What did you want to be when you grew up?

A film make up artist so I could get close to Peter O'Toole.

I always wanted to be a chiropodist. My careers advice consisted of “ all your exams point to teaching , dear . Next! “
And I taught for 100 years!!

Ballerina ....

A farmer living in the countryside, a sheepdog, dressing how I liked, feeding the chickens and so on. Had to find a farmer to marry though as despite the land girls in the war no one was hiring female farm workers and buying my own place was an impossible dream.

I wanted to be a vet , but I fell pregnant when I was 17 so life took a different road.

A bus conductress as I thought I could travel a long way for free!
But my real dream was to be a teacher and I @achieved that!

I was perhaps luckier than two of you.

I wanted to be an opera singer, got into the Academy of Music and studied there, then was told that no-one really wanted coloratura sopranos at the time (mid 1970s) only dramatic sopranos were likely to get any professional work.

But I did become a flamenco dancer.

I told every one I was going to marry Prince Charles. I think i dodged that one! Lol

I wanted to be a librarian - and I did! I stayed on for A Levels and went to Birmingham school of Librarianship to do a 4 year degree course. I worked in public libraries, a university library and ended up as a school librarian for 20 years. I loved it, it’s the best job in the world.

Always wanted to work in a Library being book mad or be a Vet as I loved animals! Managed one of those & spent most of my working life in Libraries. The other just meant I would have lots of different animals. Still have lots of books but only one large beautiful boy cat & one left of many tortoises. Do spiders count as I am a bit upset today having found my fav Cellar spider caught in another spiders web. Too late to save her sadly! Hate all other spiders by the way!

Aged 8 I yearned to be a writer like Jo in Little Women and - I can still hardly believe it - my dream came true, though not rich and famous. For thirty plus years I wrote books for children then in 2019 I read an article saying ‘Too many books feature stereotypical older women who can’t use phones and don’t like sex. Gransnet and imprint HQ are looking for writers to change all that.’ It urged new writers to enter a competition to write a novel about older women challenging that stereotype. My entry was refused - because I was not a new writer though new to the women’s fiction genre - but I went on to find a publisher, and become a fan of Gransnet. I don’t post very often but I’ve gleaned such a lot from you all. All my characters are the product of my imagination - of course! - but some of you might find the occasional similarity. Wish I could urge you to read them -all writers want more readers- but that would mean breaking cover and might be seen as advertising. So I’ll just say ‘Thank you, Gransnet!’

A farmers wife.

A journalist. And I am ..

I publish a flip book magazine since Christmas 2016 however, I have written for numerous international publications ..

A wife, mother, and teacher. I had several part time jobs until my daughter started school then I was an early childhood teacher for 30 years.

I wanted to be a Vet as I love animals.
I ended up as a legal secretary for most of my working life pre children ,then when they arrived and went to school, I did all sorts of jobs from Waitressing to Care work and finally Community support.

I always wanted to be a Mum. Never wanted a career but worked in hospitals and schools . I achieved my ambition and became a Mum to 3 girls and of course I am still doing the job and have no plans to retire.😁

I wanted to be with books and eventually qualified as librarian. while training I actually got to be a mobile library assistant, the van we used was driven by a mobile van driver. It never seemed like work and I almost felt I was cheating when I got my pay. Unfortunately when I had my children I was unable to get part-time work so had to give up my library post.

I thought that I’d be a good actress like Doris Day, Vivienne Leigh, Deborah Kerr, and others of the fifties. I wasn’t. The nearest I got was to be in the chorus of a number of amateur musical productions. I was a teacher. During my student days, and the years when my children were young, I had jobs in hotel reception, and in offices. I think that I might have enjoyed a career in a secretarial/ administrative role.

A vet, or a nurse, or an archaeologist, or an author.

A dancer. Went to tap and ballet and teacher thought as I supposed to be good I should attend others as well. Funds just couldn't stretch, this I discovered was the reason after being told the classes were too far away (no car in these days) and parent's work couldn't accommodate.

I wanted to be a librarian, but the careers advisor said that I needed Latin to be a qualified librarian. I think that she thought I wanted to be a librarian in a university or something high minded like that, when I really just wanted to be in the local library. She steered me towards teaching, which although I qualified, only just, never led to a job.

Like Bestgrammaever, I wanted to be a nurse and a teacher. This was fully cemented when I was on my nursing school obstetrics/paediatrics rotation (also like Bestgrammaever I was in the States), and I (platonically) fell in love with my paediatrics instructor. Oddly, as I had never spent much time around children, but spent years as a neonatal nurse as I was slowly advancing my degrees up to a Masters when I could teach at university level. After my own children were born, I found I really did enjoy children, particularly studying growth and development. When I moved to England in my 40's and worked in a neonatal unit in London, I discovered 'nursery nurses' which don't exist in the US. I happily got a job in a small college teaching 'child care' (nursery nurses) as it is now called. When I started, I had no idea that I would be teaching 16 year olds, but I adjusted and loved it. (PS I had also dreamed of being an air hostess, but found out that you had to be at least 5ft. 2 inches which I never attained! But I managed to move to Switzerland with a partner, and then to England, and have travelled extensively around Europe, so was able to attend to my 'travel bug' desires, without having to manage a tea trolley in the aisles )

At school I wanted to be a probation officer, I actually left to train as a Nursery Nurse, rubbish money though, so I worked in a couple of factories on ‘a line’.
Then applied for and got a job as a computer operator with a large IT company, became a software project manager for twenty odd years until voluntary redundancy. Transferred my skills to project manage a large build of 3,000 houses within a LA planning team until early retirement.

Apart from wanting to be a vet - until I realised I was rubbish at Physics & Chemistry, I never had much of an ambition. I got good O levels but was expected to leave school and get a job. I worked in insurance for 14 years, rising to a good level and then worked in University admin for 25 years. I know I've just drifted through life but I am well read and a mine of (sometimes useless) information.

I wanted to be a jockey. I was certainly small enough and loved horses. However I was scared of them for a long time and would never have been brave enough to race!