Welcome to this week’s blog hop.  The topic today is:

‘What did you want to be when you grew up, vs what you are today?

As an 11 year old, all I wanted to be was a writer when I grew up.  Out of many primary schools that had taken part in a writing competition, I was delighted that my story had won first prize.  The urge to be a writer has never left me.  Okay, so my work isn’t up there with JK Rowling’s, but I bet I get just as much pleasure from writing a story as she does!

As I became older my parents and other family members started to ask me what kind of job I wanted to do.  I was hopeless at Maths, Physics, Chemistry and anything to do with numbers/calculations (still am for that matter – I think I’m number illiterate).  Mum told me quite emphatically that  ‘people like me do not go to University‘, and therefore I didn’t even consider it.  University was for professionals such as lawyers and teachers.  I said I wanted to be a writer, and Mum replied that I could write in my spare time, as she had done, but when I left school I needed to earn some money.

I have always been fascinated by the workings of the body.  I had a pipe dream as a teenager that I would become a doctor.  I volunteered to work in a children’s ward when I was 16, and they gave me a white coat to wear. That was it!  I was going to be a doctor and save people’s lives.  Unfortunately reality struck the next year when I soon found out  I would need 3 ‘A’ levels to gain entry to medical school, and disappointingly they needed to be the maths/science subjects that I was hopeless at.

I still wanted to work in a hospital, and when we moved to Suffolk in 1991 I was eventually able to do this after a few other false starts at jobs that did not keep my interest for more than a few years.  I started out as a ward clerk in 2002, progressed up the ladder, and I’ve been working as a medical secretary since 2005.  I finally found a job that suits me!  I been lucky enough to take advantage of free in-house training to gain NVQ qualifications.  I love learning new medical terminology, and what I’ve learned about the body since I’ve been at the hospital has helped me in my daily life.  I’ll stay there typing clinic letters until I decide to retire.  Some people never find their ideal job, but I’m glad to say that I have.

What did other blog-hoppers want to be when they grew up?  Click the blue button below to find out, or just add a comment:

Rules:

  1. Link your blog to this hop.
  2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
  3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
  4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
  5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!