What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to follow in my parents footsteps either be a teacher or a lawyer
My mom taught 5th grade English, but I realized I didn't have the patience teaching
My dad was a lawyer early on I was fascinated by what he did. I applied at a local law firm to be a 'gofer' in the late 70's early 80's along with 5 other people,we worked in the mailroom We basically did everything for them e.g deliver their mail,got their lunches, filed papers at different courts,moved their furniture{too cheap to hire professionals} I was there for 2 1/2 yrs ,learned how a law firm operates,the pay was lousy.. I seriously thought about becoming a paralegal decided against it
 
Did you ever try writing? Like a book or a novel or even take a stab at writing your own soap episode just for fun?
I actually wrote a lot of stories and poetry between the ages of 12-19. I took second place in the Daughters of the American Revolution writing contest 2 years in a row. One year the topic we had to write on was why should we vote.

However, I got married at 18 and had my first child at 19. By 25 I had 3 kids and at 31 started college and obtained a few graduate degrees and was working so of course my life took a different path.
 
Like most boys in the late 60s, early 70s, my wanna-be changed daily, Rock and roll star to Astronaut. But with my Dad being assistant chief of the VFW, Fireman always was in the top 10. Then in 1972, the show Emergency 51 premiered, and was watched religiously every Saturday night. I was always involved with the FD and recoined when I became old enough to be a junior fire fighter, and took the states EMT program at 16 even though I couldn't get certified until 18. After a short Army stint, I stumbled back into the VFD and by a twist of fate, I became a Paramedic, retiring from the same service after 36 years.
 
No aspirations. At age 16 until 18 I trained to be a retail butcher by an old German butcher. After high school graduation I had a job ready to start right away with a Kroger grocery store. I couldn't envision doing the same job everyday until I could retire. Joined the Navy, even with travel to different Navy bases boredom set in. Did a lot of jobs between the time I got out & when I retired early with an awesome retirement package. As I look back I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been born when it was possible to change jobs when boredom set in.
 
I remember at school we had to do a Vocational Guidance Test, this was when we were getting ready to leave school at age 15. It seemed silly as we had to gaze into a page of various coloured balls which morphed into various numbers. Then they got you to fill in a form stating what you would like to do for an occupation. My results came back that I could be suitable in the Police Force, Nurse or a Photographer??? What a load
of rubbish. I eventually became a Dictaphone Typist although I'm sorry that I didn't pursue the Nursing profession.
 
I wanted to be preacher to impress my dad who conveniently avoided presence and interaction with family.
 
From the time I got my first telescope at 8 or 9 years old, my head was almost permanently facing up to the sky. I wanted do something that involved space/astronomy etc. As I grew up and tuned in to what was happening - I set my sights on working for NASA. That was further refined when talk of the Space Shuttle program began.

I had it all planned out - I would be graduating college just in time to be swept into NASA as they were ramping up the Shuttle program. Long story short - one day as a freshman in college I walked past a room with a sign that said "Academic Computer Center". Curious, I opened the door to peek in. Suddenly there was a great whooshing sound as I was sucked inside - never to escape.
 
I remember at school we had to do a Vocational Guidance Test, this was when we were getting ready to leave school at age 15. It seemed silly as we had to gaze into a page of various coloured balls which morphed into various numbers. Then they got you to fill in a form stating what you would like to do for an occupation. My results came back that I could be suitable in the Police Force, Nurse or a Photographer??? What a load
Our high/secondary school had done away with that test. So when I went to junior/community college for a few years after high school to try to figure out what to do with my life, the college did offer that test. I took it and flunked it; I knew it was bad when the guidance counselor giving me the results started off with, "Now I don't want you to get upset..." She said the results showed I didn't have an aptitude for anything so they recommended that I either get married or join the military. So marriage being out of the question--I couldn't even get a date for prom (senior year dance)--and I didn't want to join the military, I became an office slave 'till I retired.
 
Any aspirations?
A survey was taken in 2019 of US, UK and Chinese children.
Almost a third of the children surveyed said they wanted to be a vlogger/youtuber when they grew up. 11% said they wanted to be an Astronaut.
In order, UK/US children voted vlogger/youtuber - teacher - professional athlete - musician - astronaut.
56% of Chinese children voted astronaut as their first choice with vlogger/youtuber being the least popular.
A nurse or a teacher. There was no online anything and no phones except the ones on the wall or on the table. And there were only 3 channels on tv and it went off the air at 10 pm.
 

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