like what did you dream for in the future or wanted as a job for when you became an adult. what did you end up getting stuck with?
i dident really have a dream as a kid, those were the years when i messed around and learned. now im in high school struggling with life and being paranoid for dumb reasons.
I wanted to be a chef for years, took a few cooking and baking classes when I was younger. Now I’m a software developer. 🤷
You could say you are “cooking up some tasty updates”
immediately booed off stage
It took me actually working in food service to realize that cooking in a restaurant is way different than cooking at home.
I couldn’t deal with the stress of a restaurant so now I do cybersecurity for an MSP
you know sometimes life happens and software development is something i wish i could do.
I guarantee you can do it. All it takes is sitting down for a few hours a week and just trying it and figuring out what you like. :)
When I started college, I was thinking I was going to major in music. Took a bunch of music classes, piano, etc. Also a software developer.
I did composition, arranged concerts, went to art school, got a masters… Can you imagine; Software developer.
Never had one. I’m 35 and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
Just be here now, man.
You wanna be the very best. Like no one ever was. Catch them is your real test. To train them is your cause. You will travel across the land. Searching far and wide. Teach Pokémon to understand. The power that’s inside.
I didn’t really know what I wanted to be, but in hindsight it’s mostly because I didn’t really know any options. In a small town in the 90s it was finish school, then go work in a shop (girls) or a factory (boys). That was the assumption and basically the whole career “advice” setup at my school.
So it kinda makes sense that nobody there seemed to have any ambitions.
Thankfully, I eventually found out that you’re allowed to work with computers. Maybe someone would’ve mentioned that to me earlier if I’d been male but again, 90s. I taught myself web development, made a living off that for a while, eventually had enough and pivoted into being a small-time craft YouTuber!
pilot
Im afraid of heights
I can’t get on a ladder taller than myself but am a pilot as my job. You might want to try it, it might not affect you as far as being afraid of heights is concerned.
Sad :(
Same! I was told that I could not be a pilot because I wear glasses, so I gave up. In hindsight, it was probably OK. I’ve known several pilots and the first few years can be really hard to have a family or even a relationship.
Ironically, 3 of the pilots I know are afraid of heights.
I’ve never once known what I wanted to do. It’s working out. But I did sell my soul to Uncle Sam for a while.
I wanted to be a lawyer to fight for the oppressed
Did that work out?
They were denied entry into law school. In short, oppressed.
When I was a little kid people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I simply answered “Happy”.
As I got older I learned what I enjoyed doing and I had some ideas.
First I wanted to be teacher, then I wanted to be an engineer, then I wanted to be a teacher again, then I became homeless so I had only the dream of getting enough of a job to get a roof over my head.
Then life got harder once I left highschool and basically all the support I was getting went away. I was homeless and I had a job that I was dumping all of my money into going to school to try and make it work. I really wanted to be a teacher.
Then some stuff happened causing life to get even harder and I dropped out. What little support I had went away.
I still had dreams of being a teacher as soon as I could get my life together.
Then my life fell apart further.
And further.
Eventually I got my life together enough to try again. But then life got hard again and I had to make a call. Risk homelessness again or drop out again.
I drive a forklift now… I have for nearly a decade and I’ll probably drive it for a long long time more.
Sometimes I think about becoming a teacher, but finances being what they are nowadays I could never afford the schooling and rent. And with what teacher’s salaries are if I took loans I’d never be able to pay them back.
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I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that wanted to work on a garbage truck, for the exact same reason!
I wanted to be an astrophysicist, then I realize that I suck at theoretical maths, so I became an engineer and worked on rocket engines manufacturing, but I realize that working on aerospace projects is way too much paperwork.
Now I’m working with a small windows and doors manufacturing company to modernize their processes and I love it!
Astrophysicist do theoretical math?
Kid me had two things I wanted to be. Homeless and a soldier. I really liked war and I liked the idea of wandering around the city and being able to build a little hut wherever I wanted.
Don’t worry bout it bud. Some ppl know what they wanna do and some ppl gotta find it. You’ll find it eventually.
I am in my 40s and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
For real though, I had a variety of jobs when I got out of school. I went into the military, went to college for something that I didn’t want to do, worked in several fields, fell into a job in technology, went back to school, and I’ll retire doing this unless something drastically changes.
And many people think they know what they wanna do and then realize it isn’t for them when they actually do it
You can change careers in your 40s/50s if you want.
It’s likely easier to get into the field you want once you’re established, have resources and work experience even if it’s not relevant.
So don’t freak out haha
But personally when I was 11 we got a PC. My parents put it in my room. Which tbh irritated me at the time.
But I got super into it and started looking around the program files folder and at all the weird files in there.
I decided my dream was to make an application that needed those weird files. Which I did about a year later haha
But I fell in love with programming. I chose all my secondary school and college classes so I could get into university for it.
I actually did Games Technology but realised I didn’t enjoy that as much as general programming.
So I was lucky that i had the computer in my room and found something I was good at when I was young. And even luckier that it pays well.
Your future isn’t generally decided by a couple big decisions but 100s of small ones.
If you’re worried just start trying different things and you’ll likely find something you enjoy and/or have a talent for.
I wanted to be an Imagineer and then at 50 years old, I fell into it after decades of being an IT Management Consultant.
Are they sending you to Florida? And did you consult for Disney prior to becoming an Imagineer?
Nope. I just started working on a passion project one day and made a Dark Ride in VR, and it ended up being my career as it was so well received. Turned that dark ride into a theme park. Still have years of work to imagineer more content, but that is half the fun.
I’m excited to try this out.
Librarian. Author. Then game programmer.
Now I’m a senior fullstack software developer. And it is honestly fun to chase bugs, no matter if they’re my bugs or someone elses. Also I didn’t need any university education for this. Went IT trade school, learned programming myself, got job as 1st line phone support, then was promoted to developer when I found and fixed bugs before it reached the devs.
Still would have loved to go the librarian path too. Maybe in the next life.
I liked toys as a kid so I wanted to be a toy maker. I really didn’t know what my options were tbh.