was there an event (good or bad) in your childhood or adolescence that influenced your career choice?

Question

an abused child goes into social work. a child almost drowns and becomes a paramedic. did something happen to you long ago that paved the path to where you work today? what was it?

Answer 1

Following the loss of their only son in WWII, my maternal grandparents finally left farming in 1952. They moved to a typical northern Ohio village of 900 people and my grandfather took up carpentry work. As children, the highlight of our summers was the the chance to spend a week with our grandparents. In hindsight, one summer visit changed my life.

I was nine or ten years old when my grandfather was working on a job building a hip roofed two car garage in the backyard of the house next door to their own. This construction job coincided with our annual summertime visit. The garage was built within 75' of my grandparents back porch and we had a front row seat to watch the construction.

I distinctly remember the smell of the lumber, the rythem of the hammering, and the sing-song of the sawing. I can still see the geometry of the roof framing and the orderliness of it all. My grandfather was very patient in explaining all of what they were doing. At the end of the day, he would take me through the site and explain things like why the rafters had to be arranged to sit atop the wall studs in order to transfer the weight of the roof directly to the foundation. He pointed out the need for the large beam over the garage doors and again explained the weight transfer. He talked me through the process of pouring the concrete floor and explained how the concrete set up and how it had to be trowled to attain a smooth slick surface. I soaked this stuff up like a sponge.

The highlight of the week came while the crew was finishing sheeting in the roof and were about to start laying out the shingles. My grandfather let me climb the ladder and help him nail the last of the sheeting. I vividly remember the feeling of "standing on top of the world". I remember the sense of accomplishment I felt as we stood together atop the roof. I also remember my grandmother scurrying out the back door and scolding my grandfather for letting me climb up on the roof!

My grandfather was a "hands on" teacher. His garage was a small boy's heaven. He had lots of tools and always had the time to explain their use. He let my brother and I build birdhouses and the like using his tools. He taught me how to sharpen saws, chisels, and drill bits. I remember the lessons in the mathematics of carpentry.

There is a lot more I could write about this experience, but to make a long story short, I eventually chose a career as a home buildbuilding and remodeling contractor. Many years later, I would feel the same sense of accomplishment and pride as I stood atop a structure that I built from the ground up. Every time I did so, I thought of my grandfather and that magic summer.

Answer 2

My childhood was the definitive Tennessee Williams novel. (With a bit of Faulkner?) Much time spent defining the cast of characters, also attempting to be the peacemaker. Severely deprived of interactions with other children, I created another "world" just for me--a world of imagination, including drawing & using watercolours when I was five, & recently found some & was amazed by my ability to use perspective at that age. In retrospect, I'd say that influenced a few of my "careers" (ongoing): psychologist, dream researcher, painter, writer, poet. Not sure where the paralegal comes from, except perhaps to find justice in a crazy world???

Answer 3

I think a few things influenced my decision in a career-

1.) When I was in Girl Scouts, one of our field trips was to a Network TV Station in a major City. I was so amazed by the teleprompter and cameras.

2.) My parents took my family to about 3 live tapings of a syndicated broadcast. I don't think it was for our education process...It was because they wanted to go. I was bored with the show but once again amazed by the cameras and boom mic.

3.) I loved to participate in and watch on TV live tapings in our area.

4.) And probably most of all was that I was not allowed to watch much TV as a child. My parents were adamant in making me read books, LONG books and play outside.

(I figured I'll show them.....Just kidding!)

I received my bachelor's in Communications Radio/ TV/ Film. I went directly into working for cable and TV stations. I worked extremely hard and climbed the ladder pretty fast. I'm so glad I did this! I love what I do! It's a bit stressful but I can handle it! In fact, I think the stress drives me to work even harder and surprise my bosses.

Answer 4

I have a degree in psychology and pretty much ended up in social work, lol. I work in foster care and adoption. Nothing significant happened to me in these 2 areas, but I used to love to baby-sit and always, always wanted to work with kids. Then, in high school and college, I listened to everyone's issues and tried to help them resolve problems. Guess I picked the right path...I'll just never get paid enough (or @ least much) for my choice! :)

Answer 5

Little did I realize being one of eleven children, as a Christmas gift, all kids received the same gift. A coloring book and crayons. The book of crayons contained eight colors. Therefore, I used the primary colors to make secondary colors. Actually, hated that present. Today, I am a color specialist and own my own salon.

Answer 6

I was in a bad accident when I was 18 and spent a long time in the hospital. When I got well, I went to college and became an RN. It was a good decision for me. I had never thought of doing it prior to the accident.

Answer 7

No, not at all. When I was a kid it was all about being out doors. I did have a trunk of toys in the house, my little pony, cabbage patch kids and a couple of barbies but they mostly went unnoticed. But I still love being outside, my favorite things to do all take place outside.