Friday, August 8, 2008

I never want to be a....when I grow up

Alright, so I have spent the past few days going mildly insane trying to find a place to live next year. I have never in my life dealt with more sleazy real estate agents, seen more vomit-inducing apartments, been so incredibly indecisive, entirely lost my appetite for days at a time (well, except when I was studying for the MCAT), made so many "I need you to help me calm down" emergency phone calls to my mom, worried so much about whether something would be acceptable to the other people involved and other such things that are both causes and symptoms of temporary insanity.

Anyway, I finally made a decision and even though I'm not going to be saving as much money as I hoped (I shake my fist at you Brookline parking regulations) I think it will be a great place to live, and I really have no clue why I was so worried. Actually, that's not true, I do know why I was so worried: I'm a pretty flexible, easy-going person and am pretty adaptable to whatever situation I find myself in, but this decision wasn't just for me, it was also for three other people and if they aren't happy with my decision it is all my fault, and the thought of making my future roommates unhappy apparently stresses me out. So basically I realized that I probably worry too much about things I really can't control. Wow, just writing about it is making me anxious again, so I'd better stop.

This experience has been quite illuminating in other ways too. Now, in addition to knowing that I never want to be a garbage collector, mathematician, pre-school teacher, exterminator, saleswoman, or one of those phone computer technician people I now know that I never want a job remotely related to real estate. And believe it or not, this is progress. I had a really hard time deciding what I wanted to be when I grow up, and I'm still convinced that I would have been very happy as a flautist, environmentalist, professional equestrian, tap dancer, drug abuse counselor, veterinarian or any of the other professions I have considered and at some point or another pursued. (Of course this doesn't include all of the others I have thought would be fun and still might be fun....who knows!...and now you know why it took me so long to finish school).

So, my question is what did you used to (or still do) want to be when you grow up? Or if you're like me and go about it the opposite way, what do you never want to be when you grow up?

4 comments:

Joanna said...

When I was six, I loved my first grade school teacher and wanted to be exactly like her when I grew up, so my first dream job was elementary school teacher.

As a child, I could only see myself doing jobs that I actually saw in everyday life: teacher, bus driver, and mom.

Heidi said...

I wanted to be a biologist and then an anthropologist.

Mostly I just liked watching things and making all kinds of crazy assumptions about them. ;-)

And, I think I would never want to be a: bed-pan washer, shot-giver, desk-job worker, orrrrrr...a clown.

kia said...

Jo, what happened to that dream of being a bus driver? Too bad...

And Pinto, it sounds like I'm going to be a lot of the things you never wanted to be. (I'm sure I'll be doing plenty of bed-pan washing and shot giving as a med student and doctor). Funny.

Victoria Blanchard said...

Well, technically, if you had asked me I would have rattled off a long list of professions including ballerina, artist, writer, scientist . . . But when it comes right down to it, I never saw myself being anything but a mom and a free-lance writer. That's still what I'm hoping for!