Tuesday 31 January 2012

What will you be when u grow up?

I couldnt resist putting up this picture. Cracked me up big time.
Remember when, in primary school, teachers used to ask you this question. "what will you like to be when u grow up?" There were different answers, the most popular of which used to be - Doctors, lawyers and engineers. There were, in addition, those that wanted to be astronauts, air hostesses, pilots, bankers, teachers (we used to laff at these set of people), nurses etc. I remember we used to have a calendar in our primary 3 (or 4) classroom that showed the different professions in their uniforms.
Some daring kids will say musician or footballer. These set of kids get serious 'talking to' by their parents who tell them that there isnt any future in that path! (That is story for another day. Do u see how much money the people in that industry make now?)

For me, it used to be a doctor. Then i changed my mind (cos i couldnt stand the sight of someone in pain) to a pilot (cos i loved the thot of flying from one place to the other) After one plane crash that happened sometime in the early 90's, i changed again to a petrochemical engineer(cos i loved the thought of working in an oil company and getting paid the FAT salaries we hear happens in that sector)

The point of this post is 20 something years down the line, what are we? In most cases, nowhere near where we thot we'd be.
1st, JAMB messes up ur ambitions. You change courses and re-write JAMB 2 or 3 times before you are finally given admission to study your 2nd choice. You go in with the intention that u will change course while in there. It may not happen and you are stuck with the course you dont really really want to study.
2nd, you graduate with good grades and get into the labour market. That is one market you dont know what you are going to end up buying even though you have the resources (your good grades and your positive attitude). You end up working in a small consulting firm or a bank and you say 'its just for a while. i will still study medicine or pharmacy or law'. Responsibilities come and all the thought of studying anything else flies through the window.

We now have advertising practitioners, travel agents, sales reps, call centre executives etc. Professions we never knew existed when we were little.

Its a good thing though, cos if all of us were lawyers, doctors, engineers and pilots, who will be the go-between? Who will keep all our money (bankers and their marketers), who will let us know what products to buy (advertising practitioners), who will help us make arrangements to travel (travel agents) etc.

At the end of the day, you look back and just laugh at the innocence and purity of mind that led you to say 25 years ago "I would love to be a doctor"

Ciao!
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11 comments:

  1. Toinlicious31 January 2012 at 16:28

    My sister always wanted to be a banker basically cos she tot you get to request for any amount of money and it was granted. She now works in a bank and wishes...

    ReplyDelete
  2. MissPf31 January 2012 at 19:58

    I wanted to be a doctor as a child but now, I run away at the sight of blood...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Che31 January 2012 at 21:48

    I wanted to be a tailor/fashion designer so I could churn out creatively sewn clothes. Still have that thought in my head sometimes. Who knows......

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    Replies
    1. Chop Street London6 January 2013 at 01:39

      That dream is gradually becoming a reality...Revamp Deinition.....pls don't ask why I am commenting on a very very old post :)

      Delete
  4. Luciano1 February 2012 at 09:20

    I wanted to be a doctor, then an actress, then a musician, then an engineer.......pretty messed up right?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Buzzer!1 February 2012 at 09:57

    I wanted to be a pharmacist just cos the name of the profession sounded important. lol
    when i got to secondary school and was told pharmacy needed chemistry, i just 'chook' head for anoda direction sharply.

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  6. Myne2 February 2012 at 01:45

    Two things I thought I would be, Doctor, with writer on the side or architect, with Fashion designer on the side. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amaka's Notepad2 February 2012 at 08:20

    Lol @ Toinlicious, Seriosuly, most of us thot like your sister back then. I no fit laff abeg.
    @ Misspweddyface - that was my world too.
    @ Che - you can still live that dream, you know.
    @ Luciano - We all had it confused in our heads back then. Dont sweat it. At least u became one of what you thot u'd be. *wink*
    @ Buzzer - hahahahahaha, important name attract you, important subject chase you comot. lol
    @ Myne - I guess doctor and architect are out of it now. You are a fantastic writer so maybe you could also do fashion design on the side. Wetin u think?

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  8. Docia2 February 2012 at 09:22

    Hi Amaka, how I wish you could put this into a motivational book. For doctor was my option, but I didn't like maths, I also enjoyed taking a lot. but thank God am into what I want-communication/media.

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  9. Anonymous2 February 2012 at 13:20

    Those days most kids wants to be a doctor when they grow up, but I dont think that's obtainable nawadays. Things are changing, kids are wiser. For me, I had wanted to be a Doctor as a child but Jamb messed to whole plan up for me. Put looking back, I often ask myself, would I have made a good doctor? Parents should have a role to play in guiding their children to right career choices taken into cognisance the talents they are exhibiting as a little child.

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  10. Anonymous7 February 2012 at 20:20

    Nigeria and her system of "Its either this or that" when the brain hasn't developed fully to comprehend the consequences of our actions. The "If you don't pass Maths with an A" attitude from parents and teachers is also there to kick students' butt lol. Nice post :)

    ReplyDelete

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