Tuesday, January 29, 2013

When I Grow Up

Listicles topic this week is Things I Thought I Would Do/Be When I Grew Up.  This kind of topic can either make you feel good or bad about yourself depending on what you have done with your life.  Or, I suppose, it can make you reevalute the direction your life is going and change course to maybe do or be some of those things that you wanted to do or be.  There's still time, right?

1. Gymnast
I always wanted to be an Olympic gymnast.  It was the time of Mary Lou Retton and the world was transfixed on her 10 score.  Her cute face.  Her bubbly personality.  And her talent.  I started dreaming when I was 10 and then it just intesified with the 1984 Olympics.  I was 14.  Almost over the hill for gymnastics, but I thought with hard work, there's still time for me to be good at gymnastics.  Ahhh, the niavity of youth.

2.  Ice Skater
Those stupid Olympics just made me want to dream and dream about all I could be if I just had an ice rink nearby and could take some lessons.  But like gymnastics--it never happened.  Although, I can finally skate backwards now! :)

3.  Jacques Cousteau/Marine Biologist
I dreamed of being a dolphin trainer at Sea World and everyone would come to see my fabulous shows.  Or diving on the Great Barrier Reef and studying clown fish.  That desire was squashed pretty quickly at University when I had to take Vertebrate Biology.  We were required as part of the lab to identify fish by using this identifier book.  They all looked the same and you had to count gill rakers and spines and know their common name and the scientific name.  wtf.  Impossible.  I dropped that lab faster than a fat kid at a cake buffet.  Loved the class though, but I knew I was going to fail the lab.

I guess that worked in my favor though, since I wasn't drowned by Shamu.

4.  Single and Not A Mom
As a kid, I never wanted to get married and I never wanted kids.  Hmm.  Guess I changed my mind somewhere along the line.

5.  World Traveler
See #4.  Since I never envisioned myself having a husband or kids, I also envisioned myself traveling the world seeing all the sights while I saved Nemo or skated my triple axel.  Still waiting to visit a country that doesn't touch the US.  <someday>

6.  Dancer
I guess that kinda goes along with gymnast and ice skater though, doesn't it?  Really though, what little girl doesn't want to be a dancer with all those cute costumes they get to wear?

7.  Veterinarian
I had always, always wanted to be a vet.  Always.  When I got to college I found out it was harder to get into veterinarian school than it was to get into medical school.  Less need for vets and less schools + many applications = many rejections.  So I switched gears and decided to choose from the 4 disciplines that didn't require medical school:  podiatry, chiropractic, dentristry and optometry.  The eyes won.

8.  Confident
I always assumed that once you were a grown-up you were automatically confident with everything you say and do.  How disappointing to find out that isn't true. 
 

What did you want to be/do when you grew up?

6 comments:

Becka said...

Ha. I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast too! in fact, I broke my arm when I was 4 trying to do (I think?) an aerial after watching MLR on tv - I was 6 during those Olympics. The sport has changed A TON in the last decade. I watched not too long ago and it is CONFUSING.

Christy @ My Dirt Road Anthem: A Runner's Blog said...

Thanks to Mary Lou I wanted to be a gymnast too. Also an Olympic ice skater. and a vetrinarian or a nurse. I did end up being a nurse. Fun to see your list.

Terzah said...

We share a *lot* on this list: vet, marine biologist, world traveler. The first two went by the wayside for me when I decided what I wanted to do was write. I became a journalist and did that for eight years before I burned out. I'd still like to write, but books, and on my own terms.

As for world travel, I've done some (Peace Corps in Russia, which also took me to China), some of Europe, Costa Rica....but not as much as I dreamed I'd do. There's still time, right?

dlfoard said...

a rockstar. I used to carry around "Leaving on a jet plane" 45 record everywhere at the age of 5 on and make people play it while I hammered out the tune. To this day your mom says that is the only way I could carry a tune.....in my hand!

Just so Michelle said...

OMG!
I wanted to be a vet. That is ALL I wanted to be and then I realized that I would have to put animals to sleep. :(
Now, I am still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up!

Robbie K said...

great list...still working on mine. I entertained the idea of being a gymnast but then boobs ruined it for me.