What did you want to be when you grew up?

Staragate, ADN, ASN, RN · May 30, 2011

I wanted to be a ranger. How fun would that be to play with nature. Hike and count animals all the time. I gave it up as a kid for being unattainable. Now as an adult, I lead junior ranger camps as a volunteer for a national park. It's a good compromise.

greenfiremajick · May 30, 2011

I wanted to be an "ice cream man..." They had the cool truck, the yummy cold goodies, the loud music, and the power to make people run to them with their money flapping in the wind....LOL....Of course I was going to be an "ice cream (wo)man...."

And did it have to do with nursing?
I had 3 things I wanted to be: A nurse, a scientist, and a special education teacher. I cannot remember a time in my life where I wanted to be something different.
I'm kind of all 3 :) I did a lot of work with special needs people as a nurse. The scientist part comes through with using your nursing judgement and trying to put the pieces together with the Dr. to make a clear diagnosis :) Also, I am attaining my degrees in Psychology and Sociology... social sciences...
A lot of nurses I speak with have wanted to be a nurse, teacher, or vet... So, I'm interested: What did you want to be (who knows, maybe I'll do a research paper on it... LOL)?
~Demy

greenfiremajick · May 30, 2011

maybe even a marine archeologist (do thise even exist?). If I ever changed my career, I would love to do something along those lines.

When/if you change careers and become a marine archaeologist, you need to become famous for discovering Atlantis!! :) Yes, I know there have been several discoveries where people claim it is the "real" Atlantis, but YOU will be the one to find the real one and prove it!!!!

greenfiremajick · May 30, 2011

"one's real life is often the life that one does not lead." oscar wilde

"forget regret or life is yours to miss." jonathan larson

"never regret. if it's good, it's wonderful. if it's bad, it's experience." victoria holt

i am naturally artistically blessed.
i drew on everything!
my mom (an excellent artist) would not even get mad when she would open a book and found all the blank pages drawn on.
classmates used to hand me reams of paper so i could make pictures for them.
this was cool until i got busted drawing naughty pictures in the 5th grade.
my teachers always had to talk to my mom about how i spent more time drawing than paying attention!
i was in honors art in high school.
my art teacher looked me in the eye and said, "you better do something with your talent. i'll be really mad if i catch you bagging groceries 5 years from now!"
well, he would not have caught me bagging groceries, but cleaning bums...
i fully meant to be an art teacher, but i made a wrong turn at albuquerque.
i still regret not following that path, to this day.

greenfiremajick · May 30, 2011

I only ever wanted to be a nurse. But my mom thought for some reason that the best way to encourage a child was to discourage them at every turn, so it took me a little longer than most.

Go, Jennifer!

katnurseswims · May 30, 2011

A Nurse, since the age of five when my Dad bought me a Clara Barton doll and book at the hospital gift shop. I had a bout of gastroenteritis and hated getting poked with needles. It was such a sweet gesture from my Dad.

franciscangypsy · May 30, 2011

I always wanted to be a Catholic nun (religious sister). In high school, I went on a "Nun Run", visiting a bunch of sisters in the DC area. One particular order talked about how they took care of the sick (I think it was Mother Teresa's order) and I thought "I could do that". That got me thinking and the summer before my senior year of high school, I volunteered at a hospital and studied for my CNA trying to test my endurance, trying to "tire myself out of the idea". I worked in a nursing home my senior year and wasn't tired of nursing, so here I am today, almost 2 years an RN, and very glad I went on that particular Nun Run.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · May 30, 2011

I wanted to be a pediatrician, but becoming a pediatric nurse is more my natural style.

missvictoriat · May 30, 2011

LOL..this is a very interesting thread.

I always wanted to be an OB/GYN DOCTOR or a TEACHER. Only up until high school, did I change my mind about wanting to be a nurse. I attended a health and science focused high school and we learned alot about health professions and linked up with a community college and vocational school so that we could take classes and the exam to become a certified nurses assistant by the time we graduated.

I saw a powerpoint about the nursing profession, and how you could go into various types of specialties and areas (OB, ER, MED-SURG, PSYCH), how flexible the work hours are (three 12hr shifts or five 8hr shifts), and how quick you could get in and out of school, if you desired (go the ADN route or the BSN route and then take the NCLEX and you're DONE). This appealed to me more than becoming a doctor, working 40-60 hours a week, if NOT MORE; being on call, being in school for four years for a bachelors degree, plus four years of medical school plus 1-3 years of residency!! And then once you choose a specialty, like internal medicine, you can't change career paths 5 years later and say, "hey i wanna be a OB/GYN now". But as a nurse, you could be a medsurg nurse for 5 years, then change and be an ER nurse. This REALLY INTRIGUED ME.

I LOVE BEING A NURSE and I wouldn't change it for the WORLD!

chicookie, BSN, RN · May 30, 2011

I wanted to be Peter Pan. Until my mother informed me that I was a girl and only boys could be Peter Pan.

After that I wanted to be a "Weather girl" and then after that I wanted to be in medicine which turned into nursing. Now I want to be a graphic design artist/photographer. I haven't stopped growing up it seems.

Irishpsychintern · May 30, 2011

Well................................ First off it was an archaeologist, , , , , somehow I ended up in care of the elderly--- distantly related in a roundabout kind of way... Then I wanted to be in "án garda siochána"... Thats the police over here. Then it was "Oglaigh na hÉireann" which is our defence forces... Then by some strange twist of fate I ended up being a baker. Nursing came along quite by accident but it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Long live nurses !

Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN · May 30, 2011

When I was six I was always the army nurse for what ever the boys were playing, cowboys and indians, civil war,war, and cops and robbers, I would kiss them and make them well.But I never wanted to be a nurse. I just wanted to kiss the boys. When I thought about what I wanted to be it was marine biologist,teacher or a bareback horse rider in a circus. I just tripped and fell into nursing,liked it, so I went to school. Just retired recently after 38 yrs. And I still liked to kiss the boys. :yeah: