Going through my dad's filing cabinet yesterday, looking for
something completely different, I came across a letter from my sixth grade
teacher.  "Dear parents," it said, "On the second to last day of school
the kids wrote some of their goals, predictions, and hopes for the future.
 We sealed them and agreed that they would not be opened until they were
in grade twelve.  Could you please put the attached goals away where they
may be found years from today."  I had a vague recolection of the
assignment, but I really couldn't remember what I had written.  Since I am
now in twelfth grade, I decided then was as good a time as any to open it,
and it was a bit of a surprize.  My goals were to be like Dave (my teacher
at the time) except not teach, to be awesome, to get a PhD in mowing lawns
(just kidding), and to program computers.
        This reminded me of how much I had changed since then, and yet
that there was some stuff that was the same.  Having not teaching in my
first goal now seems strange, since teaching is waht I want to spend my
life doing, but there are certainly some things that Dave did that I would
do with my classes.  Being awesome was sort of a collective goal of my
friends at that age, and isn't really something that matters to me too
much now.  I do still mow the lawn when it needs it, but that one was so
obviously a bad joke that I won't go into analizing it.  Then there is
programming computers.  I had just started playing around with basic on my
Atari 800 XL at that point, and was having lots of fun with it.  While
I've never gotten into any sort of advanced programming, making computers
do things is still something I enjoy doing.
        What were your goals when you were younger?  How closely have you
followed them?  Does it now seem strange that you would ever want to do
any of those things?  Are there any goals you had then that you absolutely
detest now?  What do you think your former goals say about you now?

104 responses total.

wow, the first!

actually, for many years, ive wanted to be a landscape architect.  i don't
know why, but i'm sure that it has a lot to do with the fact that i love 
plants.

as for my goals, many of them were trivial.  there was a group of us who
all swore to get laid on our 16th birthday. (none of us did).  somehow, i 
never really made a lot of major goals.  all of the ones seem, at least
now, small, trivial, and insignificant.  i did, of course, say that i am
going to make a differance in this world.  hopefully, that will be a goal
that i will be able to keep in later years.

Gee, I never had the goal to get laid on my 16th birthday.  :)  Seriously,
ever since third grade when I had an awesome teacher who's hobby was
science, I have wanted to be a scientist.  Just the vague "scientist", but
I was interested in lasers, and many other things, all of which have
turned out to be physics.  So, ever since third grade, I've wanted to be a
physicist.  And, I still do.  Miracles do happen.

Well, oddly enough, when I was young I wanted to be a rock star. But I always
imagined myself as a Van Halen-esque rock start instead of the Black Flag,
pist & broke, punk rocker I've become. Strange how musical tastes change. I
figure I won't be into this kind of music much longer.
        I also wanted to be a basketball player when I was younger, but I soon
learned that I'd be lucky if I made the average male height. Scrapped that.
        My goal now is to do something in the field of psychology, but not long
ago, I had no idea what psychology was.

you can be whatever you want to be.  if you do not know what it is, read...
find...research....you can find it thorough very simple every day objects
and ideas...

What were my goals?  At one point I wanted to be an OBGYN, but ?I got over it
when I found out how long I would be in school- studying a science of all s. 
That just isn't me. So then I decided to be a psychologist, and this lasted
until last term, when I decided that I didn't want to do that either.  Now I
want to be a book editor, and eventually publish my own books.  Although, I've
always wanted to write, and publish, my own books.

i've always wanted to be a landscape architect, with brief interludes
of art history, and archeology....

What's an obgyn?

obstitrician/gynocologist.

yep

nope, never had a yen t be one'a dem....
of course, i refuse to be somehting that i won't go to anyway...

Well, I thought it would be cool to work with babies, that and I would prefer
to go to a female obgyn- I thought others might too.  Male doctors- nope
just won't go to a male doctor... not for that stuff.

I thought an obgyn was a thing from Dungeons & Dragons.

You never know.

yeah, male obygyns just aren't cool.  it's bad enough that i'm supposedto have 
a female digging up there, but a male...no thanx!

emotion seconded!  (or was I the first to state it... <grin>)

who knows....

The Shadow knows!

yes, but will the shadow tell?

Of course not!  That would spoil the suspense.

daniel.......

<anne laughs>

<flem wonders if he should mention that his dad is an ob/gyn>

The only definite goal I can think of is that I will, at some point in my
life, learn to play jazz well on at least one instrument.  There are vague
others, but.

flem- go ahead, mention it- but I won't go to him... <grin>

hate to break it to ya, but i won't either....
 :)

How remarkable!  I won't either.

pthbbbbbbbbbb!

I used to want to be a fuzzy bird when I grew up.  I still don't know what I
want to be when I grow, and in fact, I'm not sure I want to grow up anymore.
I think that if I go into the arts I can stay a child forever, if I can figure
out how to survive...
        My present thing is theatre.  I think it's gonna last a while.  Right
now I'm in non-profit, but it might be interesting to try working in 
capitalist theatre just as a learning experience.  I do believe that the art
should support itself, so I'm not against capitalist theatre, it's just that
in order to actually profit in this business, you have to either be huge
already, or you have to do the really brainless stuff that the mainstream
audience just eats up.
        In any case, my ultimate goal, now and forever, is to keep learning
new things.  If ever I grow content and closeminded, just take me out and shoot
me right then and there!

that is the best thing to want to be...why bother to stop learning?  you
just become closed off from the rest of the world!

 My handelis SPYDER
and since I can remember I've had three main dreams. 
#1.  To marry Penny Souiler, she was the sweetist and most fun friend I've ever
had she lives down the road and has been in my class from the first day in
preschool and till ththat last day up on the stage at graduation.  I'll never
date her thou.   she's just too good of a friend!! #2.  To be a astronoght  (i
don't know how to spell)  I wish someday to be one but it's too far featched so
I've had to set other goal....like be a graphic designer #3. To lose weight. 
Well Once I did that......I succeeded.....but not for long But I'm back on
track and hopwe losing weight will free up my live and let me be who I want to
be

I really don't know what I'm doing on this thing so If anyone can help me my
e-mail address is  srobert1@ub.d.umn.edu

Scott- if your handle is spyder, why didn't you choose it for a login?
I'm just curious...

I think if you look now my login is spyder.  the other day I re-logined
and entered spyder .  I didnot know what I was getting in to when I wrote my
full name

Is there anyone else out there who has-had some deep dream-goal that they wa
(oops) want to bring out of the closet.???

Oh, I see, (regarding the login)

who knows?

WHO KNowS.......god does..so stop wondering...............just live life

Whose god?

it's this really powerful guy who lives somewhere else...

oh, "*whose*"...

yeap that's him...............................

<gerund vomits>

some deep dream goal that i want to bring *out of the closet*? no one has
been here for a while! well, i must say that i have no deep dream goal...
utter confusion here. i know a guy who wanted to be an astonaut when he was a 
little kid and he's now well on his way, had an internship with nasa. i
thin kthat all goals are attainable if you want them bad enough. (too bad i 
don't have any then!)

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss