What Did/Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

We all have at some time in our lives been asked this question, “what do you want to be when we grow up?”. We may have also written down or thought about being one great person or the other. This sometimes stems from the idea of being successful in life. 

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I wanted to be an astronaut because I thought it would be cool to see anything outside our earth. Later, it changed to wanting to be an aeronautic engineer; building and fixing planes. Then changed my mind again to Petrochemical engineering. I remember when my friends and I were having a career conversation in my JS1 and told them I wanted to be a petrochemical engineer, they all laughed at me and asked where I got such name. Truth be told. I was always reading my aunt’s JAMB registration booklet with the list of all the post-secondary courses and the universities that offered them in Nigeria. I always looked for anything that required Maths because it seemed so easier for me than any other subject. JAMB didn’t let me get into my course of choice. I ended up in Geology class in the university. Did I really go the engineering route? Maybe. Maybe by accident.

In other areas of life, I have become a wife and mother. I have nurtured my own kids and some kids that weren’t mine. I have traveled. I have learned and unlearned many things. I have started and closed many businesses. I have tried my hands on many jobs. I am still becoming. Life is full of surprises.

DIFFERENT REACTIONS TO THIS QUESTION
I have read about and also listened to the responses of many adults on their childhood dreams. I have also had fun hearing many children describe what they want to be in the future. Some adults were unhappy with what their lives have become. Very far deviated from their actual dream as a kid. Some of the adults sounded happy because they have come close to what they wanted to be. Some told me they are working hard to retrace their steps to satisfy that childhood dream.

One of the most epic answers to this question is from Serena Williams. She said, “I want to be someone others want to be like”. That was a ‘blank-check’ answer. No limits to what she wanted to be. Wow! For sure, she is living up her childhood dreams. For me, I think I am still rounding up the process of what I want to be. I’m still rediscovering myself. What I am today may be different from what I will be in the next five (5) years. Stay chasing the dream from all angles. I believe the answer to this question should be dynamic.  We shouldn’t stop pursuing.

WHO SHOULD DECIDE WHAT YOU WOULD BECOME
It is very common in some families for parents to force a career path on their kids especially in African and I heard Asian families too. Most of these parents want to answer “mama doctor” or “mama lawyer” and the likes. In this generation where you can be anything from YouTuber to Space Man or Woman, how much of the children’s future should be determined by parents?

There’s a quiz website where you can take a career quiz known as “What Should You Be When You Grow Up? If you work with young people, you could get them to have fun with this quiz. It has about 18 questions in the quiz and requires you to give honest answers about yourself to learn or understand yourself better before making a career choice.
Questions like these: Get frustrated with other people often? If your vacuum spoils, do you take it apart or stop vacuuming or buy a new one? Are you comfortable taking care of people? And so on.
After taking the quiz, here’s my result:

You should work with Things
Practical, logical, and thorough, you’re probably most at home with things you can tinker with, upgrade, and destroy. People are nice to have around of course, but you’d rather spend most of your time dealing with material things that you can usually rely upon to follow the rules, and you might like to be the person who makes those rules in the first place.
And it’s an even better thing for you that careers that deal with concrete objects tend to be well paid, interesting, and highly respected. So take some time to think about careers in fields like engineering, logistics, and architecture — the possibilities for a thinker and doer like you are pretty much endless.
If this sounds interesting and you think you’re on the right track, we invite you to go a little further. Take this quiz to find out which material-based job is perfect for you.

My review of the quiz:
I think it’s not far away from who I am but remember time and chance happen to everything under the sun. What we desire may slip away due to many reasons.

THOUGHTS TO LEAVE YOU WITH
Does what we want to be when we grow up have to be tied to our career path? Do you think it should be defined by other standards? What should those standards be? At what point in our lives or at what age should we start making decisions about what to be as an adult.
Have you been able to fulfill your childhood dreams? Yes? No? Why do you think you didn’t or haven’t become what you wanted to be?
Do you see any chances of going back to fulfill those dreams? Are you comfortable with what you are now as an adult?

Did anyone choose your path when you’re young? If yes, are you happy they did so? Do you regret their actions? SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS in the comment section below or on our social media platforms.