I remember the very first thing I wanted to be when I grew up - the person pouring the water at our local Chinese restaurant.
They made it an absolute art form; taking your glass, starting close but then holding the pitcher and glass a mile apart. Didn’t spill a drop. I was fascinated by this, and always drank a ton of water whenever we went there because I wanted to watch them pour more water.
I wonder what the starting salary for “water pourer” is in 2024. Maybe a career change is in order.
When I was 4, I walked over to my mom’s piano (she was a piano teacher) and started poking at the keys. She asked, “do you want to learn how to play?” and I apparently said yes. I then played piano until I was 17 (and I was really fucking good at it).
When I was 10, I got my first drum set, followed not long after by a bass and a guitar. I wanted to be a professional musician for ages; I was in a touring band for a while that made money, and I almost got a gig with arguably the most popular artist in music right now back before their 2nd album released.1 So close.
When I was in high school, I got enamored with marching band, and decided I wanted to go to college for music ed so I could teach drumline at a huge Texas high school.
After an injury took me out of music, I decided to pursue a long love of computers with a computer science major. That rapidly pivoted to an information systems management degree after being convinced by some other classmates (I still don’t know if this was the “better” decision, but it worked out.)
Along the way, I know I’ve wanted to be a lot of different things - 3rd baseman for the Red Sox, author, sports journalist, video game developer, games journalist, sports statistician, Apple tech journalist (I really had a thing for journalism for a bit), iOS software developer (still want this), TTRPG module writer (aka D&D campaigns), Apple developer, brewer/brewery owner, woodworker, and most recently, electrical engineer.
I always think about whether I chose correctly or not; I’m good at my job, but it is only for paying the bills. I don’t love what I do by any means. It’s interesting to look back on all of this now, as I attempt to corral and raise a 2 year old, and try to guess what she’s going to become when she’s older.2 It’s fascinating to watch her interest in various things blossom, and see what sticks around for more than a week or two.
If she decides to play 3rd base, I just hope it’s not for the Yankees.