Inspired by What did you want to be.. What real career dream did you give up?

[WhateverLolaWants]

Sort of. I graduated with a degree in Fashion Merchandising in December 2007 and planned to find a job ASAP and get out of town since my hometown is not exactly a fashion mecca (I wanted corporate retail.. a buying position particularly). However, three days before I graduated, my father was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. I ultimately decided to stay in the area because I couldn't possibly leave my mother alone if the worst scenario played out. I merchandise a golf shop now, and while I love it, it's not a job that pays particularly well because I only work 10 months out of the year. It's frustrating to have these unfulfilled dreams, but my family is my first obligation.

 

[JR6ooo4]

NOt really my dream career. I would have preferred to do something in auto racing. But I am giving up thirty years of service none the less:

I have to leave our family business...
It is always slow in winter, but it is really bad this year. Last winter we used up what little savings we had. We hoped it would be a little better over the summer but we still only got paid three out of four weeks, or less, and those were the good months. There was no saving possible...

The job is directly related to real estate whether through sales or construction. It seems the only companies that make money are the ones that do a really poor job??? They do 13 jobs in one day when we can only do 4 a day if we are really pushing. I see their product and it does not meet minimum state standards. Even the department of professional regulation does nothing when we show them their results. We do quality work and it has become apparent that the public does not respect or want that.

I studied 8 years to be eligible to take the land surveyor in training exam. I passed that and then performed the mandatory 4 years of responsible charge before taking and passing the licensing exam. I have thirty years in this career. Dw and I had ideas to try and save the company. Like giving it to her so we could be a WBE (womans business enterprise) that would entice larger firms (that have to meet those quotas for govmt jobs etc.) to do business with us. Dad (the owner) would have none of it. He wants to give the company to his sons. My brother and I. But there is nothing to give but debt. And he wants to give the company 50/50 when my brother has no license, etc... He is basically an hourly employee.

Thanks for listening to my vent. It will be a long time before we can go back to Disney.

Mikeeee

 

[Stacerita]

When I first went to college I wanted to get a geologist. Seismologist or Vulcanologist to be exact. But once I had my DD, I knew I couldn't keep that career choice.

 

[ladycollector]

I wanted to be a graphics designer. I self taught myself photoshop and took illustrator classes, etc. But the competition and lack of stability scared me away, and after realizing I was good at it, I ended up majoring in Accounting.

So I graduate next year with my bachelors in Accounting and then onto becoming a CPA. I don't regret it, but I do miss being able to express my creativity in photoshop and photo editing.

 

[landshark]

Through at least my entire high school years (if not more, I don't remember that well) I had wanted to be a chef--badly. When I was younger, I loved watching shows like Great Chefs and, while I thought it would be so neat to wind up on one of those someday, I really just wanted to be a chef plain and simple. I took a basic cooking class in school and then took the vocational class where you actually worked/learned in a small kitchen environment and got to serve fellow students and the public--loved it. I even took my college placement tests at a junior college elsewhere in the state because they offered an actual culinary program.

Well, something happened and I don't really know what. I took a graphic arts vocational course in my senior year and was apparently quite good at it. Somewhere along the way I realized that maybe I wasn't suited for being a chef. The kitchen conditions, the long hours, etc... I just got realistic with myself and gave up on that dream, instead switching to graphic design. I'm good at both, but my heart's still with cooking.

Anymore, cooking and eating are my passions/obsessions. Where some people like to buy clothes or music, I'd rather spend that money on groceries or eating out or books about food. I still don't think I'm cut out for being an actual chef, but I still hope that someday I might be able to get out of design and have my own little bakery or cafe. I don't love design like I do cooking, it's just something that pays the bills and allows me to indulge in other things for now.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I wanted to be a writer.

But the pay is just abymsal unless you get to be a Name.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Soon before I graduated with my degree in civil engineering, I saw posters in the engineering department of my university advertising that Disney was accepting applications for imagineers. I've always loved Disney and would have loved at least to try for the ultimate engineering job! However, my husband & I got married after our junior year of college, and he had already decided at that point that he wanted to continue his education to become an optometrist. We have a terrific life and his job allowed me to stay at home with our children. I do sometimes wonder what it would've been like to design attractions for Disney.

 

[WDWtraveler27]

I wanted to be a zoologist. I was getting ready to go down that path until
i noticed my heart lies at Imagineering. And now I'm making my travels down this path.

 

[Tink888]

I wanted to be a writer.

But the pay is just abymsal unless you get to be a Name.

I'd still like to do that....but I'm not even sure how I'd get started.....

In high school I wanted to move to New York, go to college and become either a lawyer or write for a magazine. No money for college though and I was afraid to move to the city by myself. Instead, I went to a business school and became a paralegal. I got married and had a family and it has been very fulfilling and I'm happy but I do wonder sometimes what life would be like had I gone for it.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. But I did badly in one high school English course and that discouraged me. I was very good at math and science, though, and I decided I wanted to be either a doctor or a vet. But after I got married (while still in university, doing my undergrad degree in Chemistry), my husband told me that he thought it was wrong for a wife to make more money than her husband, so I couldn't go into either of those careers. So I started doing the teacher training program, but realized I hated the school system (not the kids, the system). Decided I'd rather have my own kids and homeschool.

I still did some writing and won a few short story contests. Had four kids, and decided to get my journalism degree, so I did it at night, one course at a time. Got divorced soon after I got my degree, and have been supporting my family as a writer ever since. (Yes, you can do it!) It's hard work but in a way I went full circle - back to my first dream. I even do some work writing for the Veterinary College in my community and enjoy that very much.

Teresa

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I had absolutely no dreams to be anything growing up. I wasn't good at any single subject in school. I was painfully average and surrounded by kids bred to be superstars so I never stood out in any way. I had absolutely no talents, no sports, not one single activity I was part of. I had no mentors in my life, and my parents were very hands-off and detached. No one encouraged me to be anything. Even more so, I had no desire of marrying and having kids. I just had no clue for the future, nothing to plan and strive for.

In college, I did pick a major - computer - mainly because my dad was a computer engineer and no one could think of anything else. I went nowhere in that career (mainly due to lack of connections to the field, and I simply didn't fit in with the corporate cultures). So now well into adulthood and still career-less, I decided to get my masters in Library Science, mainly because once again, I couldn't think of anything else to do. I had no great love of reading, but it was a female field and "nerds" like me could fit in. So I got my degree and fortunately did land a job, but it doesn't pay well. But I am functional at it, so I hope not to change careers again!

But I still feel to this day, there was no dream job waiting for me, no calling in life. It was just a matter of finding something I was functional at enough to bring home a paycheck.

 

[beautybelle]

I wanted to go into Marine Biology when I was in school. I always done very well in school but there was no money to attend and my parents were'nt really into me getting a higher education. They're both old school and I quote "You'll get married and your husband will take care of you" so I got a job and took what little money I made and began taking classes at our local community college, then my car broke down and I had to buy a new car and then instead of paying for college I had to make car payments.
To make things worse my mom and dad offered to send my brother to college and he WOULDNT go.
I have taken a class here and a class there over the years and I am beginning a RN program this year. God willing I will one day become an RN in a childrens hospital in NICU, PICU, or Oncology. This is my current dream.