Show and Tell: When I Grow Up

Today I am linking up with Andrea for Show and Tell Tuesday! On today's agenda..what I wanted to be when I grew up. Is it strange that I still find it surreal that I am actually living my 'grown up' life? I swear when I look in the mirror I am still 19. Time goes too fast!

1. This man's wife.

Cliff Pantone from Bring It On. Swooooon. I watched that movie over, and over, and over, and truly believed he was the one. Even in my youth I had a thing for the guy who marched to the beat of his own drum. I just stumbled upon a 'then and now' pic of him, and my heart broke a little to realize he was now a grown man my 12 year old self wouldn't have liked quite so much.

Jesse Bradford now, however, completely appeals to twenty-something me. I knew I had good taste.

2. Mary Kate and Ashley

Like most girls of the 90's, I owned every. single. one. of their movies. I tried to replicate their mystery solving outfits. I wrote Mary Kate and Ashley 'books', aka drew pictures of what they did in the movies on paper. I wanted to be them. To this day, I have them to thank for my bucket list vacation of going to the Atlantis in the Bahamas. They epitomized what every young girl wanted and wanted to be. Witness protection program in Australia? Sign me up! Forced to spend a week in Paris with a cranky grandpa? I'll take it! A school competition in London? Seriously, it just isn't fair. Once I found out my 6 foot tall self wouldn't mix in very well with the 5'1 twins, I finally accepted the reality that I was not, in fact, an Olsen twin.

3. An anesthesiologist

This one is easy. We read a book in middle school breaking down salaries. This one topped the list. I was one of the smartest kids in my class at the time, so I figured it made sense to get the 'smartest person job'. In some ways, I miss and admire the high hopes and expectations we have when we are young. Of course, none of us know at that age what life has in store for us, or what experiences we will go through. On that note, how exactly did I get to where I am today?..

I did go to college with the intention of being pre-med. I got accepted into a prestigious science class of my university, and thought I was set. And then I took earth biology. And calculus. And organic chemistry. I realized almost immediately that I despised all of these classes, and I also wasn't that great at them. To this day, calculus is foreign to me. I just couldn't picture spending the next 8 years of my life studying subjects that I hated. In retrospect, could I have pushed through those rough classes? Perhaps. However, any science class dissections also brought me to a swift realization that I had no desire to work in cadaver labs, or really just ever be required to touch people. And so there ended the dream of being a doctor.

4. Public Health Educator

I realized I loved wellness and nutrition, and after some soul searching and research, I ended up finishing out my last two years of college at home and majoring in community health. My new dream became working to affect people at home, impacting their decision making and lifestyle choices to prevent future health issues. I started my career as an injury prevention specialist with a trauma department, in part because it was a job in my field..and well, that's why basically. I did enjoy the job, but it also pointed out quickly the areas I did and did not want to work in. Working with young children and teens to impact smart decision making? Sign me up! Fall prevention for the elderly? Important, but just not my thing.

Just this month, I finally accepted and started a new job with a local childhood obesity initiative, working to affect policy change and promote active and healthy lifestyles in children. It is some of the most rewarding, fulfilling work I could ever imagine doing. I am also in school to get my MBA, so really, I don't know what I am going to be when I grow up. I have an idea of where I want to end up, but since entering the public health sector, I have realized the opportunities and types of work that you can do are endless.

5. A mom

This has always been number one on my list, and never a question in my mind as to whether or not I would have kids. I am amazed by how fast it is already flying by, but I am loving every minute of it, and it is by far the most rewarding job there is.