What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be in musicals or own a sweet shop.

I wanted to be an ice skater.

A famous showjumper with a stable full of gorgeous horses

A nun! I was taught by nuns, and was fascinated by their robes. I used to put my nurses cape on (part of my child's nurses outfit) and a towel draped on my head, and wore my Mum's rosary beads to complete the ensemble. I then walked around our back garden with a china cup and saucer, pretending to drink tea whilst on playground duty (as out teachers used to do). I must have looked ridiculous!

I wanted to be whatever my best friend wanted to be! It didn’t work out like that! 🤦‍♀️😄

By the way I didn’t ever own even one horse!

I always wanted to be an opera singer! I loved to sing even as a child and had a good soprano voice even in infants school. It was a dream I carried with me into secondary school as I was selected to sing all the solos in music competitions between houses. I faced the reality in my teens that a musical career takes years of expensive tuition (which was far beyond the pockets of my family) and it would never come to pass. I settled for the civil service but still have a good operatic voice in my 80s.

Without a doubt, a medical doctor. My teachers agreed but unfortunately not my parents. University was free when I was young.

A Ballerina being out of the question for medical reasons, I wanted to be a teacher from the time I started school.

Wanted to be a vet! Didn't realise till I got older that you needed to be really good at chemistry and physics, the two subjects I was worse at (apart from maths!)

I told my brother I wanted to be an air hostess. He didn't think I met the slender requirements - the plane would seesaw in the air as I walked up and down the aisle.

Put me off a bit ...

I wanted to be either a librarian or a teacher....I became neither. I worked in a factory on a conveyer line then in a shop. I ended up becoming a manager in a sheltered housing scheme for a local housing association.

I too wanted to be an Air Hostess or a show jumper.

I wanted to be a nurse and eventually managed to complete my degree in MH nursing as a mature student. Got there in the end ❤️

I wanted to be a Customs Officer like my Dad, who, knowing that the job for females in the Civil Service in the late 50s purely consisted of female body searches, put his foot down and stopped me. I went into banking instead, until I had my children. Once they were at Secondary school, and my father no longer had a say in it, I managed to achieve my dream and became a Customs Officer at the age of 34. I loved it, got a couple of promotions and stayed there until my retirement. Funnily enough, both our daughters followed me into C and E and are still there. The older one retires next year, which makes me feel very old!

I wanted to be a photo - journalist
I started working in photography age 15 ,never did the journalism though.Weddings,commercial and Industrial and PR,started our own business age 21 and 22 and worked until Covid when I was 66 .Loved my job .

I wanted to be a nurse. I liked the idea of helping people, by the end of the 1st fortnight I realised I didn’t particularly like bodily fluids, most especially other peoples. The dream and reality were a bit different! I finished the probation period and bowed out realizing I wasn’t as strong or brave as I thought I was. Have since always had huge admiration for those that do this demandingly hard work. They deserve medals, all of them!

Air hostess. Mam said no and that was it!

A vet. Knowing one or two amongst our friends, I am glad not to have been because of the sadness involved with putting animals down and seeing ill treated animals. Apparently in my country they have the highest suicide rate, sadly.

Ballerina, or any sort of dancer really.

Happy.

I wanted to be a teacher in Africa never did get to Africa and never became a teacher

Healthy.

When I was very young, I wanted to be an air hostess. After seeing The Sound Of Music in London, I dreamed of being one of the von Trapp singers! (I did land the part of Elsa in an amateur performance years later!)

As a teenager I fancied journalism but ultimately became a secondary school music teacher, later retraining to work in primary schools where I remained for 25 years. Involvement in the performing arts sustained me at work and beyond and continues to do so. 🎶 🎭 🩰