As I grew up I held a great fascination for space. I have a fond childhood memory of using my telescope to look into the night sky for the moon and planets on a very frosty winter evening.
Time progresses, and this fascination starts to work its way through many other interests. I wrote a game in elementary school that used space as its backdrop, with alien worlds and their inhabitants as scenery. I grew to love science fiction, reading classic works of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Jules Verne. Space cartoons were my favorites, like Star Blazers and Voltron.
I tried to convince my dad to build me a space ship. My brother and I had some panels set up in the basement with paper taped to them, and many sophisticated drawn instrucments scattered about them. We were expert pilots.
Growing older, the realities of venturing into space became apparent. To be an astronaut, you have to be some kind of expert military pilot. And to get that far, you need the best training. So it became somewhat of a goal to attend the Air Force Academy.
I took some drafting classes, which is as close as I could get in my school to actual engineering without dumping my academic courses, which were more important for entrance. I did very well in the drafting classes, but I wasn’t a motivated student, generally.
I’m not sure when, but it was probably some time in high school when I decided that I wasn’t ever going to be an astronaut. At least, not someone who pilots a spacecraft.
I wonder who else had dreams of being something big or important when they were children, yet left it to do something more practical. All of those guys who wanted to be firemen when they grew up, what are they doing today?
And these days, they’re doing the most mundane jobs. For example, I can’t even tell you what my job is. I mean, I can explain it in a paragraph, but I can’t say, “I am a {something},” and adequately convey to you what that entails. At least, not as well as an astronaut could just by saying, “I am an astronaut.”
Isn’t it also weird how many people I’ve met in the “real world” are not even doing the thing for which they attended college? I’ve worked for managers at fast food restaurants with history degrees. I suppose there isn’t much to be done with a history degree besides frying potatos.
In a way, I miss the idea that I could still do anything I wanted with my life. I could start over today, but I couldn’t be an astronaut.
What did you want to be when you were growing up? When did you realize that your goals had left your reach? Or did you succeed?
