What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a librarian. My Dad introduced me to the local library when I was 6 and we used to go every Saturday morning.I loved the whole aspect of it - the librariarians carrying piles of books,stacking sjhelves and stamping books. Never became a librarian but over the years I worked a lot in university libraries doing research on various projects.

I really wanted to be a Grandma!

I wanted to be a teacher but hated 6th form & left after a year. Was told by the head that I would never be anything without an education. I go a job with children with learning disabilities. Two years later I was accepted for a general nursing course SRN). Two years after qualifying I trained to be a District Nurse. I worked in a range of jobs as the kids grew up. Nursing became a graduate course so I signed up to my local university & completed a psychology degree (aged 40). I then did Masters & worked as a research nurse. Eventually I applied for a lecturing role & did this until I retired (so finally teaching . It has been a fab career & I wish i could go back to that teacher & tell her she was wrong!

For years I was determined to be a Dentist, til I found I was too thick. Went into the Navy like my Dad.

I wanted to be a police officer. When the eyesight regulations changed in the 1960s I applied and was admitted. Only served for a short time as I met my husband shortly after I joined and when we married I had to leave. Married couples were not allowed to serve together, and we knew other people who, due to shift patterns hardly saw each other, so I became a FTM. Conpleted a degree with the Open University, then library school, and became a librarian- lovedit!

My parents had their own business - they were typesetters and I was the only one out of the four of us who found it fascinating! I worked in Publishing at the Open University for two years so that I had some experience of working in the outside world, then joined the business aged 20. I stayed for 30 years until the business shut down when I was 50. I used to say I wanted to be a typewriter when I was little, but of course what I meant was typesetter! I loved it and looking back now I feel I was very fortunate to have a family business to go into which provided me with an interesting and enjoyable job.

A Love Goddess

Xxx

*write

Journalist.Or author.Never did, but still love to write, and wtite poems too.

Dreamed of being an air hostess or telephonist, got good maths and science grades so ended up in a laboratory.

I wanted to join the WRAF. The recruiting officer came to the house when I was out. My mother. sent him off with a flea in his ear. She said it was akin to being on the streets. There were so many interesting jobs in WRAF. I wanted a scientific job . I ended up in a bank as Dad knew a bank manager. Worst time of my life.

I wanted to be an architect. then I wanted to be like Mozart.

In my teenage years I wanted to badly to study art, I wanted to do Art A level, but gave into parents and school because it wasn't a real subject. I worked for SSD (Volunteer Organiser then Community Worker and Community Education as I'm a good organiser.

But I wasn't really happy, I was organising other people when I wanted to be a grass roots "doer", but did follow a long term interest by training as a Psychotherapist as part of my work on SSD.

In my 40's at last I did a part time Fine Art degree and worked/taught Art, and finally added a proper Yoga Qualification, and its those two that I finally pursued as a working life.

I wish I hadn't felt driven by family pressures really to "have to do a professional job.

In my 20's (in the vivid and fascinating 1970's) I did lots of alternative stuff and wish I'd trusted my instincts to carry on and not feel guilty for not having a "proper job"

Never mind, I got there in the end 🙂

At primary school I wanted to be a lighthouse keeper as that was a useful job and wouldn’t involve talking to people . I was happy on my own & thought spiral staircases would be fun. One time I said I wanted to be a lady which made my parents laugh. My mum said I’d have to marry a lord to do that. I couldn’t see what was so funny. It seemed sensible as I’d have acres of land, a lake, maybe some deer, and a big house. I had plans of running residential courses for kids from cities who would have fun learning stuff in the countryside. At secondary school I wanted to write novels or be an artist but my parents shunned those ideas saying novelists and artists only made money once they were dead. Afterwards one of my cousins went to art college so I wished I’d pushed harder to do that. Most of all I wanted to be safe but didn’t say that to anyone. Happily I met DH (not a lord) who also had experienced violence in his childhood so my adult life has been safe. I’m yet to write a book or become an artist.

I didn't want a job at all, the options from school were predictably dreary and were only supposed to fill the gap until marriage to a local farmers son. I left home at 16 to escape and ended up as an academic at a London uni. Actually only realised my dream of not having to work when I retired. Lots of fun being a pensioner but how much nicer the lifestyle would be if I was still in my 20s....

A messenger

When my parents took me out and about, aged 4-5, all I saw everywhere was women busy at typewriters (circa 1959). If anyone asked me what I wanted to be, I always replied, “…a typewriter…”. Went to Uni, couldn’t find a job, ended up doing a secretarial course, where I finally learned to touch type 😊Still couldn’t really settle in work, ended up in primary teaching, where my typing skills did prove useful! Still at my happiest tapping away at a keyboard 😊

I always wanted to be a teacher….and I was,for 43 years, I loved every minute.

Astronomer.

Became an accountant ☹️.

I wanted to be a mummy and have lots of children. I don’t think I realised that I’d have to get a job first.

I always wanted to join the police until an optician told me at 14 that my eyes were so bad I had no chance!

After I stopped wanting to be a nun, lol, I wanted to write. For the longest time I wanted to be a journalist. I applied for an apprenticeship on a local paper but unfortunately was told I needed qualifications in English (which I had) and maths, which I didn’t. Sadly my dream didn’t come true and I ended up working in offices, then as a computer operator and finally as a partner in my now ex husbands business. I’ve never stopped wondering what kind of journalist I would have made.

I wanted to be a hairdresser but my sensible head said that if I got married and had children I wouldn’t be able to take it up after so I went to college and learned shorthand and typing and that’s where I ended up … in an office …. boring! In those days mobile hairdressing wasn’t heard of unfortunately.

A family doctor,a wife and a mum with a garden, dogs and chickens.
I'm very blessed as fulfilled all those hopes

I wanted to be a nurse and I ended up as one

Like GrandMac, when I was very small I wanted to be a bus conductor or conductress as I think they were called then. I probably hadn’t experienced many other women working outside the home, but there was also the glamour of working on the big red London double deckers and operating a ticket machine, with different coloured tickets for different fares.

On leaving school I went for an interview as a journalist with the Daily Mirror but was (quite kindly) rejected as I’m sure my interviewer recognised that I would never have been tough enough for that type of journalism.
I left school at sixteen without telling my parents beforehand and only found out when I was saying goodbye to one totally shocked teacher that, “ We all thought that you would stay on for A levels and go to University.” I can remember thinking why the hell didn’t anyone say that to me and encourage me then, but of course didn’t say anything. I drifted into working in a solicitor’s office for a couple of years which I thoroughly enjoyed and then left to work in one of the London banks. Unfortunately the weekend before I started I seriously injured my spine and by the time it was diagnosed and realised that the pain I was in was not just due to travelling in the rush hour, the damage was done.
I ended up not working for over two years although the bank paid me in full for six months and then I think a limited amount for the six months after that.
I went back into reception/ telelphonist work and eventually met and married DH.