Me and my nostalgic future...

What do I wanna be when I grow up? Hmmmm, let me think…. I have wanted to be so many different things, especially throughout high school, it might be easier to tell you what I DIDN’T wanna be, but I’ll do my best I suppose.

My earliest memory f career aspiration came in Kindergarten. My brother and I were in a fashion show my school was putting on and when asked what I wanted to be I told them I’d like to be a salesmen like my Dad. At the time, and in fact, almost as long as I can remember, he was in textile sales and I had a HUGE case of hero worship for my dad. He was, is, and as far as I can tell always will be one of the best people I’ve ever known, but I digress.

After K I wised up and decided sales was a bit… well it just wasn’t very ME. So, realizing I had plenty of time to decide I never gave it anymore thought for quite some time. Then 7th grade rolled around and the question popped up again as an assignment. Still wanting to potentially work with my Dad, I chose fashion design. I had the silly idea that I could use the fabrics he sold in my designs. (Which would have been awful, he sold Polartec Fleece, not always too pretty.)

That aspiration, however, was short lived as my parents were less than supportive. They didn’t doubt me or my abilities, just worried, as parents often will, about what others may think of me. I never pursued any work in pursuit of fashion after that. I often regret that decision because, as you may have guessed, I still have an incredible passion for fashion. I’m not just saying that to be cute and rhymey, I mean it. Have you ever stared at a runway show on your computer screen and gasped, replaying it over and over and never ceasing to be amazed? If fashion was air, I’d breathe deeply of it for hours on end. But again, I digress. (Can’t help it, I’m feeling nostalgic now.)

In high school I really started on the crazy career-path plan. I jumped from path to path, all totally out of the blue and in no way to connected to each other. I started wanting to be a lawyer, I was a big fan of The Practice and had the notion that maybe, just maybe, life would really be that exciting in a courtroom. That phase was short lived and I moved instead to Archeology. I decided shortly thereafter that digging in the desert was just not my dream and dropped it after wasting a semester in high school with “anthropology” classes that proved to be little more than crafting classes. Then I decided that Botany could be a fascinating field as I’ve always had a love of plants. I wanted to know how they operated, how they grow, but there’s only so much you can ask a tulip, and once again I lost interest.

Now the question has returned in full force, having not seen it since high school. “And just what do you plan on doing with your forty thousand dollar degree, Andy?” I have yet to answer the question and every month I get closer to not having any time left to decide. Teaching is definitely a no go, but I’ve always wondered at how I would be in marketing or public relation, and sometimes my mind even wanders back to fashion, tempting me to leave my last year of college behind me a start all over somewhere new and risk everything for a dream that seems ever more unlikely. I’m not entirely sure what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a part of the fashion world, I don’t care how; I just know I would relish the opportunity to be a part of it, if only for a moment. I have to admit, I’m pretty sure that Peter Pan kid had it made with the whole, “kid forever” deal he’s got going on. Lucky bastard.