What did you want to be?

[sqbr]

I have an idea for a poll (inspired by this one and it's comments), but first need some data. So: what career(s) did you seriously consider in your youth? Lets say school-age, 5-17, since before that you're too young to know much, and after that you've plausibly started actually training for it. Any extra interesting information you feel like adding is welcome :)

Myself? In order: Writer, teacher(from early childhood till I did work experience as a teacher in year 11 :)), actor/comedian, astronomer/theoretical physicist (which lasted until my first astronomy lecture in second year :/)

Plus lots of vague ponderings that didn't last long.

And of course I got to combine a lot of these working at Scitech, which was fun for a while but reaffirmed that I do not, in fact, want to be a teacher or actor. Doing My Phd, and my webcomic, have somewhat satisfied the writing bug too.

Comments

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

Significant absence of clue until about 16 when I wanted to become a constitutional lawyer. That didn't change until after your upper age limit.

One of my sisters OTOH was apparently born wanting to be a nurse and did become one as soon as was humanly possible.

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

What am I talking about? Bad memory. I seriously considered geologist and meteorologist (crushed by parental disapproval of remote occupations); biologist (crushed by bitter biology teacher who hated being a biology teacher); vet (crushed by James Herriott books' vivid descriptions of calvings in muddy conditions).

Depite being a horse tragic, contemplated but never seriously considered working with them because even at age 8 I knew it would be impractical. Pony books conceal many dark secrets.

[alias_sqbr]

Heh, yeah, I grew up on James Herriot and thus never went through the "Wouldn't it be fun to be a vet?" stage :)

[fred-mouse.livejournal.com]

and yet, I read lots of them, and it didn't put me off at all

[alias_sqbr]

That's because, unlike me, you might actually have wanted to really be a vet, rather than having vague ideas that it might be fun to play with animals all day :)