This is an incomplete list of the jobs I wanted as a child -essentially throughout elementary school. And a ranking of which ones I would actually still want to do now, starting from LEAST desirable to MOST desirable.
Librarian/Bakery Owner
This is pretty self-explanatory. I’ve always loved to read, so an obvious job choice for a six-year-old would be to be a librarian. All of my librarians growing up fostered my love of reading. And I really enjoyed our library time and learning from them, so I wanted to be them.
The second part of this is… less clear. I suppose even kindergarten Michaela knew that just one clear directive was not enough for an ADHD mind. So, I wanted to not only run the library but also own a bakery that was connected to the library. My dream was to sell my bread and cakes and cookies and whatever other carbs I could whip up.
Now, even though this is my lowest ranked option, this still sounds PHENOMENAL. My main concerns are that:
- I talk too much, so I could not be in charge of maintaining a quiet environment.
- I can bake very elementary recipes, but nothing beyond that.
- You can’t bring food in the library, so I would be forced to smell my delicious creations without getting to eat them. Torture
Spy
Now look, being a spy? That’s still sick as heck. I would love to do this, but being a spy is extremely hard and physically demanding. Though I could certainly make myself achieve that level of physique, that does not really sound like a career I would want to pursue.
Also, I have anxiety about turning in homework. I cannot handle a potential national security crisis.
Food Critic
Food, writing, notoriety? Sounds like a perfect combination for young Michaela. However, the issue with this job is that food cannot be categorized simply as “I like it” or “I do not like it.”
This particular job I did try out for a short time, always bringing my notebook with me to dinners at locales, such as B-Dubs, and our own kitchen. But I quickly realized that, even though I have a good knack for picking out flavors, that is the extent of my culinary expertise.
Pop/Rockstar (specifically Hannah Montana)
This was short-lived, as I realized that I could not play guitar nor sing well. I was an immense fan of Hannah Montana, even having my own secret Rockstar journal (with worksheets on being a famous rock/pop star.
With this, though, comes my desire to make my own music, and thus the immense pressure to create music that I feel comfortable sharing. Even as an adult, I have a hard time performing musically in front of others, even with pieces that I have little attachment to.
Director
Similar to being Hannah Montana, the vulnerability that comes with sharing art is a blockade to this, the next, and to an extent, the next job on this list.
As a child, I was given a camcorder, which was a horrible idea. From this moment, I became a “director” -or actually more of a videographer- of short films of myself, family, friends, and unassuming neighbors. All of them embodying my artistic vision.
However, I quickly realized that without access to sound, editing, costumes, or special effects, most of my ground-breaking art was not accessible for me to make. But I did learn how to edit in iMovie, a skill that has served me well even through college. Also, I don’t think I understood that even small-scale productions had more than just directors and actors but were a small army of folks.
As much as I would like to say I made ground-breaking content at eight years old, I was really just more interested in the fantasy of being the #headgirlbossincharge.
Author
Ah yes, to be an author. As a child, I enjoyed writing immensely, especially very unwarrantedly complex fantasy stories that I had no business writing. I would create worlds and characters and intricate dynamics in my head but had very few tools to express the range of what I envisioned.
Though this job isn’t something I am still working towards, this childhood ambition to become a best-selling author gave me confidence in my writing abilities. Yes, even though I was never the type who won the classroom award or got picked to read my story aloud. I liked my stories. And my dad taught me to accept feedback and improve upon what I had written rather than pressuring myself to make a perfect encapsulation of my idea on the first draft.
This job I would still love to have. I don’t know if I have the writing skills or the creativity now that I am at the frail age of 20, but writing is still something I love to do, even if just for myself.
Teacher
Though not the sexiest job, this is a career I’ve always wanted for myself. Even now, I still plan to teach after completing my undergraduate, and the inspiration isn’t some fantastical story or a groundbreaking moment in my life. It’s as simple as the fact that my parents were both teachers, so it just made sense for me to be one too.
As I’ve grown, school has always been something I’ve genuinely enjoyed. Learning about different subjects, meeting new peers and teachers, and having a routine in timing, but without monotony in my daily activities. Since so much of my life has been entrenched in school -both while I was in the classroom and as I spent time wandering the halls of my elementary, middle, and high school while my parents worked, school has always been a place where I’ve felt I can shine.
With teacher still ranking high on the list, currently, what I’m learning in school, what I’m doing for student organizations, what I’m doing for my jobs, is all focused on making sure that I can be the best teacher possible, so when I have aspiring: food critics, rockstars, directors, authors, spies or whatever, in my own classroom, I know how to help them achieve their dreams.
Even the ones as fleeting as a library plus bakery.