I always wanted to be a merchant ships's Deck Officer and as a teenager I actually got an offer of a cadet officer, but my mother refused to sign the consent forms in the end. She was not going to allow her baby boy to be taken overseas by rough old seamen.

My next big interest was aeroplanes and so I stayed on at school so as to get an Apprenticeship in airline engineering and a few years after completing this apprenticeship became a F/E for the rest of my career. I often thank my mother for not signing those forms as I really did enjoy my life as a F/E.

With that said I still look fondly at cargo ships and I am driving "her in doors" mad as I keep suggesting we go on a cargo ship cruise.

Revelation · Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:25 pm

As a youngster, I wanted to fly a helicopter. I just loved the idea of being able to hover. I literally had dreams of me hovering over my neighborhood, looking down at everything going on. I had found a book at the local library that explained the rudiments of flying a helicopter, and after reading that, I had this recurring dream where I'd find a helicopter sitting idling in a field, I'd run up to it, and know exactly how to fly away in it.

Like many here, the dream never became a reality due to poor eyesight. I was in high school as Vietnam was ending so there was a huge surplus of helicopter pilots, so there also was next to no opportunities.

The closest I came to that dream was via becoming a glider pilot. If the wind conditions are right, you can point the nose of your glider into the wind and just hover. It's a fabulous experience because it's so quiet.

Luckily for me, I fell in with a bunch of ham radio types, and that built my interest in electronics. I went off to college to become an electrical engineer. I did get my degree in that, but along the way I found my interest in computer science. I never really became that comfortable with electrical engineering, and was told I'd probably need to go to grad school to get where I wanted to go, yet I already felt computer science was quite interesting and quite rewarding, and it still is today, many moons later.

DeltaMD90 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:59 pm

Quoting Cadet985 (Reply 11):
Yeah. I have a bunch of other conditions that I had waivers for, but when lingering leg and lower back pain was diagnosed as 3 herniated discs, no branch of the military would take me.

I feel for you... I have a few good friends that were medically disqualified. Also, my sister is one of the smartest people I know but has a journalism degree and was let go from her job

I'd keep looking when the economy bounces back... there are still some very reputable magazines that may start hiring, or even a news network... good luck

jetblueguy22 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:20 pm

When I was young my father had owned a moving company. I remember looking at all his trucks and thinking that being the boss was the coolest job in the world (after all my dad was the boss!). I wanted to do that until I was bout 8 years old and I went to visit my mom's boyfriend (now husband) for the first time. The NW pilots brought me into the cockpit and were making some alarms go off and I just fell in love. So here I am 11 years later in flight school to become a pilot!
Blue

ScarletHarlot · Sat Jun 30, 2012 4:01 pm

Quoting kiwiandrew (Reply 9):
I wanted to be happy..... and although I haven't quite grown up yet (after all, I'm only 48) I am pleased to report that I am indeed happy ... some childhood dreams do come true

What a wonderful way of looking at life!!

Not surprisingly for someone on here, I also wanted to be an airline pilot. In high school my choice came down to going to Seneca College for pilot training or to the University of Waterloo for math. I was thinking about being a Chartered Accountant until I worked for an insurance agency as a co-op job in high school, and one of the agents suggested that I look at being an actuary. In the end I chose to study actuarial science at Waterloo. I didn't finish my professional exams (although, I am closer to a designation than I realized, and should really take the one last course to finish) and I don't work as an actuary, though I do work in pension consulting - and I love it.

I don't entirely remember why I chose not to be a pilot, except that I know I was concerned about being able to physically do the job. I get motion sickness and disorientation easily.

flymia · Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:34 pm

First when I was really young it was a doctor, too bad I didn't stick with that

Besides for a professional sports player I think the next one was airline pilot. That lasted for a while and still now I think about how it could happen one day etc.. But really with the working conditions and pay these days i will settle with flying on my own.

Then I was looking at law enforcement, mostly federal special agent type and that is still a possibility. I'm now in law school and hope to use my law degree for something I enjoy. I am surprisingly enjoyinglaw school more than I thought I would and find learning law and now with an internship at a federal agency applying it to be fun and rewarding. What I do with it when I graduate I do not know. But its crazy how many different ideas and plans I had through the years.

WestJet747 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:26 pm

When I was 5, I wanted to be a janitor...yup, a janitor. I can assure you my parents were thrilled with that

Well I snapped out of that sanitation dream fairly quickly and for many years I wanted to be a parademic. I can't recall exactly why, but it was definitely a dream.

After I got bored of wanting to be a paramedic, it shifted to journalism, which stuck around for a long time. I eventually became the Editor of my highschool's student newspaper. I also shadowed local journalists for my careers classes. But while I was doing all of this I was also participating in business competitions in my spare time (purely out of wanting to please my father, who is a expert in the procurement field). So without surprise, when it came time to apply to university, I applied to both journalism and business programs.

Today I'm about to start my fifth, and final, year of my business degree, with a specialization in management. I'm hoping to eventually become a management consultant. A far cry from a janitor I'd say

AF1624 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:42 pm

I've always wanted to be a pilot. I still do in some ways. But I was (and still am) shit at Maths and that was the end of it for me. In France, you can't (or rarely can) be a pilot without going to either of two schools: the ENAC or the Cadet Air France. Both require deliriously high levels in Maths.

I then chose a much more realistic way and went to study economics. Then management. Then project management. Now I'm a project manager in a big european defence company. So quite close to my dream, that is, flight. I want to stay in the business as long as I can. Anything that flies is good for me, be it airplanes, missiles, rockets, satelites, whatever.

But still to this day, I sometimes get tears in my eyes (even though that sounds silly/childish/stereotypical) when taking off. It bothers me very much and very deeply that I couldn't make it, and that I was so young and so oblivious about the fact that decisions you make at 15, 16, have an impact on your whole life. But oh well, I'm happy now.

AirPacific747 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:57 pm

Quoting AF1624 (Reply 24):
I've always wanted to be a pilot. I still do in some ways. But I was (and still am) shit at Maths and that was the end of it for me. In France, you can't (or rarely can) be a pilot without going to either of two schools: the ENAC or the Cadet Air France. Both require deliriously high levels in Maths.

Quoting AF1624 (Reply 24):
But still to this day, I sometimes get tears in my eyes (even though that sounds silly/childish/stereotypical) when taking off. It bothers me very much and very deeply that I couldn't make it, and that I was so young and so oblivious about the fact that decisions you make at 15, 16, have an impact on your whole life. But oh well, I'm happy now.

You could get a JAA certificate at a British or American JAA school then? It would be possible for you if you just have the money. You must have a sharp mind already considering your educational background.

Funny, in my world, it bothers me that I 'only' became an airline pilot and didn't study economics for five years instead.. The exact opposite of you.. That is why I am studying economics at the university now.. Not sure if I am good enough at math though, haha.. I am okay at mental arithmetics, but not pure math..

DeltaMD90 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:13 pm

Quoting AF1624 (Reply 24):

Ever consider going to another country? Not too sure about the details of it all, but I know of some pilots that will go to Asia a few years to fly and come back... unless you want to stay in France

Quoting AirPacific747 (Reply 25):
Funny, in my world, it bothers me that I 'only' became an airline pilot and didn't study economics for five years instead.. The exact opposite of you.. That is why I am studying economics at the university now.. Not sure if I am good enough at math though, haha.. I am okay at mental arithmetics, but not pure math..

I studied Criminal Justice and I got pilot lol. A degree over here is mostly a check in the box to become a pilot

AirPacific747 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:24 pm

Quoting DeltaMD90 (Reply 26):

University or even high school is actually not required here, but it's your own money at stake in case you find out you don't have the abilities anyway. My school required me to take a two day test at the air force though, and also required that high school was completed.. A good thing if you ask me.

[Edited 2012-06-30 12:25:50]

texan · Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:07 pm

Quoting kiwiandrew (Reply 9):
I wanted to be happy..... and although I haven't quite grown up yet (after all, I'm only 48) I am pleased to report that I am indeed happy ... some childhood dreams do come true

I dreamed of a couple of things: 1) 2B/SS in the major leagues; 2) be involved in aviation without being a commercial pilot. Didn't become a major leaguer, but I've been doing #2 for a decade now in various capacities, the last couple as an aviation lawyer. And I absolutely love it!

Texan

northstardc4m · Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:13 pm

Lets see in order:

Train Engineer
Pilot
Architect
Pilot
Civil Engineer
Pilot
Airline Dispatcher
...

And somehow I ended up in IT?

futureualpilot · Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:48 pm

For as long as I can remember, all I wanted to do was be an airline pilot. Now that I am one, it's not as great as I hoped for but it beats working for a living and I can't imagine doing anything else.

PHX787 · Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:51 pm

I wanted to be a lot of stuff as I grew older.

As a kid I wanted to be a construction designer/architect/heavy machinery operator.

Going into 8th grade I was really into aviation and wanted to be a pilot for DL. I also wanted to start my own airline out of CVG

As a freshman in high school, I wanted to be more of a musician, and going into my junior and senior year, that turned into designing, producing, and writing Japanese anime.

Freshman in college i decided i didn't like working on the major I was in, and became really interested in international politics, so now I'm studying to be a diplomat or trading company person....

obviously I'm just going through college

extspotter · Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:54 pm

I wanted to either be an Air Traffic Controller or a Vet or Doctor. By the time I got to doing my A-levels I realised I hated Maths, which you have to study to become an ATC, so I applied to Med School and got a place, however didn't do well enough in my A-levels to take the place. I am now training to become a Biomedical Scientist (specialising in Microbiology), which seems to be going well. Just two years and I will be qualified and accredited. Maybe I'll become a doctor some time in the future, at the moment my goal is to become a Consultant Microbiologist. It gives the best of both worlds, being a doctor with lots of responsibilities, but not particularly patient-facing.

flymia · Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:37 am

Quoting texan (Reply 28):
the last couple as an aviation lawyer.

Thats great, That is certainly something which I want to try to find myself getting into.

Quoting extspotter (Reply 32):
I realised I hated Maths, which you have to study to become an ATC, so I applied to Med School and got a place,

You don't need to take math courses to go to medical school in the UK? Or you just did not like it. Here in the U.S. the math is much more difficult to get into Med-School than to become an ATC. But I would imagine math while ATC is much more difficult than any math while being a doctor.

aloges · Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:32 am

I don't really remember, to be honest. So I suppose that it changed rather frequently.

Anyway, I did once dream of becoming a pilot. Now I do something else which also involves a lot of flying, but longer layovers - all things considered, I think this job is nicer for me than pilot would have been... and I can still train to fly gliders anyway.

QXatFAT · Sun Jul 01, 2012 6:00 am

As a kid I wanted to be either a professional soccer player or a famous chef. I did get to play college soccer so at least I made it to a point where I was happy!

I know as a kid my grandfather had his own turkey ranch and had it for Foster Farms. I absolutely hated going out there and helping him as a kid while my parents were on vacations or they needed to just watch me. My brother was really into it and loved driving the tractors and such. I wanted no part of that industry and have many pictures out on the ranch while my brother was in his Levi's and white shirt and I was there in my Polo's and kakis. 15 years later...

....I have now been in the industry 6 years and worked my way up to not only working in poultry, but doing animal nutrition for dairy, equine, and companion animals (dogs, cats, birds). Never could ask for a better job! Thanks Grandpa Jack. You made me a very successful person.

Superfly · Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:33 am

I wanted to be a pilot for American Airlines flying their 747-100 or a British Airways Concorde pilot.
Thanks to some bean-counters, that is no longer possible.

View Large View Medium
Click here for bigger photo!

GBLKD · Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:51 pm

Batman!

Seriously, I wanted to drive these

And now I do. Picture taken a few weeks back waiting to load 22 tonnes of compost to deliver to a garden centre in Banbury.

Getting unloaded a few hours later

Next goal is to take my CPC freight national exam and to work towards owning my own truck.

[Edited 2012-07-01 08:53:56]

Kaphias · Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:25 pm

I absolutely wanted to be a car designer from when I was a little kid al the way up through 6th grade or so. But with a growing love of airplanes and the school system pushing math/science related careers, I started looking into aerospace engineering. That stuck around until the end of 10th grade, when I took a few computer drafting classes and realized that I really need to do something creative, and less math/science based. I dabbled with architecture for a bit, not really wanting to commit to it in my head, as I knew I was getting to the point where there would be no more changing... but after taking a drawing class my senior year and spending some time as an intern in architecture firms, I really felt comfortable and excited to being studying architecture at university. So that's where I am now, looking forward to getting accredited and starting to rid the world of buildings designed by idiots.

rampart · Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:56 pm

Prior to middle school (13 years old), I wanted to be...

1) Bush pilot.
2) Architect.
3) Own my own airline. A small one (offshoot of #1 above).
4) And way back, a gas station attendant.

At 13, I wanted to be Han Solo. Something about middle school, teenage angst, and a need to escape reality. Jazz musician closely followed.

-Rampart

T[email protected] · Sun Jul 01, 2012 6:12 pm

An author or writer.

Now I work in an airport tower.

If I write stuff there which I've made up myself, I'd probably be risking my job...

[email protected]

PITingres · Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:36 am

Growing up I was pretty sure I wanted to do something related to electronics; I got my Popular Electronics subscription for my 8th birthday.

Then, on my first or second day at college (CMU), I sat down in front of a TSS-8 terminal (that's a PDP-8 running Edusystem 50 for old-timers) and was immediately hooked. I've been telling computers what to do ever since.

DocLightning · Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:21 am

1) Pilot
2) Inventor, which turned into...
3) Engineer
4) Cosmologist
5) Lawyer
6) Doctor (which is what I am)

Superfly · Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:19 am

Quoting PITingres (Reply 41):
I've been telling computers what to do ever since.

Can you tell the servers at A.net to accept all of my photos?

Just kidding!

Quoting DocLightning (Reply 42):
1) Pilot
2) Inventor, which turned into...
3) Engineer
4) Cosmologist
5) Lawyer
6) Doctor (which is what I am)

In a way, you turned out to be all 6.

PHX787 · Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:00 am

Quoting Superfly (Reply 43):
In a way, you turned out to be all 6.

I would never trust Doc to be a lawyer

Ken777 · Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:52 am

Quoting flymia (Reply 33):
But I would imagine math while ATC is much more difficult than any math while being a doctor.

I think it would depend on the speciality. Docs do need to understand medical statistics as that is part of understanding meds as they are released.

Other specialities work in a math intensive field. Radiation oncologists would be one.

Quoting PITingres (Reply 41):
I sat down in front of a TSS-8 terminal

I wonder how many folks sat down at a Trash 80 back then and became immediate addicts.

Quoting PHX787 (Reply 44):
I would never trust Doc to be a lawyer

We have one in town. An OB-GYN guy who decided that if he was going to be in that speciality he should know the law. Went to law school while practicing. Not only a very good doc (the women love him), but also does mediation from time to time.

Just remembered, my Oral Surgeon also went to law school, but that was mainly out of curiosity.

I just think that part of their studies were simply related to some very, very high intelligence.

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