An astronaut. A veterinarian. A pro sports player.
These are things you hear so often as career aspirations when you're in first grade. Little by little, as time goes on, those primary dreams fade.
But even as adulthood comes and takes us by surprise, most of us know exactly what we would rather be doing at any given instance. It might not be our career now, but it could be one day.
Or else not, but it's still nice to think about it.
Redditor akotosinato asked:
"What is your dream job?"
Here were some of those answers.
PhD In Mad Science
"Mad scientist. I wanna engineer tissues for things like organ transplantation and improved cancer treatment. Giant robot can come later, but I married an ME, so that's on track."
"I'm applying for my PhD. Wish me luck, I'm terrified."-Jeru1226
The Dream Had A Price Tag
"I spent nearly two years working as a scientific diver in the Great Barrier Reef. Projects ranged from coral diversity expeditions, remote sensing and crown of thorns control."
"The people I worked with her amazing and I got paid to 'live the dream.'"
"But the big things were the time I spent away from home, the pay isn't as good as people think (welcome to the environmental industry) and after awhile it takes a toll on your body. It was some of the best times of my professional career but it does come at a cost."-newagesaltyseadog
Liminality
"Not knowing it is absolutely fine. You don't have to know. It can make you want to experiment more and gain more experience and go through different life adventurers that you would have missed out on, had you chosen a specific path."
"If you're OK with what you have, I think you're doing awesome! Keep it up."-Fahi12
Can you see yourself holding down any of these jobs?
Mama Coffee
"My dream job would be a coffee house with lots of nice books around that people can read, but I can't stand coffee and I'm terrible at reading, so it's a pretty silly dream job. There's just something about the aesthetic of it all that appeals to me."-The_Blip
"Sounds like you'd be selling the coffee and books instead of drinking and reading, so that doesn't sound very silly to me at all."-EnthusiasticWaffles
Sexy Librarian Or Just Librarian
"Being a librarian or a bookstore employee, assisting with research, and writing articles."-brkh47
"I'm a corporate librarian! I think a lot of people see it as selling your soul but the money is great, the jobs are stable, and I work with really cool materials and advise on campus museum walks :)"-mmphotos25
Ohhh *Pit Crew*
"I wanna be an F1 Engineer!"
"So far, I'm on my way to the goal by nearly finishing my degree in mechanical engineering and now I'm applying to graduate schemes at McLaren, Williams and some smaller supplier teams!"
I"'ve spent 6 years preparing for this sh*t so it better be worth it dammit!"-cannedrex2406
How Would You Dress For This Job
"Wandering hobo that parents tell their kids to avoid but they don't listen and so he guides them in saving their town from an ancient evil with awesome king fu lessons and occasionally wise yet comedic banter."
"He also can fly with his beard like ice king."-GodDamnRight-
Do you see any jobs on this list that you wish you knew about before growing up and making another choice?
Hey AI, Why?
"As a CS nerd who thoroughly enjoys playing chess, Chess.com had this job opening that looked like sooo much fun."
"Essentially, we have algorithms/models that are absolutely incredible at playing chess - world champion grand master chess players have been broadly considered inferior to the best computers since ~2006."
"The thing is these models 'learn' (improve their likelihood of winning) in such a way that, even though they make the correct decisions, they have no way of conveying (or perhaps we have no way of properly comprehending) the reason for a given decision."
"Sure, we can generally study their behavior and make inferences but those still come down to educated guesses."
"Anyways, Chess.com wanted to pay someone to mess around with their opponent AI and research ways of explaining a given decision it made. I don't have the Ph.D. that job would require but damn if it doesn't sound fun :)"-ArriePotter
I Do Not Dream Of Labor
"To be more specific for me, being financially free. It doesn't mean I wake up without a purpose. It means I don't have to keep working a job that pays well that I'm no longer interested in doing."
"I get to do things like helping people out, improving my community, etc. Like figuring out a new lease on life instead of planning to work everyday for the next 30 years just so I can retire semi comfortably."-terdferguson
The Ultimate Hangout
"Running a combo of a winery, brewery and coffeeshop at a beautiful location with easy hiking trails and fire pits outside, plus a built in movie theater with laying around room and a room for playing board games, pool, skiball, some arcade games, etc."
"Also dogs are allowed and encouraged. There'd be snacks sold and some vendors could have trucks outside."-Elliejq88
So, our dreams haven't quite left us yet, even if the world (and life in general) has truly done its best to mess us up.
Dreams always prevail.
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