What do you want to be when you grow up?
Thursday, October 11th, 2007 - 5:18pm
Based on QS's comment in the "Who were you going to be?" thread, I was inspired to ask these questions:
1) What did you want to be when you were a kid?
2) Did you end up in that profession?
3) If you could choose, what would be your choice of profession now?
I'll start.
Among other things, fighter pilot was up there when I was a kid. I would have seriously pursued it, were it not for my terrible eyesight.
If I had the choice today, fighter pilot would still be up there, provided my eyesight was not an issue. Aside from that, commercial pilot, chef, soldier are among the ones I'd select.
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Beer For Ben
I'll be honest, I thought I'd be dead by 18, so I didn't plan much and just enjoyed what I had. I don't know why.
Then I got to 18 and thought I'd never make it past 20.
I'm 27 now and I really don't regret anything. I guess I'd like to learn to play guitar or something. Maybe live off the streets, playing and earning cash for a meal =)
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
1) When I was in third or fourth grade, I wanted to be a vertebrate paleontologist. Dinosaur bones hunter.
2) No.
3) Emperor of Earth!
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
I always wanted to be an "artist." But it's something I could not pursue no thanks to my useless family. I never got back into drawing and such until college.
I hope to complete school one day so I can choose a profession that involves "art." I have no intention of changing my goals. The question is whether or not I can reach them. My growing list of health problems is putting me in the "I'm wasting my time and should expect to work at McDonalds for the rest of my life" camp.
I wouldn't switch to something else if I had the choice. My only regret is starting too late.
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I wanted to bang Linda Carter. Well, given my age at the time I'd probably have only wanted to suckle at her ample teats, but it had something to do with Linda Carter.
Rock Band Name Generator!... too funny to merely be coincidence.
"Truly, this mishap has set back the swamp sciences several years." - H.P. Lovesauce, lamenting a tragedy.
1) Astronaut, no question about it. Eyesight was the early disqualifier for that (sound familiar?).
2) Nien.
3) Well, astronaut if I could swing it. Otherwise, I waffle between my current position (software engineer), marine biologist, and an anthropologist.
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When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a writer. In fact, I still have the first "novel" I wrote, back when I was 11 (and I'm still convinced it would be a huge best-seller if published. After all, if R.A. Salvatore and Dan Brown can do it...
).
After seven years of being told I'd never make it as a writer, I embarked upon an ill-suited but entirely un-regretted degree in physics. Once graduated, I looked at my degree, giggled a little, and went off and became a writer anyway.
I've never been as happy as I am now, and I wouldn't change anything for the world. But a little tiny part of me misses all the del operators and Lagrangians. (I stamp that part down with booze. I am, after all, a writer.)
"Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, Kat. You." - Haakon7
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When I was a kid I wanted to be either a marine biologist or a veterinarian. I came kind of close since I'm currently a veterinary technician. I may decide to go to vet school, but if I don't I'd like to open a parrot sanctuary.
Ouch, I have lost myself again
Last.fm
1) What did you want to be when you were a kid?
"I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech." When adults used to ask me what I wanted to be, I always said I wanted "to be myself," because I was as much of a pretentious bastard then as I am now. I might have actually been worse. There wasn't anything I really wanted to do. I wanted to be respectable morally, and I wanted to be independent.
2) Did you end up in that profession?
Kinda? I guess?
3) If you could choose, what would be your choice of profession now?
As near as I can tell, my talents and interests slot me either working with my hands at some bottom rung, or in just about any profession after I'd have "put my time in" and done all the crap work folks spend the first 10 years of their careers doing. For example:
People have said I might like teaching or some sort of counselor or religious position, but there's no end to the crap folks have to deal with in those fields.
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With a pistol in his hand!
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
1) Fighter Pilot
) and so I got a degree in Management Information Systems (with a CS minor so I could take just the programming classes). As it is now, I'm too much in the Information Systems and not enough in the Management. 
...which leads in to...
1a) ...begot Aerospace Engineer begot (insert the start of college here) Electrical Engineer begot Computer Scientist.
2) Computer Science was too much math (i.e. too hard
3) If I could choose, I'd be a producer in one of the entertainment industries, preferably Interactive Entertainment. If I won the lottery (i.e. money was no object), I'd probably choose something lower stress but still mostly in an "enabling creative people to create" role - like running a bakery.
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"1) What did you want to be when you were a kid?"
Trolley-bus driver. I loved the cool flip switches for opening doors, the closing cabin and the giant wheel.
"2) Did you end up in that profession?"
Um... no.
"3) If you could choose, what would be your choice of profession now?"
Game designer.
Shelter: 11/08 gameplay: Youtube version, annotated
1. Luke Skywalker... from there it transformed into rocket scientist
2. Yeppers
3. Wouldn't change my career, I pretty much nailed what I wanted to do since I was wii lad (either by luck, divine intervention, or maybe hard work -- I suspect a little a bit of all 3)... though maybe when I retire I'd like to dabble in archaeology.
The game design field has come up a few times. I'm imclined to agree, but I bet that it, like most things, isn't quite as great as I imagine.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
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1) Neurosurgeon, but have you ever looked at how long one is in school for that? By the time I was in high school, I was way too lazy for that much schooling.
2) Ummm, no. Not even close.
3) Current goal involves degrees in economics, business administration, and law. Then land a spot in the legislature, and change some things starting with public education (which is just all sorts of dumb around here).
Although I have a sudden urge to take up writing. . .
You might try some freelance submissions. I've met a lot of folks who started that way. Get your name and work out there while still working a day job.
*Legion* recognizing greatness wrote:
1) Fighter Pilot, nothing like shooting down people and scream YEEEHAAAAWWW JESTER's DEAD! The quote where i got my first handle...
2) No, did all sorts of wierd jobs while goofing around till applied myself after i met the perfect girl and now i have become a minor cog in sector seven G. But the money is good, the work place is air conditioned and i dont work weekends.
3) If could have anything.... i would take 1 million dollars in cash and park somewhere i could live off the interestin some remote area that has FIOS and just game the rest of my days away or basicly do whatever i wanted to do forever. I hate working for money and one of these days i might get off my lazy ass and open my own business but watching my pop thats ALOT of work but then you dont have to adhear to the dress code
As far as getting to be a fighter pilot.. that was never going to happen due to my heart issues, but i am aiming to get my pilots liscense and then build my own airplane. Currently all my money is focused into getting my wife and I a nice house here in TX. After I'm going to start full time to become a pilot and building my airplane! Once i get it built i will offer free rides to any one who trusts me
Xfire: Pharacon
Tempest says: "A team hat doe snot communicate and talk to each other about what the next move will be is going to lose."
Mex is my hero = "f*ck it, I'll do it. WE'LL DO IT LIVE."
1) Game designer.
Still trying!
2) Not yet
3) Game designer.
I've been pretty single-minded about this since I was 12 or so. Came REALLY close with an absolutely lucky break, but it wasn't quite lucky enough.
I had submitted a remake/remix/upgrade of an older game as part of my portfolio to Bethesda.. not realizing the producer of the original had recently switched to that company. Word of it apparently got to him, and that got me an interview, and I *thought* it went really well... but all I got was "we like you for a new project, but we want to hire the senior staff first, poke us in 6 months."
Frustrating part is, that MAY even be the best I could have gotten (after all, what they said COULD be true, evils of HR aside; it even fits with what I knew about the position and company), but I don't know and won't until January. sigh.
Sorry, didn't mean to go into that much detail, but that whole affair still bugs me deeply.
Not knowing what the best possible result was makes it stab me lightly on a daily basis, wondering if I screwed up something that could have had me doing what I wanted right now. :/ Argh.
Good luck on the pilot's license. I got mine earlier this year. It's a lot of fun. I'd love to build my own plane, but the money, hangar space, and time I don't have.
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Beer For Ben
then you should check out the airplane i am building, in total it comes out to about 30-60k depending on how over the top you go. It's a four seater and does 1500 miles on a tank of gas?
Plus seeing how your building step by step you can go as slow or fast as you can afford. I dont know if you want a 4 person plane but they also have one that is a two seater!
http://aircraftspruce.com/catalog/kitspages/cozy.php <--- 4 seater "Cozy"
and google a Long-EZ for the two seater, i do not think you can purchase the plans for the Long-EZ but they have a project going that is called Open-EZ which is an open source aircraft based closely on the long-ez.
Xfire: Pharacon
Tempest says: "A team hat doe snot communicate and talk to each other about what the next move will be is going to lose."
Mex is my hero = "f*ck it, I'll do it. WE'LL DO IT LIVE."
Wanted to be Dennis Leary... still do rofl
but now, I'm not much of an asshole, more of a Dry Cleaning person... can't really argue over it...
Now I'm trying to be a Graphic Designer... will be up in Boone, NC to get some learning done in 2 months
-Zedified-
1. Detective/FBI agent until I was 13, then programmer(software engineer).
2. Yup, I'm a software engineer who surfs GWJ all day long.
3. Well that's the tough part, I currently have three paths/dreams:
a)Stay as a software engineer, I'm a natural programmer and I'm charismatic enough to climb the corporate ladder. I just have to put in alot of face-time to get to where I want and possibly go pick up my masters. Director of a game design team. Preferrably the HCI(human-computer interaction) part, as I started taking some grad level courses in it and worked for a professor who specialized in it.
b)Go to law school to become an intellectual property lawyer that specializes in software/internet law. I took the pre-LSATs while finishing up my CS degree and found out that I'm pretty good at the LSATs. Just have to take the test and go to law school in a year.
c)Become an FBI agent. Have to be accepted into each of the tests and pass them. I meet the requirements as I am now.
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MMO Aliases: Jozak or Ezzamar
When I grow up, I'll be stable.
When I grow up, I'll turn the tables.
Ba-ba-ba-ba... ba-ba-ba-BA... ba-ba-ba-ba... ba-ba-ba-ah-ah...
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tits || gtfo
1) writer, teacher, camera guy, journalist, game journalist (in that order)
2) not yet
Maybe I will, maybe I won't but hell if I haven't tried. When I tell someone about my dream, they usually get that "yeah well, good luck" look. Normally this would put me down since I'm kinda weak like that, but in this case I get all "just u wait..." on their asses. We'll see...
3) Game journalist, in dutch, with Escapist/GWJ standards. Bring dutch gaming journalism up to par. Not sure how yet, though. Working on it asides dayjob.
Roo: "Just to cheer you up if any of the above made you sad: Boobies."
Koning_Floris, on my online 'skills': "Stinking is a skill too!"
Content.
"Even though that place should only be fifteen or twenty minutes away geographically, in actual practice - between the hours of four and seven - Redmond might as well orbit the Earth." - Tycho, Penny Arcade
1) Paleontologist, NFL player, FBI agent, Marine, Mountain man.
2) Nope
3) Pretty happy where I'm at. Make 25K for only 6 months of work, most days are pretty positive, I get paid to hike some days, and I'm not stuck in an office too often. Not sure about the law enforcement side, I'm getting tired of dealing with dirtbags.
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1) When I was a kid, I wanted to be either a zebra or a dog catcher. No, I'm not being goofy. I always dreamed of being a zebra. And I wanted to be a nice dog catcher who would rescue pets and return them to their homes.
2) No matter how drunk I've ever been, I've never been able to become a zebra. And no dog catching either, sober or otherwise.
3) Right now, I'm in the middle of making up my mind about this. I withdrew/resigned my clergy position (which was completely unpaid anyway), and have been trying to decide where I go from here. That's a whole different story, though!
"All great truths begin as blasphemies." - George Shaw
Bloodhoof (Horde): Nefetyra, Velaeda, Eolian ~ Baelgun (Alliance): Ambris, Jenovel
Blackhand (Alliance): Jenovea, Ivywyrd, Corvyn
1) Wanted to move to the U.S. full-time, start a company and get rich
2) 2 out 3 so far
3) I'd like to get to 3 out 3 at some point.
"This is way, way more bad boy than you're gonna be able to handle." - Tommy Gavin on Rescue Me.
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1) What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Until the Space Shuttle launched, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Then I wanted to be an astronaut. Eyesight, height, and a lot of other stuff killed that.
2) Did you end up in that profession?
Nope. I went to school to be an astrophysicist, but discovered that academia takes almost as much politics as my Young Republicans group. Ungood. Did two years but then got married and had the boys. When I came back and finished I switched to Comp Sci and took a technical certification in AutoCad at the time. Got a job for an architectural firm doing data base design and custom CAD programming using LISP. Been a software developer ever since. Have also done stints as a technical writer, a project manager, and as a graphic artist. Right now I'm an applications developer by day, and do writing and webmastering at night.
3) If you could choose, what would be your choice of profession now?
I'm in ship mode right now so I'm a little under-enchanted. I'd still be coding. Just not on this )@&$%! project.
Once the kids are raised and somewhat out the door I'm looking at either going into writing full time or going back to school for games design. My credentials are creaky old and mostly oriented on client/server rather than on desktop applications like games. And I don't want to end up doing the same old same old, just for a games company rather than where I work now.
When I really grow up my goal is to be the weird old lady in the big house with the high hedges at the end of the block that all the kids think is a witch because of the weird blue lights that flash from her windows at night and the odd sounds. I want enough room to keep the grandkids out of my minatures and to keep a couple Irish Wolfhounds. I know cats are traditional in this case but I'm allergic.
Duoae wrote:
Why think about what was?
Concentrate on what is and what will be.
Hatchet Job - intelligent and irrevent gaming discussion.
So you want to be the costume designer lady from The Incredibles.
Shelter: 11/08 gameplay: Youtube version, annotated
Heck yeah! I was imagining the weird blue lights and the noises coming from me having all the time in the world to play videogames all I want, but having a laser in my sewing room would also rawk.
Duoae wrote: