Personally, I thought you could be literally anything and I distinctly remember I wanted to be a Fire Engine

45 comments

  1. An archaeologist, the scene in Jurassic Park where they dig up the fossils stuck in my head my entire youth.

  4. Thunderbird Pilot

    Crushing disappointment when my Grandpa gently explained they were “not real”

  5. I wanted to be a tortoise driver, a career goal which so far eludes me.

  7. A scientist. Specifically one who invents the hover car.

    I’m a software developer in e-commerce now so… there’s some element of “science”.

    Now I really want to be a writer when I grow up.

  9. I remember at about age 10 wanting to be a bank manager. I was a strange little boy.

  10. At school I never had a clue. From there things just sort of evolved so I went with the flow. It actually worked out quite well. Now I am retired so just chilling out with my wife of 43 years.

    I do remember a playground conversation (at about 10y old) with a boy that had school, University and job all mapped out. I wonder how dissatisfied he is if he is still with us.

  11. I was the local science genius as a kid, and so I assumed I was going to be a research scientist when I grew up. Turns out that I hit a wall with my ability to coast through and pick things up with no work, and was way too ADHD to cope after my natural talent ran out. I’ve been working easy IT jobs ever since.

  12. A teacher. I’m qualified as an ESL teacher but I was scared off of a PGCE from the horror stories I read.

  13. I wanted to be a vet! I went to college (I’m in England so it’s not as serious) but my home life was devastating so I ended up leaving.

    I still want to be a vet! It’s too expensive & time consuming to do right now but maybe in the future.

  14. Formula 1 driver, always baffled me why my dad wouldn’t buy me a go kart or go racing.

    As an adult I now fully understand why, the cost is insane

  15. Computer Hacker, so studied Computing for 2 weeks at college, but dropped it, couldn’t hack it.

  16. I wanted to be a cowboy. Wrong century, country and gender but more achievable than a fire engine I suppose.

  17. I wanted to work in telly since I was about 5 years old, specifically those bits beind the scenes they used to sometimes show during the Broom Cupboard on Children’s BBC. Which is more or less what I ended up doing.

  20. Fashion designer, I now own 2 whole small bags of clothes and I cant justify the expense of fabric or clothes shopping when there’s bills to pay so that didn’t get far

  21. I wanted to be a lawyer for most of my childhood. I suspect mostly because of the money aspect. Then I bollocksed up my O-levels, so that was out of the question. Decided to be a computer programmer instead, which I eventually achieved. But then I realised I was shit at it, so gave that up as well.

    I’m 52. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up!

  22. Footballer. I did absolutely nothing to make that dream happen. Just assumed somebody would spot me.

  23. Several things.
    A writer first. Then an Egyptologist. Then a forensic scientist. Then charity sector worker.

    I achieved the last one. I still dream about being a published writer. I always wonder what would have happened if I’d followed my 7 year old heart and studied Egyptology instead of what I did.

  25. I wanted to be a bin man or a Digger driver.

    I suspect the latter may have lead to the opening of a Plant hire business.

    Instead I work in commercial contracts within the energy industry. 😐

  26. Well after my dreams of becoming a tiger were dashed I was obsessed with Pixar and was 100% convinced I was going to be an animator but turns out I sucked at it, I got really good at html back in the early days of the internet getting big but I didn’t actually know that was a thing so I didn’t know it could be a job and whenever I mentioned it to people they said I could get a job in an office doing admin cos I’m good with computers, being a woman sucks lol

  28. A vet, then game developer.

    Wasn’t interested in school enough from year 10 to get the grades to become a vet, and thankfully never ended up in game dev.

  31. Fighter pilot, think Top Gun made an impression on me. However they didn’t let women be pilots at the time so I decided I wanted to be a butcher.

  32. Chef – then I worked part-time in a fancy restaurant as a cocktail bartender and got a taste of what working in the restaurant industry is like. No thank you…

  35. Mad Scientist, but it was definitely more about living in a cool lair (under sea or volcano preferred) than it was about the science.

  36. Policeman but I went the exact opposite way and ended up in prison numerous times as a teenager!

  37. An author! I used to copy out my favourite books and change the names to those of my siblings and little cousins. I’m now an SEO copywriter so I guess it wasn’t completely a bust

  38. I wanted to be in the Navy.

    So I joined. Turns out that being at sea for long periods is intensely boring.

  39. I wanted to be a doctor.

    I was stupid enough to actually do it and work as a doctor in the NHS.

  40. I grew up in the eighties and wanted to be a stock broker. Failing that, Madonna.

  43. I wanted to be a video game designer.

    Now I work for the NHS but in my spare time I design and program robots, I make mods for video games, real-life replicas of objects in video games, I cosplay and I am working on my first original video game independently. I am really happy with where I am.

  44. I wanted to be a prisoner. Only cause I enjoyed porridge as a kid on tv.

  45. I remember telling my mum I wanted to be a stripper – had seen films (Ealing comedies/Carry On films) with characters who were strippers and it seemed kinda glamourous to a 5 year old. Had no clue about what a shortlived career it was at that age 🤣🤣🤣

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