[Two Bills]

According to my dear wife, I never grew up.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

According to my dear wife, I never grew up.

I csn relate

[Desiderata]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

LOL! I was a captain of a coastwise oil tanker and deck officer on ocean going tankers. . don't worry, its alot more boring watching the ocean go by than the glory of the title!

I know that certain events in our childhood shape our lives with/without our consciousness. For me it was being exposed and programming an old Digital Equipment computer at age 13, in 1972, and spending Saturday nights either playing sports or programming the computer with binary finger switches. Through high school playing with that computer, I learned the very basics of how a computer worked, so I naturally loved it when PCs were born, and had a macintosh from 1982 onward, and my first Multiplan (the MS predecessor to excel) spreadsheet was tracking lottery ticket numbers to win money so I didn't have to work

That was my journey to geekdom!

as far as sports, my parents didn't believe in a sports career, but learning a trade to fall back upon in hard times. They were depression era traditionalists.

Did your lottery tracking spreadsheet help you to win any lottery money?

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

According to my dear wife, I never grew up.

My wife asked me why I’ve been practicing juggling recently. I told her I want to be a clown if I ever grow up : )

[gorillarick]

Had a professional golfer across the street from me when I was a kid. At 7 or 8, he had a golf club in his hand every day. Always gone to a golf course, or putting in the back yard, or driving in the side yard (corner lot) or down at the baseball diamond not so far away.
Played on the high school golf team, and then college.
Lost track of him, but would often see him way down the list in golf tournaments.
Was or still is a golf pro at a country club last I heard (a real country club).

Yeah, most real pros knew what they wanted to do very early. I did; not golf.

[nn0wheremann]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Listening to a lot of olympic athletes' back stories, I am struck by the number of athletes who knew by age 9 that is what they were born to do. The high jumper from Louisiana was the best, jumping with a stick by age 5. .

How many non athlete's readers here knew what they wanted to do the rest of their life as a pursuit by the age of 9?

for me I was trying to figure out how to get ready for school on time by the age of 9, never mind see a sport on television or elsewhere and want to do that the rest of my life, or be in the olympics.

anyone have this type of work/sports epiphany?

No epiphany for me. I have had several career paths, some successful, others less so.
I do have sympathy for those age 9 athletes who become Olympians. Now they are in their teens or twenties, with nowhere to go. Maybe they will figure out round two precociously by the time they are 29.

[KCrowne]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Listening to a lot of olympic athletes' back stories, I am struck by the number of athletes who knew by age 9 that is what they were born to do. The high jumper from Louisiana was the best, jumping with a stick by age 5. .

How many non athlete's readers here knew what they wanted to do the rest of their life as a pursuit by the age of 9?

for me I was trying to figure out how to get ready for school on time by the age of 9, never mind see a sport on television or elsewhere and want to do that the rest of my life, or be in the olympics.

anyone have this type of work/sports epiphany?

I am LOVING these stories - thanks for posting!

[blueash]

First day of 7th grade English class, Miss Thompson, the class little old spinster teacher, had us write a one pager on what we would be doing in 10 years.

I wrote I would be in Medical School at Hardvard University. The paper came back graded with the comment "If you don't learn to spell Harvard you're not getting admitted"

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

When I was a young teenager I was the state champion in backstroke and swam in the nationals (Junior Olympics), and came in third. Despite lots of pressure to continue swimming competitively, I gave it up because my passion was skiing. The first time I pointed my skies down a mogul field I was hooked. Never made it to the Olympics, but I did ski for a couple days with the USA Olympic team while they were training on Outer Limits and Devils Fiddle at Killington and held my own with them. Unfortunately, skiing all those bumps for many years trashed my knees. I should have stuck with swimming. Life goes full circle, now that I am old, and my knees are trashed, swimming is my passion and golf fills in the spare time.

Did you swim in the local senior olympics? I used to do various sports in those venues and enjoyed the experiences.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

At 7, I wanted to be captain of a clipper ship. Later that same year they discovered I was blind as a bat, almost. My near blindness had left me very shy and with little self confidence. Add to that the teasing for my Coke bottle glasses, my increased insecurity and the lack of clipper ships, I became the dork I am today.
Sometimes I hope for reincarnation. Other times, things could have been much worse. End result, not too bad, really. 🤓🤓🤓

Yes, I think that I will be Lebron James in my next reincarnation. And congratulation to you for admitting imperfections.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by chrisinva

“They were depression era traditionalists.” That says a lot.

Sadly, so were mine. I was good at a few sports but never gave a thought to the possibilities. The message back then was “get an education & get a good job.” Definitely a different era today.

But hey, I had fun back then & immensely enjoyed what an athletic/outdoor life brings. And today, I still have fun in those sports & have even expanded my experiences in TV. Thank you,TV. : )

While playing sports, always "float like a butterfly".

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by macawlaw

My daughter was in third grade when she announced that she wanted to be a pediatrician. She started her second year of med school today.

On the way, she had a D1 full ride for volleyball (until she tore her ACL). Her club teams won two national championships, and she attended an invitation only camp at the Olympic Training Center. She did not go “big” for college because she was told she could not major in anything premed, so she chose academics over sports.

So, she knew what she wanted to do early and stuck with it when other opportunities presented themselves.

Personally, I did it the opposite. Took sports as far as my talent would take me and then went back to college later in life.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Wow! at age 13, I had figured out how to get to school on time, but writing and literature and history were the worst subjects, kept getting Ds and Fs. . and recess was my favorite class. .

I still can't image being smart or aware enough to make these life determining decisions before the age of 25. . . I admire people who made these decisions such as this for the rest of their lives and were top performers in their careers amongst their peers. .

to you as well

Women mature about 2 years earlier than boys (at least back in my day). Also, most women THEN (not now) had more limited professional openings available than most boys. Even today, a woman has to be 5 times as good as a man to get most any position.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Windguy

I loved anything to do with rockets when I was little. When I watched John Glenn orbit the Earth in 6th grade I decided I wanted to work for NASA when I grew up. Ten years later, I pulled into the Manned Spacecraft Center (now JSC) in Houston to start my internship as a rocket engineer.

I still love rockets and spend hours every day keeping up with the space industry. I can’t wait for SpaceX to start launching their giant Starship rocket from the cape. Man, I love rockets!

Enthusiasm, drive, talent, and tenacity will get you to your goals. Good work!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by nn0wheremann

No epiphany for me. I have had several career paths, some successful, others less so.
I do have sympathy for those age 9 athletes who become Olympians. Now they are in their teens or twenties, with nowhere to go. Maybe they will figure out round two precociously by the time they are 29.

Actually, many of them are current playing professionals that after retirement can coach, or be commentators, or have a line of clothing, or maybe use their name to open doors for themselves in business.