What did you want to do for a career as a child/teen?

[HillGoose]

I was thinking about how until I was 18, my life dream was to become a reclusive shut-in and live in the woods and never talk to nobody.

Now I just want to manage a hedge fund... boring...

[Lechasseur]

As a kid I wanted to be a historian, as a teenager I wanted to be a politician and now I'm almost done with my bachelor's degree with the aim of going into international business.

[mvd10]

I was thinking about how until I was 18, my life dream was to become a reclusive shut-in and live in the woods and never talk to nobody.

Now I just want to manage a hedge fund... boring...

If you want to manage a hedge fund in 2040 you might as well start transitioning yourself into a computer. Poor hedge fund managers will be the first victims of automation and by the 2030s studying finance will be the equivalent of studying cultural antropology or so today (no offense). As an economics student who aspired to work in the financial sector I've become resigned to the fact that by 2040 I'll be either unemployed or an economics teacher in some place nobody has ever heard of in the Dutch Bible Belt or (pls no) Groningen (I hate children, especially when they're in puberty). Meanwhile my econometrics/financial engineering/theoretical physics friends will all be millionaires .

As a kid I wanted to be a historian, as a teenager I wanted to be a politician and now I'm almost done with my bachelor's degree with the aim of going into international business.

Dude, that's literally me.  When I was 6 I wanted to become an archaeologist, when I was 12 I wanted to become a historian, when I was 16 I wanted to become a politician and now I'm torn between economic consulting or doing something more management/strategy-related. Or maybe even investment banking (still have 2 more years to decide ).

[HillGoose]

I was thinking about how until I was 18, my life dream was to become a reclusive shut-in and live in the woods and never talk to nobody.

Now I just want to manage a hedge fund... boring...

If you want to manage a hedge fund in 2040 you might as well start transitioning yourself into a computer. Poor hedge fund managers will be the first victims of automation and by the 2030s studying finance will be the equivalent of studying cultural antropology or so today (no offense). As an economics student who aspired to work in the financial sector I've become resigned to the fact that by 2040 I'll be either unemployed or an economics teacher in some place nobody has ever heard of in the Dutch Bible Belt or (pls no) Groningen (I hate children, especially when they're in puberty). Meanwhile my econometrics/financial engineering/theoretical physics friends will all be millionaires .

As a kid I wanted to be a historian, as a teenager I wanted to be a politician and now I'm almost done with my bachelor's degree with the aim of going into international business.

Dude, that's literally me.  When I was 6 I wanted to become an archaeologist, when I was 12 I wanted to become a historian, when I was 16 I wanted to become a politician and now I'm torn between economic consulting or doing something more management/strategy-related. Or maybe even investment banking (still have 2 more years to decide ).

thats not true

#robotsdonthavehumanjudgement

[dead0man]

Commercial pilot via the USAF, I got as far as 40ish hours flying a tiny plane before I realized it wasn't for me.

[Mr. Smith]

I wanted to be a Lawyer for a time, then I wanted to be an economist, then I wanted to be a potter, and then as my writing skills got better, now I'm on the road to becoming a teacher.

[junior chįmp]

Cartoonist

[Torie]

I wanted to be a lawyer around age 5, and stayed the course. I did get interested along the way in finance and economics, and did a brief detour to pick up an MBA.

[America's Sweetheart ❤/𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖞 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗]

Not surprisingly, I wanted to be a porn star.

[junior chįmp]

Not surprisingly, I wanted to be a porn star.

Did you make it?

[HillGoose]

My life dream would be to be on "My 600-lb life" and lose weight then be on "Hoarders" but then go to rehab and then get out of rehab then be on "Extreme Couponers" and win "The Biggest Loser" then get addicted to meth and be on "Intervention" then go through rehab again then gain weight and go back on "My 600-lb life" and start the cycle all over again

[America's Sweetheart ❤/𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖞 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗]

Not surprisingly, I wanted to be a porn star.

Did you make it?

If making amateur sex tapes and posting them to porn sites counts, then yes. Otherwise no

[junior chįmp]

Not surprisingly, I wanted to be a porn star.

Did you make it?

If making amateur sex tapes and posting them to porn sites counts, then yes. Otherwise no

Never give up

[America's Sweetheart ❤/𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖞 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗]

Not surprisingly, I wanted to be a porn star.

Did you make it?

If making amateur sex tapes and posting them to porn sites counts, then yes. Otherwise no

Never give up

I won't, believe me.

[Lechasseur]

I was thinking about how until I was 18, my life dream was to become a reclusive shut-in and live in the woods and never talk to nobody.

Now I just want to manage a hedge fund... boring...

If you want to manage a hedge fund in 2040 you might as well start transitioning yourself into a computer. Poor hedge fund managers will be the first victims of automation and by the 2030s studying finance will be the equivalent of studying cultural antropology or so today (no offense). As an economics student who aspired to work in the financial sector I've become resigned to the fact that by 2040 I'll be either unemployed or an economics teacher in some place nobody has ever heard of in the Dutch Bible Belt or (pls no) Groningen (I hate children, especially when they're in puberty). Meanwhile my econometrics/financial engineering/theoretical physics friends will all be millionaires .

As a kid I wanted to be a historian, as a teenager I wanted to be a politician and now I'm almost done with my bachelor's degree with the aim of going into international business.

Dude, that's literally me.  When I was 6 I wanted to become an archaeologist, when I was 12 I wanted to become a historian, when I was 16 I wanted to become a politician and now I'm torn between economic consulting or doing something more management/strategy-related. Or maybe even investment banking (still have 2 more years to decide ).

For your reply to HillGoose, yeah unfortunately I think most people who aren't involved in the hard sciences or technology will be hit by automation sooner or later but there isn't much you can do about that, not everyone can become a scientist.

Oh and then for your comment about having to become a teacher, that's kind of the whole point of why I went into economics, in order to avoid having to teach hopefully I'll get into the international business program of one of the schools in my area, then I can do something that would allow me to accomplish my life goals (to a large degree I picked that because I speak a couple of languages and it would allow me the freedom to move around and more or less live where I want, while being able to put food on the table. Hopefully I can do that and hopefully those types of jobs won't be automated as well.

Oh then for the geography part, Groningen is in the North (maybe Frisia (Friesland), or is that Heerenveen?) right? And where's the Dutch Bible Belt? The South of the Netherlands? Outside of the South I've only been once, to Amsterdam but I've been to Maastricht several times (last time about 3 months ago) and I actually quite like the city, is that the area you're trying to avoid?

Then for your reply to my comment, I guess we have quite a bit in common then haha. My original project was to go study law for a year to prepare the ''concours'' (an entrance exam but where you passing or failing depends on your overall ranking rather than your grade, I think there were about 1400 spots for 12000 candidates) for the IEP (Political Studies Institute) but I missed out by a few hundred spots so I went for my plan B, economics.

[muon2]

As a child I wanted to be a scientist. By the time I was a teenager I had a telescope, microscope, rock collection, a chemistry lab in the basement, and access to a computer at school (when few people thought of them as anything but military machines and science fiction). Not surprisingly, I became a scientist and professor.

[Grassroots]

Politician, businessman, police officer, or serving in military. Currently, I am taking business in college, and i'm in the ROTC, planning on jumpstarting my political career once out of the military.

[RINO Tom]

Professional baseball player

[HillGoose]

dawgs I just realized if authomation actually "takes my job" I can actually just go be a hermit in the woods!!!! kick ass!!!

[Del Tachi]

I wanted to be a lawyer for a while, then a lobbyist; now I'd like to work in economic development or urban planning. 

[HillGoose]

I wanted to be an architect. Once I discovered I have no talent for the graphic arts, my ambitions faded away. I'm uncertain of what my life's path is now, but I hope it will lead me to happiness.

go on "Hoarders" or "My 600-lb life" or be a hermit in the woods.

thats what i would do if i didnt have a direction

[Oldiesfreak1854]

For most of my childhood, I never settled on one thing I though I wanted to be.  For a while, I flirted with a single possible career, then moved on.  When I was in middle school, I wanted to be a doctor; during my freshman year of high school, I thought I wanted to become an animator.  It wasn't until toward the end of my sophomore year that I decided what I wanted to do with my life: a political scientist and consultant.

[bagelman]

As a kid I wanted to be a scientist. In second grade my lego construction was a science lab with automated machines.

[MarkD]

As a teenager I wanted to become a teacher. I did become one but it was very temporary; I could not handle the task of classroom discipline so I quit.

[Rookie Yinzer]

I swore I was going to be an obstetrician. LOL.