“What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?”
We are usually asked this question very early in life: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s one of the biggest questions asked of children, from toddlers to teenagers. It’s always asked to help encourage kids to think of their future. After all, how many children really know what they want to do with the rest of their lives? Oh yeah, there are those lucky few who have a special calling. Many kids will say they want to be a police officer, firefighter, nurse, teacher, and many other professions. Some know exactly what they want to be from the start and go for it. But how many of us as adults, when faced with the same question today, know exactly what we want to do for the rest of our lives?
I’ve had my share of dreams. I can remember when I was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The first thing that came to my mind was a doctor. I didn’t know at my age about all the different specialties there were. Instead, all I knew was, I wanted to be a doctor and cure people. Unfortunately, as I grew up, I came to realize the schooling and everything else that came along with pursuing my dream. No one ever mentioned the hard work or how long it actually takes to become a doctor. All I heard was, “You can become whatever you want.”
Some people are born to sing. Some are born to act. Some are born to help others. But I was a strange kid, so when people would ask me that question, I would tell them that I wanted to be the Tooth Fairy and that nothing would stop me. One of my sisters wanted to be a nurse and the other one wanted to be a space cowboy. I remember changing my mind every month, from tooth fairy to lawyer, to a million other things.
I used crayons to illustrate my dream career. My drawing was hung in the hallways for my parents to see. I remember the typical careers of my kindergarden class- ballerinas, firefighters, singers, and astronauts and then I