Kid You vs. Adult You

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doubleohzerooo0@reddit

Well...

10 year old me was positive I'd die before I turned 18. But if I found a way to survive, I wanted to 1. See the world 2. Have a large family.

I got hit by a car crossing the freeway when I was 13. Died, but was revived.

I joined the Navy, got to see the world. Been everywhere except Australia and Antarctica. I've lived in San Diego, Bay area, VA, Hawaii, AZ and now PNW.

Just celebrated our 35th anniversary. We raised 5 kids.

I'd like to think 10 year old would be happy with how we turned out.

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1questions@reddit

Why were you sure you were going to die?

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Funny story - my mom (who died when I was 12) said over dinner one time (I was maybe 10) that she could see me becoming a college professor. I remember it very clearly. I never intended to become one and really only had one dream as a kid, which was to travel the world.

When it came time to pick something to major in, I chose marine biology, but found my true passion in my junior year when I discovered there was such a thing as a career as a lighting designer in theater. My dad was furious, but picking up that second degree (I finished the BS in biology) was the best decision I ever made.

And now? I'm a professional freelance lighting and projections designer AND ALSO a college professor!

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demona2002@reddit

I wanted to be a lawyer but ended up in Big Tech. Still wish I had become a lawyer as I love getting into the minutiae!

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Bahlore@reddit

Kid me - I wanted to do space stuff, join NASA and explore the universe.
Adult me - I'm bad at math, joined the Army, and now I do IT.

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Not_High_Maintenance@reddit

I always resented my mother for being a stay-at-home mom. (That woman needed to get out of the house more than anyone I ever knew.)

I became a SAHM. (I was so much like my mom that I went back to school for nursing. )

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Emergency-Big-1503@reddit

I wanted to be Spider-man.

I ended up fixing machines.

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raymondspogo@reddit

Kid me wanted to be a war correspondent for a major news organization.

Then I joined the army and became the show.

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

Kid me wanted to be "a scientist." Adult me figured out that staying purely theoretical wouldn't keep me interested, I want to be building things, and an engineer popped out.

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jbell1974@reddit

I was a true 80s kid, totally absorbed by those nostalgic toy brands. I wanted to create action figures which eventually morphed into wanting to be a writer… someone who created worlds and characters.

While my day job in IT management takes over most of my time, I am an author in my side hustle who’s been fortunate enough to carve out a niche with lots of happy readers and decent numbers of books sold. Doesn’t always feel like it but I sort of accomplished my dream. I’d feel a lot better about it without the day job sucking my soul.

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stueynz@reddit

By the time I was 14 I knew I was going into computer programming.

60yo Solution Architect. I actually wrote production code for a living for all of 8 years. Still write hobby code just for giggles.

10yo me is mightily impressed with my model train layout

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typhona@reddit

I wanted to prgram computers from the second I got my C=64. I wanted to ride a Harley, and get a mohawk and get a bunch of tattoos. Ive worked for a few startups, and did some freelance stuff for a while. Now i just play around with Javascript making fun visuals for just myself. I had a mohawk in the 90s and just about any color they make. Got a good bit of ink, and still getting new stuff. My hair is still blue though. These days im a stagehand and just happy as can be

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rosesforthemonsters@reddit

I wanted to be a lawyer -- only because I thought all lawyers were rich like the characters on LA Law. I just wanted to be rich.

By the time I was in 9th grade I realized that college was not going to be an option. So, yeah......there's no law degree hanging on my wall and no Porsche 911 Carrera sitting in my driveway.

I ended up working a bunch of dead end jobs, did the stay-at-home-mom thing for 10 years..........

At 47, I did a six month apprenticeship and became a dispensing optician. I enjoy the job, so I can't complain.

If given the choice, though, I'd rather be independently wealthy and lazy as hell.

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MaximumJones@reddit

I did exactly what I set out to do and have no regrets. Other than some classified shit I cannot talk about.

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dewihafta@reddit

Animator for Disney or Warner Brothers.

First semester of college, I found out i couldnt draw.

Not an animator, and havent drawn anything in a long, long time.

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nunyabizthewiz@reddit

Wanted to be a teacher. I’m a teacher. The only childhood goal that I have not achieved is having a pool. Now I’m not sure I’d want one…

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DocMcCracken@reddit

My house came with a pool, I cursed every minute of maintenence. It would takehours every week, for a quick dip usually less than 10 minutes of swimming. Cost a ton in chemicals and power consumed.

Now a hot tub or sauna I'd be interested in having.

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No-Clue4432@reddit

I wanted to be a photographer. But ive never had any drive to pursue what I want. So ive worked at whatever job landed at my feet.

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FAx32@reddit

Wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember. I got a lot of bad advice along the way and stupidly didn't understand how competitive it really was. Applied as a senior in college and didn't get a single interview. Re-dedicated myself to this at 22, applied several more times and then finally did get into medical school at almost 30. Worked hard and had lots of options at the end of medical school, unlike the end of undergrad.

Kid me was afraid to ask for help and seek out good advice. Unfortunately that lasted until I was almost 22 and had an existential crisis due to failure. That was the lesson that cost me 7-8 years of attending level income and meant I got to both work full time in a lab and go to school full time earning a PhD that ultimately I would never use since I got into medical school immediately after.

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GreatOne1969@reddit

At 10-12 I was still having kid priorities, playing and having fun. Never pressured at school and got B average. Lucky to have lots of love and support at home whatever I was doing. Never had much drive or direction in school. Art was my household, so began undergrad in Design but switched to business, thinking it would bring more money. Twists and turns and now doing okay.

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mom2ajs5@reddit

When I was 10-12, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. I am not a dolphin trainer.

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ApplicationUpper9229@reddit

At 10, my plan was to be Spider-Man

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FAx32@reddit

Curious now -- did it work out?

Busts into Ramones song.

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Caloso89@reddit

At various times, wanted to be a Catholic priest, an astronaut, the Giants third baseman, and a surgeon. Ended up going to law school and became an expert on legislative procedure and admin law.

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crone_Andre3000@reddit

Other than marrying Duran Duran's John Taylor, I have accomplished more I than I wanted or intended as 12 year old.

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Just-Ice3916@reddit

I wanted to be a veterinarian, but two things got in the way: I found out much later as an undergrad that I couldn't stand biochemistry, and I couldn't handle the idea of putting down someone's family member (remembering what losing pets was like).

I ended up adjacent to it, in a way, but changed careers a few times before I finally landed where I found something I love doing AND I'm good at, instead of one or the other or neither. You never know, is what I tell people nowadays.

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Obwyn@reddit

I had no idea what I wanted to do. Academics were a cakewalk for me so I never had to actually apply myself or think about anything to get A's in most of my classes. I still had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated high school. I considered going into the military but didn't (I should've...), went to college instead, switched majors a couple times (all completely unrelated to each other), had terrible time management, eventually ran out of money, went into management with Pizza Hut (terrible fucking job), and in my late-20's decided to give law enforcement a try.

20 years on now, am a sergeant, a DRE, and glad I ended up where I did.

If you told 10 year old me that I was going to be a cop I would've thought you were nuts. If you told 18 year old me that I'd be a cop I would've said the same thing. I didn't even start considering it until I was like 25 years old.

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PahzTakesPhotos@reddit

I wanted to join the Army (like my dad) but I wanted to be a K9 military police officer (dad was a combat engineer till an accident landed him a desk job in supply). If I had joined at 18, I could have retired from the military and then become a civilian K9 cop before I was 40.

But, at the young age of six, I learned that I wouldn't be able to join the military because I was born deaf in one ear and hard-of-hearing in the other. I don't remember having a set-in-stone dream for my life after that. I did decide at one point, that I could be a truck driver.

I never became a truck driver. I got married young. He joined the Army (his dad was also a career soldier) and we had kids while he was in the Army. After that, I simply had hobbies. I did art till arthritis took that away (can't hold a paintbrush or pencil for very long). I tried writing for a while. And through it all, I kept up with my photography.

And now, I still do photography. In fact, here's a photo I took a couple of days ago of raindrops on the leaves of our hedges. (I shoot with a Nikon D7200 and a Nikkor 40mm macro lens). This is the kind of stuff I do when I'm not working at the renaissance faire(s).

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j1knra@reddit

The meandering career aspirations over childhood/teenage years aside, I’ve gratefully accomplished everything I wanted for myself growing up. I’ve broken free of generational poverty, obesity, addiction, divorce, and abuse. I truly love myself, my immediate family, and all that I’ve been able to do by being a chain breaker.

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jennbouk@reddit

I was a US House Page in my junior year of high school in DC. I had dreams of being a political analyst. I was a SAHM and as I was planning on going back to work, there was a medical event that meant I had to become caregiver to a family member. I missed my window, I guess. Sad thing is I can't help but wonder if my mama is in Heaven, ashamed of me. I know she's not, but I am.

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jermo1972@reddit

I'm touched.

I'm very sorry for your circumstances.

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TheLastMongo@reddit

I wanted to be a trucker (with a monkey) or a PI. In my teens a writer. Somewhere along the way I found I had a knack for data analysis and validating data. Very not where I expected to be.

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OldBanjoFrog@reddit

I wanted to be a spy. I am not a spy.

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jermo1972@reddit

Hmmmm.

That's what a spy would say.

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nakedreader_ga@reddit

I wanted to be either a lawyer or teacher. Ended getting a degree in education and taught for a year. That didn’t work out and ended up in graphic design which led me to working with judges and lawyers. So it kinda all worked out.

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beaubeaucat@reddit

I wanted to be a marine biologist. I ended up becoming a legal aid attorney.

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bluealien78@reddit

I aspired to be a successful musician. Not a famous one, but a successful one. I still aspire to that at 48.

But I’m a tech bro tbh. I don’t recall ever consciously choosing this path. Yet here I am, 25 years in. Lucrative. But not what I wanted to do when I was a kid.

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temerairevm@reddit

I wanted to write books and “be engaged but not married” at age 28.

I ended up marrying at 29.

I also ended up being an engineer, because money. But I’m probably going to retire at 59 and the best way I’ve found to get health insurance before age 65 is to become a full time student. So planning to get that literature degree. And have developed this weird fascination with renting a cottage in Wales and writing.

Why Wales? No idea. I feel like it would be cloudy and kind of moody and perfect for writing.

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HighSideSurvivor@reddit

As a young kid I had no real aspirations. Like, at 6, I wanted to be a ninja or writer. Then life got really hard, and I stopped focusing on the long term, and just worked on survival, day to day. That went on for a long time.

By high school, I had vague ideas of being an “engineer” when I grew up, although I had no clear idea what that was. I knew that I enjoyed math and science more than most of my peers, and I was pretty good at those subjects. Also, my circle of friends were also planning on engineering. So, it was an easy choice to go with the crowd.

Sadly, my home life was still a mess, and my grades grew worse and worse as it became harder and harder to skate by. Eventually I was flunking out of school, and started to accept that I would never get into college. With that pathway seemingly gone, I began to investigate the armed services.

I took the ASVAB, did well, and began having recruiters hunting after me. I was scared about enlisting, and so was my mother, but didn’t see any other path forward.

My home life improved when I was about 16, and my grades began to improve as well. I found myself dating a girl whose parents were both teachers. One night the topic of college came up, and she reacted with shock and disbelief when I told her that I was not going to go.

The next thing I knew, I was signing up for the SATs (it was the last scheduled exam that would yield results in time for college applications, and it was my first attempt). And then I filled out a few applications, but not aid. Nobody in my family had ever gone to more than a semester of college, so we were pretty clueless.

By some miracle, I was accepted to a small school, and even earned a small scholarship, and somehow was able to afford to go. I say ‘somehow’ when I mean that I worked my butt off, and my mother sacrificed - sacrificed enormously.

I graduated with an engineering degree, and worked a number of jobs for almost a decade, before switching gears and returned for an MS in a slightly different field.

Now I am in my mid fifties, and I am actually an engineer. So that actually worked out, just not in the way I might have imagined. Maybe after I retire I’ll become a ninja, or a writer, or write about ninjas, or…

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JakInTheIE@reddit

That was really well told. Yeah, maybe a writer…

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JakInTheIE@reddit

I was boring. I wanted to be an electrical engineer and ended up being a data engineer. Weirdly, in between I wanted to be a journalist, a pastor and a therapist.

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thatguygreg@reddit

I got to work where I’d always wanted to work, doing what I wanted to do.

Manager asked me where I wanted to be in 3 years. Be?! I made it. I’m here. 12 years later, still trying to figure out what the F to aim for now, retirement I guess.

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askywlker44a@reddit

I wanted to serve in the US Army. My body wouldn't let me. I have gone through 3 different industries to where I am today.

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MarquesTreasures@reddit

Grew up a GI Brat. Thought I'd be military. Got into college and went into graphic design and forgot about the military, not wanting to "follow in my dad's footsteps". Then I got hungry, waiting for more than minimum wage jobs and wanted health insurance, wondering why I went to college in the first place...so I joined the military...turned out I was good at it...did 20 years and now retired.

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