I was thinking about the different dreams I had as a child and as a teenager and I thought, “Imagine if I had actually pursued those careers, would I have been different?”

So let’s explore that!

Fire Fighter

Yes, I very strongly wanted to be a fire fighter. It’s a noble profession. You basically save lives on the daily. They’re so amazing. I admire them greatly.

I felt like I could do it and I was actually going to pursue it until I was told that you have to be able to lift a human being over your head and I thought, “Oh no way am I strong enough.” So I gave up on the idea.

Now that I have gone to the gym and know my own strength I call bull shit on myself and those who doubted me. I could have done it but that’s another story, another life.

Hair Dresser

I love playing with hair. Yes, that’s it.

I like doing my hair and doing other peoples hair and so what better profession than being a hair dresser.

However my mom told me you don’t make a lot of money being a hair dresser, you only make money if you own the shop. (The same was said when I wanted to be a mechanic but not by my mom).

I genuinely wanted to be a hair dresser, hence why my mom even knew about it. I feel like I should have gone for it because making little money is better than making no money like I do with my current profession (author). Also my friend became a hair dresser and through saving she was able to pay for her car, car insurance and rent a house with her boyfriend. So we shouldn’t have knocked it.

Actress

I pursued this until I was seventeen. I have talked about this on here before and it was the passion of my early life. I still love acting and storytelling. I’m glad I still get to tell stories through my writing.

The main reason I stopped pursuing it is because of my religion. There are certain things I won’t do and roles I won’t do and I thought, “When starting out will I even have the option to say no?”

There are actresses who have done it, said no and made gains but they worked haaard and really struggled. They also had support from others. I had no support so I didn’t see how I could do it.

This is the one I regret the most to be honest.

Psychologist

I don’t know if I wanted to do this because I’m nosy or what.

I mean I like knowing how the human mind works and what makes people tick and all that.

However the world is a disturbing place and I was not sure I could handle knowing everyone’s dark secrets or their pain.

Now that I know I’m an empath it’s a good thing I didn’t pursue this career. I’m the type to carry other’s pain and yeah… it would not have ended well.

Marine Biologist

I love marine life and honestly I wanted any excuse to swim to fish, to meet whales and to research them.

This passion has been re sparked as I’ve been watching documentaries and hearing how marine biologists learn and conduct their research. Honestly it is one of the coolest jobs. The sea is a mystery that hasn’t been fully discovered yet.

In the same vein I also wanted to research land animals like big cats. I love big cats. It looks like the best job.

Lawyer

I’m African and my mom is very on it about education especially when I was younger. There are careers that please African parents that is anything to do with medicine, maths and law.

Out of the three I liked law and so I thought perfect, I can be a lawyer. My mom was most pleased and it looked like that was what I was going to become.

*laughs*

Anyway when I realised what the job actually entails I realised it wasn’t for me. I thought it was arguing for justice and making sure criminals went down for their crimes but it’s mostly paper work and some law systems are so corrupt that the criminals get off. How is it possible that someone who commits rape can get a lower sentence than someone who smokes or deals weed?

How is it that the system punishes certain races more than others?

I didn’t pursue law and yet I still sit here mad.

Police Officer

If I had a way of doing this I would.

I want to help people and to bring justice where it is needed. I feel like with the police, when they’re good, they do a lot of good for the community.

I want to help those who are vulnerable and can’t defend themselves from the evil in the world.

Paramedic

Another noble profession that I would still pursue now.

They’re the first people you see when you’re hurt. When I fainted in town they came (because someone called them even when I insisted I was fine) and they really helped me.

I want to do that for others.

Astrophysicist

I love science and out of the three sciences I was actually the best at physics can you believe that?

My favourite part of physics is astrophysics. I love space, planets, stars… all of that. I always enjoyed learning about the world around us and what makes it spin, what makes it tick, shine and burst.

If I hadn’t gone for English in my A Levels I would have gone for science, especially after my good results in physics.

 

Anyway so yeah I could have been many different things, a completely different person as I believe your experiences shape you. So I guess learn from me and believe in your dreams because looking back I could have been any of those things.

 

Ps: Oh yeah I also wanted to be a gymnast/join cirque du soleil.