Day 14 - What you wanted to be when you grew up

Day 14 - What you wanted to be when you grew up

This one is pretty easy. From the time I can remember - like back to elementary school - I only ever remembered wanting to be a lawyer. I think it was because I liked history, and I liked debate. Not that I was on a debate team or anything. But I liked discussing issues, different viewpoints, etc. Being an attorney also suited my personality. I liked having to think on my feet, relying on my intellect to be successful, doing research... I love seeing both sides of any issue and being able to make a convincing argument for either side. I am very, very rarely black or white on a particular topic, because I can usually see why the facts might support either side's view.

Then I changed my mind during my senior year of high school. You may or may not know that I have always been very musical. I started playing piano when I was around 5 years old, and I started playing trumpet in 7th grade. Without (hopefully) sounding boastful, I was very good at the trumpet! I made All State band every year, and I even had the opportunity to spend a summer at the Interlochen Arts Camp. I had it in my mind that God gave me the talent for a reason, and it would be ungrateful not to use it. So I started college as a music major. Trumpet performance - I didn't even want to teach. I just wanted to play professionally.

After my first semester, I realized that I didn't want to have to make money as a trumpet player. I'm someone who likes and needs structure and predictability, and that's not really the life of a professional musician. I decided to revert back to my former plan of going to law school.

Then one summer I got a job at my father's manufacturing plant. I was originally supposed to work in the logistics department, but I got assigned to Human Resources instead. And I LOVED it. I saw how much law was involved in the work. I then decided to focus on employment law. Then I ended up liking HR so much, I scrapped the idea of law school and pursued HR as a full time career. I'm very fortunate that I am still working in and enjoying the field my degree is in. And I really don't have much desire to change careers at this point. I'm 13 years into my HR career, and I still find new and interesting challenges all the time.

What you don't see in here is me thinking or dreaming about being a wife or a mother when I grew up. It's not that I didn't want those things. I think I've just always focused more on the stuff that I could control or accomplish on my own - or at least that's what I thought at the time. There wasn't much I could do to try to find a husband. Either it would happen or it wouldn't. So while it wasn't something I pursued, I am very, very, very happy that it happened for me! :)