As a child, I remember from an early age being asked by adults, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My answers back then, I am sure, were the typical ones – teacher, nurse, ballerina, mom, actress, etc. These vocations sounded perfect when I was teaching my dolls and stuffed animals, bandaging an imaginary cut on one of them, dancing around my room, feeding, bathing, and changing the clothes on my tiny tears doll, or entertaining my parents with a made-up play.
I still didn’t have an answer to that question when I entered college. I went from being an economics major to finishing in communications concentrating on journalism and advertising.
Years ago, someone had the idea to take a blackboard and write their child’s name, height, weight, age, what grade they were entering, who their teachers were, the name of their school, what they loved to do, their favorite color, favorite book, and what they wanted to be when they grew up. It would have been interesting if that was something that was done when I was a child, so I could look back and laugh. I am glad that my daughters do it for their children.
In looking through my online photos, I found pictures of my grandchildren holding the boards. A few are missing, probably on the cloud, but it was fun to read where their young minds were as to what they wanted and, in some cases, still look to as a career path.
My oldest grandchild, Ella, only had three years available. 5th-7th grade had her interested in being a veterinarian, followed by an architect, and lastly an architect or a veterinarian. Since then, in talking to her, she has mentioned being a doctor, but as she has an aversion to seeing blood, I imagine that is no longer on her list. She is a sophomore in high school, loves math, science, is brilliant and talented, with any number of possibilities and plenty of time to choose a profession.
Her brother, Jack, had six boards I could find. His first was from kindergarten where he claimed he wanted to be a doctor. This was one and done, as the following years, with the exception of Lego engineer, were to be a professional soccer player. He loves the sport, and is a very good player, so I hope to be there to cheer him on if he achieves this goal.
The last of that clan, Hudson, went from veterinarian to super hero – quite a lofty goal for a first grader, but that idea changed to botanist and drummer – nice to have something to fall back on, and most recently, farmer.
Granddaughter Gray wanted to be a ballerina for two years, then an artist, also for two years, and the last two years, an author. I can definitely see her continuing on that path, not only writing, but illustrating, as well. Her stories and art never cease to amaze me.
Her brother, Smith, chose two I understand, but in between being a video gamer and video game developer, he wanted to be a hydrologist. I still shake my head wondering where that came from. Reading from the age of four, it must have been from a book he read.
Granddaughter Avery went from doctor, like her dad, and scientist, to just a scientist, and now, a teacher. I imagine the next few years of her board will have an abundance of new lines of work. At seven years old, that’s how it should be.
Finally, the youngest, Hugh, at five years of age, for his first board, proclaimed the career of doctor as his choice. He is Avery’s brother, so it makes sense for him to want to be like his dad.
My greatest hope is that, even though I will be pretty (okay, very) old, I will see what their future holds for each of them. Wherever life leads them, I hope they will be happy, healthy, and fulfilled.
