All children are asked this question at least 50 times before reaching middle school. They usually always have an answer, but it's usually something ridiculous. Things like superhero, princess, or president are usually what comes out of their mouths. While being president is not entirely impossible, the whole superhero and princess thing is just off the wall. I personally was an "I am going to be a princess" child, but life quickly set in and said "LOL, JK". I, even at 19, am still asked this question (and unlike 8 year old me) I have no answer to it. I know in my mind what I want to be, but I have to see where life takes me. Nothing is set in stone and life is a roller coaster - I'm just along for the ride.
When I was younger (5-8), I would usually answer this question with a lawyer, a princess, or famous. As a little girl all of these titles seemed very easy to get. I then got older and realized that being a princess would never happen because royalty is not in my bloodline. While I had no chance of being a part of the royal family, I knew that with hard work and determination being a lawyer or famous could happen for me.
Once I got to middle school everything changed. I had planned my entire life out. I knew where I wanted to go to college and what I wanted to major in and what my career would be. So whenever I was asked the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I would answer "I want to be a marine biologist. I want to work with sea lions and dolphins at a zoo. I want to go to college at UCLA and then move to Hawaii to start my career." Of course, I would always get the look of awe because I was 12 with a life plan that I was sure was set in stone.
But things change, I started becoming more and more active in music and choir. So much so, that by sophomore year of high school, I just knew that I wanted to by a band director. I looked up to my band director so much. It made me so happy when I would see his face after a concert or after a marching band competition. He would just look so happy and pleased that he could influence students in such a positive way. I wanted that. I wanted to be able to influence students in that way and teach them how to express themselves without words. I wanted to feel the way he felt. Proud. But that all changed when I took a visit to my future college (not UCLA) and was told how much work it would be and how hard it would be. The workload didn't scare me, it just no longer felt like something that I would want to do for the rest of my life.
Now here I am, in college, and not studying to be a marine biologist or a band director. I study theatre and advertisement and I have no idea what I want to do with that and it's ok. For once I feel like it's ok to not know what I want to be when I grow up. I am happy with the path that I'm on right now and I'm excited to see what happens.
One day I'll be able to answer that question, but for now, I'm just living life.
