What did you want to be?

[BenjiMac]

When you were a kid and the world was your theoretical oyster? We're not necessarily talking about early childhood, but perhaps your first big aim - and did you make it?

I'll start - no, I didn't make it :(

But as a child of the 80's and a teenager of the late 90's - early 00's, I grew up with that opening sequence from Top Gun burned into my brain and I seriously an dgenuinely wanted to be a naval aviator.

As I got older, I took a seriously look at this until it turned out I was seemingly incapable of studying hard enough.. turns out Tom Cruise and his oily friends failed to point out that actual pilots have to be not only well educated but constant target acheivers (I am neither) to even make it to training, training which drops recruits like 2016 drops celebrities.

Of course, I also had to come to terms with the fact that as a Briton even if I had been successful by some miracle, i'd get nowhere near those sweet F-14's and huge, well stocked aircraft carriers.. but would instead be consigned to Harriers operated from the Invincible class carriers that were coming to the end of their life cycle. The bitterest pill is that Invincible class vessels had no sweet steam catapult, instead a ski jump.. which is way less cool.

Though I won't knock the Harrier.. exemplarary British engineering that thing.. possibly the last truly great thing we came up with.

 

[Printimus]

Playing with legos as a kid (even today i still play), I always wanted to be an architect. I would build up these massive buidings with abstract and gothic architecture and dream about the geometry of all the shapes working together.

 

[Ill-Tempered Monkey]

Though I won't knock the Harrier.. exemplarary British engineering that thing.. possibly the last truly great thing we came up with.

Idk, the Challenger Tank is a world class piece of armor. :)

I too, wanted to fly, however, I was not able to because of my uncorrected vision was too bad. So I was a grunt...

 

[Texelis]

Always into music, played in a band in school. We got good and played lots around town and a bit abroad. Had Sony come talk to us about a deal. Then shit went sideways, people dropped and died from drug overdoses... full on broken rock band story.

 

[Snakey]

When you were a kid and the world was your theoretical oyster? We're not necessarily talking about early childhood, but perhaps your first big aim - and did you make it?

I'll start - no, I didn't make it :(

But as a child of the 80's and a teenager of the late 90's - early 00's, I grew up with that opening sequence from Top Gun burned into my brain and I seriously an dgenuinely wanted to be a naval aviator.

As I got older, I took a seriously look at this until it turned out I was seemingly incapable of studying hard enough.. turns out Tom Cruise and his oily friends failed to point out that actual pilots have to be not only well educated but constant target acheivers (I am neither) to even make it to training, training which drops recruits like 2016 drops celebrities.

Of course, I also had to come to terms with the fact that as a Briton even if I had been successful by some miracle, i'd get nowhere near those sweet F-14's and huge, well stocked aircraft carriers.. but would instead be consigned to Harriers operated from the Invincible class carriers that were coming to the end of their life cycle. The bitterest pill is that Invincible class vessels had no sweet steam catapult, instead a ski jump.. which is way less cool.

Though I won't knock the Harrier.. exemplarary British engineering that thing.. possibly the last truly great thing we came up with.

well, dont put me off! I'm studying hard to become a raf airman, well by hard i mean terribly lol.

whats wrong with the ski jump! its like russian roulette but for carriers!

 

[marcsand2]

Fighter pilot

 

[Carlos Spicyweiner]

I wanted to be an astronaut from the start. My aunt told me that when Alan Shepard went up in 1961, I cried as I watched it on the 19" black&white TV. She thought it was out of patriotic pride(I was 4), but when she tried to comfort me, I told her I was crying because I wasn't the first astronaut(competitive spirit, CHECK!). After that, I was unstoppable! I learned to read specifically so I could read about airplanes! I saw my first Air Force dress uniform when I was 6, and swore I would wear it one day. I continued to devour everything I could on aviation, and pestered my parents for an airplane ride until I got one at age 12(I'll never forget the pilot, she was in her 50s and chain smoked throughout the entire flight, which I thought was illegal!)Continued to read and learn, at 15 I knew the exact emergency procedures to follow in the event my B-17 bomber ever lost 2 engines due to flak or fighters(still do!), so I got that going for me!. Anyway, all that reading and studying made me mostly blind so flying was out of the question, and flying was the key to being an astronaut. But I joined the USAF as a jet engine mechanic, and that was pretty cool. Close, but no cigar.

 

[hardroc77]

Me? I just wanted to be around machines. Take them apart. Put (try to) them back together. Still do. Never made it to engineering college. Got a minor degree in HVAC, which allowed me to be a building engineer so I still got to play with pumps, chillers, VAV and energy management systems. Now I'm a cook in a local school system after ten years of being a stay at home to raise my boys.

oopps. too much info there.

 

[hardroc77]

instead a ski jump.. which is way less cool.

IDK. Eddie the Eagle made ski jumps seem kinda cool.

But I joined the USAF as a jet engine mechanic, and that was pretty cool. Close, but no cigar.

Never forget. Most of the Flyboys, who will always get a salute from me, couldn't balance a turbine blade or balance a new tire on the jets landing gear. The Mechs are as important to the cause as anyone. It's a team effort. With out you they don't fly. And having skilled mechanics leaves the pilots to clear their minds of any worries of the planes function and do their job.
Well done, Mech. Well done!

 

[Jolly_Green_Giant]

I'll keep this short, but I see a few of us shared the same dream. I went to an airshow when I was a little kid and met the Blue Angels, sat in the cockpit of an F-18 and fell in love with the idea of being a fighter pilot. Turns out once high school hit, I thought a social life was more important and I found out I was math retarded. I could to the math in my head but didn't have the focus to show my work or do the homework. I mean, I "visited" the Air Force academy and am enlisted in the USAF currently, but no pilot. Soon I too will be a professional bum. We have around 70 fighters on our base at the moment, and although the pilots love flying jets, apparently the other BS they have to do makes the job not worth it to a lot. It sucks so much that the Air Force is offering enlistment bonuses close to half a million dollars to retain their pilots, so I guess we lucked out. Glass half full.

 

[Blind Owl]

Playing with legos as a kid (even today i still play), I always wanted to be an architect. I would build up these massive buidings with abstract and gothic architecture and dream about the geometry of all the shapes working together.

Fighter pilot

Both of these things. Architect and pilot. When neither worked out I went for 3D animation, but discovered drugs, so to get away from that I left Vancouver and went to the oil field...and discovered more drugs.
So I did that for 10 years then walked away from it all and joined the army as a Combat Engineer.

Legit.

 

[Blind Owl]

Now I'm a cook in a local school system after ten years of being a stay at home to raise my boys.

I wish I could be a stay at home dad. That's freaking awesome man. Kudos to you.

 

[hardroc77]

I wish I could be a stay at home dad. That's freaking awesome man. Kudos to you.

Well the grass is always greener. The first four or five were cool. I got to be that cool dad that did all the volunteering, so all the kids got to know me. But I really miss that career.

Ah hell. Time for a beer.

 

[Blind Owl]

Well the grass is always greener. The first four or five were cool. I got to be that cool dad that did all the volunteering, so all the kids got to know me. But I really miss that career.

Ah hell. Time for a beer.

I've been teasing my wife that'll I'll quit the military and she can be the provider, I'll just stay at home and raise the munchkins. Of course, there's only one right now, but I do enjoy my time with him.

Also, I'll join ya for that beer. Just got the little fella down. He's go a whore of a cold, so I don't imagine I've got long before he's up again.

 

[hardroc77]

He's go a whore of a cold, so I don't imagine I've got long before he's up again.

Been there. I lost track of the number of nights I spent in the rocking chair with him asleep in my arms for comfort.
I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
But at that time, man that it is a tough job.

 

[Blind Owl]

Been there. I lost track of the number of nights I spent in the rocking chair with him asleep in my arms for comfort.
I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
But at that time, man that it is a tough job.

It is tough, but you won't catch me complaining. I cherish every moment with him, and as much as I hate seeing him hurting, I love every moment spent with him. If I can comfort him, then thats my place. I love being a Dad

 

[hardroc77]

It is tough, but you won't catch me complaining. I cherish every moment with him, and as much as I hate seeing him hurting, I love every moment spent with him. If I can comfort him, then thats my place. I love being a Dad

And before you know it, he'll being taking you out on HIS 21st birthday and buying you a beer.
A surreal moment to be sure, looking back on the earlier memories, but it was cool.

 

[Blind Owl]

And before you know it, he'll being taking you out on HIS 21st birthday and buying you a beer.
A surreal moment to be sure, looking back on the earlier memories, but it was cool.

Dear god, I'll be almost 60 when that happens. Ugh. Haha

 

[Thugari]

Wanted to be a game warden, ended up traveling the country fighting professionally. now retired from that and working in IT and running a leather company

 

[Radegast74]

Ha! My first career goal was to be a garbage man...I remember my friend Kevin wanted to be one, so I thought, yeah, me too! (We were about 4-5 years old, tops). And it was cool, you got to ride on the back of the garbage truck, jump down, grab a can, fling the contents into the back of the truck, and then run along the truck to the next set of cans, or grab a side rail and jump back up.

So, I'm glad that didn't work out...I don't think my body would have lasted, and sadly (or maybe it is a good thing) automation has taken over the task of grabbing the cans and flinging the contents into a truck. I realize now that I liked being outdoors, and the garbage men of today are confined in their trucks...yep, glad that didn't work out.

After that was probably fighter pilot / astronaut...I really thought I was going to head in that direction, and then found out in 10th grade that I was partially color blind...it turns out those funny circles with weird colors in them they had been showing me for years actually had numbers in them! I never knew...for some reason, the school nurse knew, but never told me until the 10th grade physical where she said (very sympathetically...I'm being sarcastic, it was kind of flip) "Yeah, you're color blind..."

Not knowing what to do at that point, I decided to try the military anyway, as a ground-pounder, did ROTC...majored in math, went into the Marines...long story short, I met so many "interesting" people in the Marine Corps, I decided to become a psychologist! I'm only half joking...it was incredibly interesting to see how people reacted to stress (extreme stress).

So, sorry to bore everybody, but my advice to youngsters out there, who don't know "what they want to be..."
1. There are so many choices out there you probably aren't even aware of....
2. Chances are, you will have at least 2 (& likely more) totally different careers (if you live long enough, 3-5, perhaps)....
3. So, go and get the most education and experience that you can as early as you can (before your brain turns to mush and hardens)
4. College isn't for everybody, but training and advanced knowledge and skills will always make it easier for you to find a job...if you want to be a mechanic, go to a mechanics school & learn!
5. Don't be afraid to try something, &
6. If something isn't working out, don't be afraid to pick up, move and go somewhere else.

If I had it over again, I would seriously look at becoming an actuary (I didn't even know that career existed until senior year of college!)...but, that is a whole different story, and I'm happy where I am now.