What did you think your career would be in your teens or 20's

[Renegade7]

Great thread, OP.

 

Thought I was going to be a writer, too, but got frustrated in high school with teachers telling me what I could and couldn't write about.  By the time I got a teacher that encouraged me to let out the nether-regions of my soul, it was a couple months later I wrote something that scared even myself.  I don't know what to do or who to tell, I was already kicked out of HS and cut myself off from pretty much everyone at the time.  I miss it, but I think I secretly make up for it by posting here as much as I do (though its not short stories and poetry much anymore, on day I'll get back to that)

 

I'm sure some people thought I'd be a sport journalist when I first practiced debating with people online here back in '03, but I got too distracted by the time I got to the end of high school and used excuses like "Do I really want to do this"  and "Do I really want to completely support myself in college on a career path I'm not as passionate as I thought I was about?"

 

I remember wanting to be an astronaut before I got an ES account, but I didn't know where to start and didn't think anyone was taking me seriously. 

 

I suspected I wanted to be in cybersecurity before I moved to Hampton Roads, but it wasn't until I got into College and got introduced to Linux that I realized I had fallen in love with the command line.  I haven't looked back since: my dream job is Incident Response for ICS/SCADA systems for DHS (it's the most concerning thing about IT to me, and I want to help before its too late).

 

 

[Popeman38]

1 minute ago, Renegade7 said:

my dream job is Incident Response for ICS/SCADA systems for DHS (it's the most concerning thing about IT to me, and I want to help before its too late).

It's already too late.

[Renegade7]

4 minutes ago, Popeman38 said:

It's already too late.

Depends on how you look at it.  I get SANS newsletters, and the general feeling is we aren't in as bad a shape as say Ukraine.  But we are absolutely getting tested right now and if there was a full on cyberwar, private sector isn't ready for it enough in general.  I guess "before its too late" means, no ones completely gone off on us yet, so there's still time to prepare for it.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Professional football player. I forget about what age I realized my dad had been right all along and that I actually sucked. I think it was like 10. Now my dream is that Kosher Ham, our dog, and I will travel around the country in a van solving mysteries.

[China]

 

So you're a redhead?  Somehow, I never pictured Kosh as blonde.

[Renegade7]

8 minutes ago, China said:

 

 

So you're a redhead?  Somehow, I never pictured Kosh as blonde.

I'm not sure Sacks knows what he's signing up for:

 

[zoony]

I always had an interest in politics, but soon realized Im an unelectable asshole.  I havent ruled it out for retirement, maybe city council or something small.  But truly, never gave my career much thought.  Just wanted to make money.  Nowadays I want to make less money but have more freedom, less stress, and time with family.  So some irony there i guess (not that I make a lot, far from it)

[TheGreatBuzz]

In my teens I wanted to work in an auto restoration shop.  Worked as a mechanic, in an engine machine shop building engines, and in body shops for about 8 years.  Learned a very important lesson in life........some hobbies are meant to stay just that, hobbies.

[Renegade7]

1 minute ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 Learned a very important lesson in life........some hobbies are meant to stay just that, hobbies.

 

Truth hurts, doesn't it?  I needed something safe, I'm lucky I feel in love with what I choose to do instead.

[Mr. Sinister]

1 hour ago, Popeman38 said:

I thought I was going to join the Army, and die in combat.  For reals, I had a feeling my entire life that I would never make it to 25, having died in combat in some far off place.  

 

I joined the Army in 1998, and was training for an overseas deployment when 9/11 happened.  I was slated (I volunteered) to be in the first wave (regular wave, not SF) into Afghanistan, but at the last minute I was deemed "mission critical" for Kosovo.  I had accepted that I would be one of the first fatalities of the war. Got all my affairs in order...

 

I spent the war feeling a little like Lt Dan, like I had been robbed of my birthright.  Now I'm 40 with a daughter and couldn't be happier.

 

You sound kinda like my uncle, who was convinced he was gonna die in Kuwait. Lived through it obviously, but understandably still isn't quite right.

[TheGreatBuzz]

1 minute ago, Renegade7 said:

 

Truth hurts, doesn't it?  I needed something safe, I'm lucky I feel in love with what I choose to do instead.

Actually no.  I'm glad I learned it at an early time in my life.  I keep my hobbies separate now.  My dad told me when I was a kid "unless you can hit a ball or sing a song, you aren't supposed to love your job.  That is why they give you money to do it."   I wish I had listened earlier.  

[Renegade7]

6 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

My dad told me when I was a kid "unless you can hit a ball or sing a song, you aren't supposed to love your job.  That is why they give you money to do it."   I wish I had listened earlier.  

Not sure how I feel about this.  I've had days in my last two jobs where I was having so much fun that I would've done it for free (but that would be stupid).  Think that's the difference between a job and a career, a paycheck versus working in field that you're passionate about.

[TheGreatBuzz]

Just now, Renegade7 said:

Not sure how I feel about this.  I've had days in my last two jobs where I was having so much fun that I would've done it for free (but that would be stupid).  Think that's the difference between a job and a career.

I definetly have moments at my job where I can't believe they pay me to do it (partying in Thailand for Thai New Year for example).  I also have times when I think they don't even come close to paying me enough.  

 

I like to think it was his way of telling me a hobby shouldn't be a career.  

[Renegade7]

9 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 I also have times when I think they don't even come close to paying me enough.  

Preach.

 

You know, I completely agree with the premise of what your Dad told you, just not the wording.  If your hobby is in demand and can pay the bills, shouldn't be a problem.  But my Mother has a Master's Degree in Fine Arts with a minor in Art History.  She still paints, I still get her supplies, but it didn't take long until she was doing jobs like telecommunications with Sprint.  At that time she had three kids, so whatcha gonna do?

 

 

[LadySkinsFan]

In HS I wanted to be a journalist, even took two years of journalism classes junior and senior years. Didn't have money to go to any school but local community college. Took a Liberal Arts degree. Was not really focused on school. I was working at the same time. Partying full time. I was pretty wild until I got pregnant. 

 

After my daughter's birth, I went back to college and got a paralegal degree. I worked as a second mortgage researcher for some months without any benefits. Then I met people who worked at DEC and was hired into a new Federal business group as a proposal writer. The rest, as they say, is history. I learned how to manage proposals, and how to bid for government contracts. 

 

I want to create art now that I am retired and looking forward to that. I wish I could write fiction but suck at creating dialog. Will work on that.

 

Edited to add:

 

 I marched in many protests when in my twenties. And it is quite ironic that my career was as a proposal writer/manager for Federal contracts. I am glad to not do that full time anymore. I will do some writing for extra income.

[Renegade7]

13 minutes ago, LadySkinsFan said:

I want to create art now that I am retired and looking forward to that. I wish I could write fiction but suck at creating dialog. Will work on that.

 

 

Write how people normally exchange information with no strings attached, not how it will best continue or explain the story.  People don't have all the answers or always know what they're doing, so don't write them like they do when they don't.  If you sketch out a character before you put them in a story, they'll know how they'll react to a certain situation before you do.  It may be fiction, but you still got to treat them same as you would a real person.

[LadySkinsFan]

Thanks Renagade! I will give that a try.

[Warhead36]

I wanted to get into something related to math/science, but just didn't quite have the ambition to study engineering, so decided to go with architecture instead. Don't regret it one bit.

[PleaseBlitz]

Doctor or lawyer.  I pursued neither of them seriously because when I got to college, my work ethic was miserable and those are two hard things to do.  So I fell into a job that was fine and paid the bills for about 8 years.  Then that melted down, I lost my job and I had the opportunity/was forced to start over.  So i went to law school.  

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

1 hour ago, Renegade7 said:

I'm not sure Sacks knows what he's signing up for

That’s exactly what I’m signing up for.

[Renegade7]

6 minutes ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

That’s exactly what I’m signing up for.

Yep, you're the real MVP.

 

[PokerPacker]

5 hours ago, tshile said:

I thought I'd be a programmer for a video game studio

 

then I realized that job sucks.

That's why you start your own studio.

[Springfield]

2 hours ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Actually no.  I'm glad I learned it at an early time in my life.  I keep my hobbies separate now.  My dad told me when I was a kid "unless you can hit a ball or sing a song, you aren't supposed to love your job.  That is why they give you money to do it."   I wish I had listened earlier.  

 

My dad said, “Work is what you do in-between the time that you’re with people that you love.”  Makes sense to me.

 

Here I am on ES, with you folks.

 

 

2 hours ago, zoony said:

I always had an interest in politics, but soon realized Im an unelectable asshole.  I havent ruled it out for retirement, maybe city council or something small.  But truly, never gave my career much thought.  Just wanted to make money.  Nowadays I want to make less money but have more freedom, less stress, and time with family.  So some irony there i guess (not that I make a lot, far from it)

 

There was a point in live where I wanted to be a lawyer and get into politics.  Thought I’d made a very benevolent president.  Then I got older and found out how stupid people are and how 70% of American are assholes. What a joke politics are.

[twa]

2 hours ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

In my teens I wanted to work in an auto restoration shop.  Worked as a mechanic, in an engine machine shop building engines, and in body shops for about 8 years.  Learned a very important lesson in life........some hobbies are meant to stay just that, hobbies.

 

I used to love building/restoring, for the first couple of decades.

Now it's just money, and I prefer earning it another way.

Customers always say I wish I could do what you do....they are clueless.

 

 

[Elessar78]

In my teens after I discovered graphic design was a career option, that's what I wanted to do and I ended up in that career. Then I started getting paid to coach soccer. So I'm in that too. The design side pays the bills, but coaching is really my passion. I guess I'm lucky that I get paid to do two things that love to do. Never enough though—I went through a phase in the last few years where I wanted out of the design gig. Took an attitude shift in me, not a change in scenery, to be engaged about the design side again.

 

The soccer side is the most fun though. Coaching is a craft and it took like the better part of a decade to get really good at it. It consumes me. I think about how to do it better all the time. The first decade was mostly about learning what to do. The next decade is about refining and getting better.

 

But the next challenge is to start my own business. I've had two "successful" freelance ventures—meaning they made money but I let it end because it was taking too much extra time or we moved to a new state and my clients didn't come with me, and didn't really need the extra money at the time. Now I want that extra money again to comfortably fund retirement, college, and whatever life throws at us. 

 

Constant grind.