When I was a kid, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. That is, until I saw a page of houseplans for the house my parents were having built. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to be an Architect. I could look at a set of plans and completely visualize what the house looked like on the inside. It was soooo cool, and totally a geek thing. By the time I was in 5th grade, I had designed probably a dozen mansion-sized houses. And they were ALL mine, because before anything, I was gonna be rich. Architecture was just a thing that I'd use to pass the hours away during the day.
As I started to mature, I realized that this fantasy had to have at least some bearing in reality. Where was I gonna get all of that money? It was at this point that I knew I was gonna be a Rock Star. Me, my best friend, this cheerleader girl that I was going to eventually marry, and a nice girl that I picked out for him (damned egocentric, wasn't I?) were all going to be members of the most successful band EVER. We would have personal fortunes in the billions, and the whole damn world was going to revolve around us. I designed a killer mansion on the Malibu bluff, and life was looking pretty sweet. *Problem* Although I have a pretty darn good singing voice, I wasn't brilliant enough to write anything of my own. I wouldn't be very successful in the music industry after all (although so many people are now making big bucks off of cover songs).
I would have to be a Heart Surgeon. Yes, a world-famous heart surgeon! And I would work at the UCLA Medical Center! (Can you tell that I absolutely love UCLA?) That dream lived on for a few years until once again, my failing grades determined that I would not be hacking into chests (legally) anytime in the forseeable future.
I started to become interested in institutional design. Insititutional as in "School", not "Prison" (although most kids agree there's hardly any difference). I designed a killer high school that my imaginary kids could go to in Malibu. But then, I saw picture of the Malibu bluff, and there just wasn't room for a school that size. So, I moved it up the canyon to a place called "Las Virgenes", and the school continued to grow... and grow... until it had its own sports complex, ampitheater, football stadium, TV station, dormitories, etc. So, my next wanna-be job was School Administrator, because I had just finished designing this amazing place, and damned if I didn't want to stay there! And oversee everything. Yep. But I'm about as qualified to be a school administrator as... as... Homer Simpson is to run a nuclear plant. (Oh wait, he does that.)
I started thinking about Architect again, and setting my sights on UCLA School of Architecture (bought the campus poster and hung it on my wall, and all that) when "Top Gun" came out. And then I knew I wanted to be a Navy Pilot. And ride a bad-ass motorcycle. And have some hot, sexy babe fall completely head over heels for me. Because I looked good in Navy Whites. And had a killer tan. And did I mention the part about flying the multi-million dollar supersonic fighter plane? Yeah, I'd be the star of the show at a 20-year class reunion (egads!... That's next year!)
I took the ASVAB test (Military aptitude test) in high school, and scored in the 97th percentile, without even really trying. I just took it to get out of class for two hours. I had military recruiters calling me for weeks, but unfortunately, I shied away from those opportunities at that time. I regret not having taken advantage of some of those opportunities; they would have offered me structure that I was very much lacking in my life for several years to come.
I went to college, experienced freedom - true freedom - for the first time in my life. With the pittance that I earned working at a little convenience store, and my best friend's car, I could do anything. Including flunk out of my entire first year of college. A few years later, in a fit of insanity, I registered at ITT Techinical Institute so that I could be a CAD Designer, which at the time was a possible backdoor way into the architecture industry. I attended, learned, and kicked total ass in my grades! High Honor roll for almost every quarter I was there, and I was actually learning things like math and physics... actually learning them (totally unlike high school).
A few years later, I decided that I really, really liked new houses, so I enrolled in the Building Construction / Construction Management program at another college, and got within a semester of graduating, but ran out of money to continue. I wanted to be a Contractor, but a few years into the whole thing, I saw how really "feast or famine" the entire contractor thing was here in Utah. It was truly dog eat dog.
So, I've floated around a few different jobs over the past so many years before landing at my next career obsession: Chiropractor.
For those of you who have read this post, you'll know why. In short, I have a doctor now who is pretty much 100% effective at diagnosing and treating problems in not only myself, but my kids as well. He literally can rid me of an allergy in less than three minutes. I was amazed and enthralled. I asked where I could go to learn something like that. He said "you learn it from someone who knows it, and I will teach it to you if you go through chiropractic school before I retire." How could I refuse that? You would really have to know this guy and some of the amazing things he can do to know why I'm so excited.
So that's me.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
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