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CNN – What Did You Want to be When You Grew Up
Tweet…I Wanted to be a NUN
CNN producer note
DHeiser shared how she originally wanted to be a nun, but over time she decided the social science field was the best fit for her. Her children Liam and Aiden also weigh in on what their dream jobs are.
- Asiegel1202, CNN iReport producer
iReport —
A few years ago I came across a worksheet I’d completed in early elementary school – probably first grade. One of the questions asked was “what do you want to be when you grow up?” My answer was “a nun”.
Things didn’t work out exactly as I planned. I didn’t become a nun after all. Instead, I got a PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology and have worked in the field of research for many years.
When I asked my 2 boys a couple of years ago, when they were 3 and 4, what they want to be when they grow up, my older son said “ a doctor who takes care of older people”. He received a lot of praise, which fueled this goal (until this year when he turned 6 and decided to tweak his goal and become a doctor who takes care of bugs). We now have a slew of ants, beetles and caterpillars in plastic containers being “cured” of their ailments.
My younger son told everyone he also wants to be a doctor. Apparently he loved basking in the praise too. However, one day he confided to me that he in fact wants to be a Jungle Man. He didn’t want me to tell anyone because he was afraid they would think it was funny. So, he and I talked all about his becoming a Jungle Man, and during the course of our conversations, he wrote a book about it. You can find it on http://whenigrowupiwanttoliveinthejungle.wordpress.com/about/
I’m looking forward to seeing what they do when they grow up.
Tags: aspirations, bugs, children, cnn, doctor, dreams, goals, imagineage, ireport, jungle man, News, nun, psychology
Hi, Debbie! I followed the link you messaged me on twitter. What I love about this website is that it clearly contains so much, but is all very neatly categorised. This particular post was charming, and makes a valid point….hardly anyone grows up and becomes exactly what they wanted to be as a child. It’s so natural to change one’s mind, go down a few paths before finding one that makes sense.
Your sons are adorable. And I have to admit, I was once obsessed with caring for bugs, but I didn’t have the sense to call myself a Bug Doctor, so kudos to him for that!
I look forward to reading more here, so keep the updates coming, it’s a good idea that you link to them via twitter, I usually do the same, and it’s quite a good tool to use in conjunction.
Thanks again for linking,
Ruth