What did you want to be when you grew up?

Is it too late?

Oh, maybe you are an archaeologist Newatthis?

A ballerina. And I think I’ve left my application to the Royal Ballet just a bit too long.

Teacher. I do like my job but I'm quite disillusioned. Not by my students, by the failure of state education for most students.

A circus girl on horse back.
Later a physiotherapist.

I’m another who wanted to be a ballerina. Some hope.

A nurse and I did.

An anaesthetist. Because I could say it,

No not an archeologist, left school at 16 but did go to uni later and got a BA and a Masters so quite proud of my achievements.

I wanted to join a concert party and tour the provincial towns of England, staying in welcoming B and Bs, and forging long lasting friendships.
Sadly I have no talent.

A wren. But as the sneery careers officer ( there’s a misnomer if ever there was one) said to me ^Theres no point you even thinking of it from this school)
But obviously my life was never meant to go in that direction.
I got an apprenticeship in bookbinding / hand sewing books and then when I was old enough set up machinery to sew books.

I only ever wanted to be a nurse, mainly because my mother was one as were a few aunts.
I started to train as a librarian, hated it so became a nurse instead.
If I was starting again it would be a podiatrist.

I had various ideas - Cartographer, Navigator on a ship, Architect. The Careers Advisor rejected all of these careers as not being open to girls. Instead he suggested the usual Primary School Teacher (I loathed school with all its petty rules and regulations) or at a stretch, having noted that I had been 1st in the year for maths 3 years running, A Maths Teacher. This last with the warning that it would take 3 years to qualify, by which time I would probably be married.

When I was in my early teens I announced to the family that I'd like to be an air hostess. My brother said it would be dangerous as the plane would seesaw in mid-air as I walked up and down the aisle ... charming!

I wanted to be a nurse, but then couldn't stand the smell of blood.

The minute I said to the careers person that I was thinking of nursing or teaching, that was it. They didn't mention the hundreds of interesting things I might have considered instead, things I'd never even heard of.

I became a teacher, not a very good one, but I do enjoy teaching people things. Then I became a printer! After that I actually became an archaeologist - I didn't know when I was at school that ordinary people could do things like that.

I wanted to be an author, this was when I was about 7 years old.

Still want to write a novel, but 60 odd years on doubt I ever will!

Calendargirl my mother-in-law wrote a novel in her 70s.
Admittedly it's not great - but it IS enormous (and it's self-published/printed).

A vet. Then I found at secondary school that science subjects really weren’t my thing.

A magicians assisstant

I wanted to be whatever my friends were going to be! One of them wanted to be a physicist and I have to admire our (so-called!) Careers Adviser, who was our Maths Teacher, for managing to keep a straight face when I told her! I took a very different path!

A vet for me too but I sciences not my strong point!

A detective or a singer.

An ice-skater!