Did you always know your dream career, or just stumble into it like I did?

[midnightmoon05]

I guess i didn't at 18 years. old. By 19, I had to declare my major.

My parents had very little education. But they worked hard and just wanted us to work hard and go to college. So I did, naturally. But never knew what to major in.

I had to help raise my younger sister who was 11 years. younger than me. I thought "well, teaching is so easy. Anything I teach her, she gets" lol... so thats how I ended up being a teacher. I had no idea what benefits or pensions or even what the pay was back then.

I am very happy and passionate about my job, most importantly, I love kids. I believe every kid deserves love and an education.

Now I realized, there are a few others in my family who are also in the education field.

I am at a lost

I tried a few things... still searching

I found my passion by... please explain

Updates

4 d

this question was inspired by @Lliam

[Lliam]

Like Sal_Monella, I became fascinated with dinosaurs at a very young age (maybe 3 years old). I even wrote and illustrated dinosaur book (spelled phonetically. LOL) and shared it with my teacher when I began first grade. I said I wanted to be a paleontologist because finding and reconstructing dinosaur skeletons sounded great. LOL. I had no idea.

As I got older, that fantasy faded even though I still like dinosaurs. Many other things began to interest me - warplanes, cars, sports, music, ...

The Beatles came to America when I was 10 and I wanted to be George Harrison.
I started learning guitar and, by 1970 in high school, was playing in rock bands.

I spent that decade playing in bands, surfing, snow skiing, backpacking, exploring California and beyond, attending rock concerts, and partying like a rock star.

I did attend community college part time right after high school. I also had low-paying part time jobs from the time I was 15. But I had no career goal. I was more into the arts as opposed to math and the sciences. I didn't want to be locked into sitting behind a desk for the rest of my life. I wanted fun and adventure. And, at that point,, I wasn't even thinking about the future or retirement.

I accidentally wound up in my career when I was 26. I became good friends with a guy I worked with in a warehouse. His mom was a well off executive secretary and lived down the street from the VP of a growing auto insurance company that was starting a new trainee program.

My friend and I got hired as motor vehicle damage field adjuster/appraiser trainees. I cut my long, rock star hair and bought a suit for the interview.
I knew nothing about autobody repairs and had no idea what a claims adjuster was but they trained me.

The salary was great and the benefits were amazing. The staff was really cool and the company cared about its employees.

It took me about 5 years to become fully proficient. It was stressful. But, after that, I wound up really liking the job.

I went back later and took evening classes at community college to complete my AA degree just for the heck of it. I also got married.

In 2000, I asked for a transfer from Long Beach, CA to northern CA. They granted my request and set me up with a home office 1.5 hours from the nearest corporate office. I joke that I only had to go to the office every 3 or 4 months for a half day meeting and free food.

When my wife and I moved into our own home in a rural area, they drew a big radius around my home as my territory. In the process of driving here and there to inspect damaged cars, I explored a lot and saw some interesting things that I otherwise would never have heard of.

I stuck with the company for 30 years and retired at age 56 with a small pension and a lot of money in a 401(k).

I did some other jobs that I didn't like, including health insurance sales, until I officially retired at age 62 to collect Social Security.

[BonzoInBitburg]

I've always done whatever I wanted. In my mid 20s I started a marketing business without any knowledge of marketing. After a couple years I sold it and started an export business and an ecommerce business. I sold the export business because I was too busy with ecommerce. I sold 2 businesses before I was 30. Then I started a construction business which I'm still a partner but don't do any work there. Lastly, I got into finance and manage a fund part time at a brokerage and live on a tropical island in SE Asia.

[midnightmoon05]

Natural born businessman. Good job!

[EmmaMary]

Well I had always wanted to become a police officer, but unfortunately due to a medical condition I was not suitable.

However, they did encourage me to look at other positions within the police force, so after graduating with a BSc. in forensic science, I'm now living my dream albeit slightly differently.

[EmmaMary]

Thank you so much for the MHO.

[Nikki1989]

It was pure accident. I did business training and fell into a real estate job. 18 years later I am still doing it.

[midnightmoon05]

So glad to hear Nikki!
RE is my other passion. My family and I have been in RE since the 90s. I love love love looking at buildings and talking about RE with my friends and family.

Hubby and I work on

[AI Opinion]

I stumbled into mine too.

In my early 20s, I just knew I liked explaining things to classmates. I chose business because it felt “practical,” then discovered I loved mentoring peers more than spreadsheets. That pulled me toward education and career coaching.

What matters is exactly what you described: you enjoy the work, care deeply about kids, and feel aligned with your values. That’s a dream career, even if you backed into it.

If you want, I can help you map how to grow next in education so your path becomes even more intentional.

[Sal_Monella]

I knew what I wanted to do even when I was 8 years old. But my parents blocked it. I first asked for the First Book of Dinosaurs by Roy Chapman Andrews. That was like in 1954. Then I asked for a Life magazine parlor book called The World We Live In. I did not know who Dr Alan Grant was in Jurassic Park until I was about 8 years old.

And from that day on, I wanted to be him. But my parents laughed me off and blocked me.

[midnightmoon05]

What did you ended up doing?

[Sal_Monella]

Construction.

[exitseven]

I knew since I was a little kid that I wanted to be an astronaut. It was not just a little kid fantasy. I was in Air Force ROTC in college with the intention of becoming a pilot and eventually getting into the space program. After my first year I got dropped from the program and lost my scholarship because I could not pass the eye test.

[midnightmoon05]

That’s a bummer!
One door closes another open. You did well 😊

[exitseven]

I did but sometimes it still bothers me.

[MrChinaski]

Thanks for being a passionate teachers. I'm sure there are children whose lives are changed by you.

I've never had a dream career, and to be honest don't really think about it that way. I've just wanted work that interests me and challenges me and pays okay in which I feel I can improve social wellbeing. I've had that up and down for a couple of decades. Now I'm looking at other options.

[FunkyMonkee]

I've known it all my life! I've never been lucky enough to have even come close to achieving it!!

[midnightmoon05]

What is it?

[FunkyMonkee]

Working in a record store, as a radio DJ, in a recording studio or record distributor or playing drums in a famous rock band. Well, I got the drumming part but we never got the fame I was hoping for.
I've been collecting records since I was 2 and have over 62,000 of them, now so, I KNOW my way around a record store!!
In the meantime, some of the 64 jobs I've had, so far are: cutting grass, building swimming pools, working in print shops, working in a bank, delivering 8 different newspapers on foot, microfiching cancelled checks, food prep in a restaurant for their dinner theatre, assistant stage manager for a magician, the games on the midway at Cedar Point, disassembling a travelling roller coaster in the pouring rain, janitor, cleaning out an office building to be sold, putting stickers on make-up bottles, shoveling snow after a huge winter dump, food prep in an Indian restaurant, dish washing, babysitting, collecting delivery packages at a department store, stocking the candy shelves at the same store, stocking a very expensive toy store, stocking shelves at a grocery store, cashier at a 7-11, mailroom work, shelving books in a library, making and selling popcorn at a fall festival, inflating thousands of balloons a day. and the list goes on and on!!

[midnightmoon05]

You like your freedom 😊
How easy//hard was to go from one to the other job? You had an agency?

My father switched a lot of jobs, but I never counted them.

[FunkyMonkee]

For a short while, a couple times, I went through an agency but, I got most of them on my own.
I was thinking about all the jobs I've had a couple years ago and tried to count them all and came up with 64 and then remembered a number of others I forgot to list. So, it might be over 70.

[midnightmoon05]

That’s impressive

[FunkyMonkee]

Thanks, I guess. So far, aside from being ii a band for 25 years, my most steady job was at the print shop. I was there for 11 years and when they moved, I immediately got another print shop job for almost 2 more years.

[LiamS95]

I'm so glad you successfully found your passion and I'm sure your love of kids has also made you a great teacher that those kids will love and never forget.

[midnightmoon05]

Thank you so much for your kind words Liam.

[LiamS95]

You're very welcome.

[6942Dantheman]

I found my passion in day trading. I have made a small fortune with it. now I get to do what I want when I want (usually my wife). I love to help others and I don't have to worry about payment.

[midnightmoon05]

Good for you! You are good at it! I will try it after I retire lol… watch me lost all my money ahahaha

[Kelly6]

@midnightmoon05 I had my dream job picked before college and kept that goal.

It was law

[midnightmoon05]

Which field in law?

[Kelly6]

@midnightmoon05
Family law.
But only worked till parallel and then changed my career because of some reason

[NathanDavis]

I definitely ended up at it... lol

when I was younger, I wanted to build bridges... that, was the dream

[Pterodon]

I knew at the age of five that I would be in the aviation industry. I became a licensed aircraft mechanic. I don’t understand people in their 20’s and in college that still have no clue what they want to do. Then why are you in college?

[slatyb]

I became a software developer because it was easier than going to graduate school for math.

[Anonymous]

I am still deciding...

[midnightmoon05]

What are your options?

[wkhan_87]

Never did what I planned for

[midnightmoon05]

What did you ended up doing?