I was exposed to several careers in elementary school but never really imagined myself in those jobs. My grandmother and mother were both nurses in those days. I was in the car several times when one or the other was being picked up or dropped off at the hospital where they worked. I never recall wanting to be a doctor and didn’t know there was such a thing as a male nurse back then.
They were both members of the Eastern Star, and at one of their Christmas parties, Earl Battey, the catcher for the Minnesota Twins, played Santa Claus, and I got his autograph. Around that time, my grandfather took my older brother and me to a Twins game against the Cleveland Indians. Jim Kaat and Sonny Siebert were the starting pitchers. The Twins won, with Bob Alison and Zoilo Versailles hitting home runs. I liked the Twins but didn’t want to be a baseball player.
When I got older, I joined the Cub Scouts and later the Boy Scouts. We ushered at the Minnesota Vikings football games at the open-air Metropolitan Stadium. I remember home playoff games against the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams, where fans ran to the bathroom at halftime because they were warm (though the smell was off-putting). We won both, and the Vikings advanced to the Super Bowl. I was a big fan and watched the game played in New Orleans on television. I grew up loving baseball and football and played both in high school, but I never imagined myself making a career in either sport.
The first thing I remember wanting to become was a professional scout, Boy Scout, that is. I got exposed to them while trying to earn merit badges to qualify for the National Jamboree; I had to attain the rank of Star Scout. I loved camping and everything associated with scouting. I couldn’t imagine a job that would be more fun. While at the Jamboree, we watched Neil Armstrong step onto the moon’s surface from an amphitheater, and I briefly considered being an astronaut, but it didn’t last.
By the time I reached high school, I’d had a growth spurt and was now playing basketball. I let myself dream about being an NBA player from time to time. I was recognized as All-City and had a few colleges interested in me. Minneapolis didn’t have an NBA team there, but I was curious.
I cannot remember a single visit to a guidance counselor in high school. My older brother was the first in my family to attend college at the University of Minnesota. He dropped out and joined the Air Force before his first set of grades arrived. This was just after the Vietnam War ended, so we weren’t fearful of him losing his life, but he never made it sound like a career I’d want to try.
I’d worked a couple of jobs during high school. I was a telephone solicitor for the Litchfield Land Company, trying to interest people in lots in Arizona. We made cold calls from a cross-directory. I wasn’t as mature as I am now and laughed when asking for a Mrs. Virgin. I never worked in fast food or retail though some of my friends did. I once imagined I could become a rock star in 7th grade. I played the electric guitar and clarinet and planned to be in Stuart Anderson’s band. I could read music but not play it by ear, which killed things. One of my basketball teammates was a drummer. He went on to become Jellybean of The Time and often recorded with one of his neighbors called Prince.
I attended Fisk University on a partial academic scholarship without knowing what I’d do. I thought my basketball career was over, but as I participated in pickup games, I found I was good enough to make the squad and ended up on a full athletic scholarship after my first semester. I began to dream of becoming a pro basketball player, a dream that didn’t end until I went undrafted.
There were things I imagined myself doing along the way. My favorite TV shows were police dramas like Dragnet and The FBI, starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. One of my other favorites was The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and I found myself writing what in my mind was a script for the show. I was a voracious reader but never imagined myself a writer.
In the years it could have mattered, I had almost no career guidance, and had I not scored very well on standardized tests, becoming a National Merit Semi-finalist, I might not have gone to college. However, I may have accepted a scholarship offer from a school that wanted me in Southwest Minnesota. I didn’t have family assistance in career planning because it was outside of their experience. I didn’t seek out help from high school professionals, nor did they look for me.
I might have been in my third year in college before I realized many classmates were on well-planned paths to become doctors or lawyers. My goal was to enjoy college life and do well enough to stay eligible for basketball, though I did a little better than that. In my final semester, in a rush to improve my G.P.A., I took seven classes, getting all As but for one A-.
My friend Robert dreamed of being an ophthalmologist after an eye injury exposed him to the field. He went on to become highly regarded in the profession. Other friends who seemingly had no purpose worked hard when nobody was looking to get good grades. I stumbled into my major because Economics seemed relatively simple to me. In Economics 101, the same graph was on the chalkboard on the first day and the last, though there were now two lines each for supply and demand.
I hold myself out as an example of what not to do. I stumbled into a career, accepting a summer internship from Procter & Gamble and accepting a career in sales after graduation. The reason I was hired may be that the Regional Manager was a former basketball player. I eventually took a sales position with Southern Bell, which led to a transfer to AT&T, where I became a manager. I left there and became a sales manager with a mid-level telecommunications firm before quitting to start my own business, where I spent 15 years before 9–11 devastated the special events like concerts my business was based around. I got into real estate, where I was very successful until the bubble burst and funding collapsed for the first-time buyers I specialized in. I worked in retail for the first time and later got back into real estate. Only recently has writing become my main focus, and except for running my business, it’s the first career I can say I loved.
Looking back, most of the people that I graduated high school and college with had no great plan for what to do next. Most of my high school friends didn’t attend college; some never considered it an option. Most of the college graduates went back to their hometowns and looked to see who was hiring, though many went on to graduate school for specific pursuits.
My goal is to work with my granddaughters, continually asking them what they want to be and helping them consider if there are prerequisites or helping them understand the sacrifices a particular career requires. I’m in a position to give the kind of advice I never received, and so I shall.
So, what did you want to be, and what did you end up doing? Curious minds want to know.
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This post was previously published on Dialogue & Discourse.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
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