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I wanted to be a botanist/biologist, now as an adult, I work in a STEM field lol.

When I was in school I remember one day we had a lesson about jobs, we each had a worksheet with some jobs listed and we had to pick out one we liked. There was one option that stood out to me right away, I can’t remember the exact title they had but it was the one computer-related job on the sheet. I distinctly remember the teacher telling me that job wouldn’t be needed in the future. Why even have it as an option if it’s the one “wrong” choice?

Anyway, I’m in software now. I’m incredibly lucky that I’ve always known what I wanted and managed to build a well-paid career in a field I like. Very few people get to say that.

I wanted to be an architect but ended up as a software engineer. I fell in love with programming in high school and the rest is history. It worked out pretty well for me.

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.

I wanted to work in tv, I even got as far as picking film as an optional module at school. Got pretty good at writing and editing (directing and cinematography, not so much). But my grades in the sciences were higher and my parents pushed me towards doing STEM at university.

Now I have a job and all the learning is behind me I’m having another crack at it again in my spare time. As hobbies go it’s a lot of fun

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!

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.

pilot

Im afraid of heights

anything related to dinosaurs or Egypt

I liked toys as a kid so I wanted to be a toy maker. I really didn’t know what my options were tbh.

I always wanted to be a train engineer, but being colorblind makes that impossible

Archaeologist. Or more accurately, paleontologist, but I was a little idiot like most children. Also like many children, I fucking loved dinosaurs.

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!

I always knew I’d be a programmer, I was fascinated with programming on the vic 20 and c 64 . I am a gamer, but I knew at a young age I didn’t want to get into that industry, I just wanted to play games… didn’t want to know how the sausage was made.