February Question of the Month - Join the conversation and receive a badge

JenniferTorres

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a teacher or a hair stylist. I went the teacher route and taught for three years before transitioning into IT. I've never regretted my decision!

JenniferTorres

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a teacher or a hair stylist. I went the teacher route and taught for three years before switching into IT. Now I'm a senior business systems analyst and love my job!

kfvanbeever

When I was young, as early as eight if I can recall clearly through the cloudy mists of several decades, I wanted to be an architect. I completed my High School education in three years instead of four so I could get a jumpstart on the five-year architecture program at the University of Oregon – “Go Ducks”. 

In the mid seventies it seemed to me that everyone wanted to be an architect, so I applied and was accepted into the Fine and Applied Arts program. As I started to sign up for Architecture classes I found they were closed to all but the actual Architecture students. I took my first programming course in BASIC and realized that I loved the idea of designing and building something that seemed so logical. Although I switched over to Computer Science, I never lost my passion and interest in architecture, just redirected it towards a different domain.

Although I did complete a two year Architecture degree, in addition to two Computer Science degrees, I devoted my career aspirations to the application of architecture principles I learned to a long career as a Computer Scientist and Technology Consultant. The insights I learned from architecture, drawing and design, as well as the concept of learning as much about all the building blocks of a solution in order to be more creative and successful, were all added to the disciplines of software engineering. 

At sixty-five, I can now look back and say, that even though I never was officially, an architect, designing buildings for people to live in , I have been able to exercise the same principles of design and build structures, albeit in the digital world, for people to exist in virtually. 

I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have had a career that felt more like a hobby. My mantra is that “Work, without fun, is just work”.

Paula Grahame

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an Undertaker... Yup - you read that correctly.

Today, I work in Live Sports Television with a focus on NHL and WNBA.

Couldn't be any farther from my childhood dreams. LOL

R Chatham

I wanted to be a teacher. Thankfully that didn't come to fruition. 😁 I work in Portfolio / Program Management.

MMcLain

When I was a child, I wanted to be a lawyer because I liked it that they have a way with words and a doctor because they save lives, I am now a manager of linguists and a caregiver.

Corey Schwartz

Love this question!

This is very simple for me - I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I have always loved the sport and the art and science that is the game. I was very lucky to play competitively through college before I injured my shoulder. As I hit the big 4-0 later this year and two shoulder surgeries later, I get to re-live the trials and tribulations of the sport as our son is playing t-ball.

The good news is I now have a head start on knowing when it will rain before most 🤣.

What do I do now? I oversee global operations for a top 25 Accounting firm which means I do anything and everything under the 🌞 to support our teams in India and across the globe. Recruiting, program management, project management, general operations, process improvement, system development, etc.

It's like being a utility player on a baseball team and I love it.

LydiaM

I wanted to be a ballet dancer, then when I got a bit older I wanted to be a runway model but nowhere near tall enough. 😆

Now I'm a project manager, continuous improvement consultant. I've always been good with numbers and very organized - I still love the ballet!

jacquedale

As a kid I wanted to be an interior designer and be around people...ALWAYS!! Now I work in Project Controls, remotely (rarely speaking to people thought the day). 🤣

The older I got, the less I wanted to spend time with people 😎

Caroline Elliott

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a teacher. My Mum was a teacher's aide, and she was always making fun things for the class to do; I thought that was all she did all day and how cool it would be to get paid to have fun all day. As I got older and wiser, realising that this was not the case, I gravitated towards technology and to this stay still work in this area and love it!

Waynedalf

When I was a child I wanted to be safe and happy. Work was so far outside my thought process.

When I was a teenager, my parents told me that I wanted to be an architectural engineer. I had no idea what that was but I wanted to please so took the appropriate subjects at school.

When I left school, I stacked shelves in a shop, not because it was what I wanted to do, but because I lived in an area of huge unemployment and that was the best job I could get.

It wasn't until my 30s that I was given the opportunity to work on projects and found my true love and haven't looked back.

Rowena

As a child, I aspired to become a doctor, but life led me down a different path, and I became a nurse. However, I found that nursing didn’t bring me the happiness I sought. Fortunately, I decided to explore the IT world, and I’m glad I did! 🌟

Judith Campf

This is such an easy one for me! As a kid I wanted to be a teacher....I loved the idea of imparting knowledge and guidance to those younger than me. I set up a classroom in my basement with a real lending library. I had a chalkboard (remember those?), teacher's editions of reading books, and desks and chairs. I used my classroom with my friends and my brother and his friends.

What did I become? A TEACHER, of course! I've been in education since 1985 (oops...gave away my age, I guess). I've been a classroom teacher for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, taught gifted and talented students at the elementary level, taught computers at the elementary level when computers first started in classrooms and computer labs, moved to central office and supported teachers using technology with students, and then developing online teacher professional learning courses. From there, I left the public school arena and went private working for K-12 online learning providers.

Now I oversee the development of K-12 curriculum for our online private school partners around the world. I also oversee the development of our teacher training program and our ongoing professional development program.

And, through the last 10+ years, Smartsheet has helped to make my job so much more organized!!!

A teacher has a special way of making learning fun, finding joy in every day, and the best in everyone.

Collaborator

After considering marine biologist, professional runner, professor, and romance novelist, I read a newspaper article about the invention of Flavr Savr Tomato. I instantly wanted to do that, specifically genetically modify tomatoes to taste like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Well, I never achieved that. But, I did learn a lot about tomato flavor and have worked in molecular biology and biochemistry ever since, earning a PhD along the way. I started as a principal scientist in Big Ag and Big Pharma working on problems of invasive weed species in agriculture systems and cancer diagnostics. And, in my last role, finding myself responsible for the project and alliance management across multiple collaborations for a small biotech company, I turned to implementing SmartSheet for myself and my team, and have been a champion for the utilization of the tool ever since. Throughout my career, I've relied on strong organization, communication, and collaboration skills that have now served me well as a Sr. Dir of Collaboration and Project Management at a synthetic biology and industrial fermentation company. Thank you, SS!

danielatarlo

When I was around 5 years old, I got really excited about fireworks and I went through a phase for about 10 years where I saw myself as a mad scientist, taking things apart, learning how they work and try to make them better... taking fireworks apart and putting them back together to make them LOUDER :-D

That was then. Today, my work titles change a lot but what I do seems to have stayed, I'm a problem solver, a "figure-it-out-er," and with a Bachelor's of Science in Web Design and Interactive Media, I'm still tinkering with code, taking things apart and learning how they work, putting them back together and (hopefully) making them better in the process.

And while I'm still the tinkerer on the job front, what's perhaps the most interesting change in the last few years is that I've gotten involved in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care at my church, and I'm now earning my Master of Divinity, learning how to help other humans in difficult times and (hopefully) improving their lives.