I’m givin’ it a go with yet another carnival. I’ve enjoyed reading Barbara H’s flashbacks…which led me to Linda’s… and this week, the prompt looked so interesting that I want to play too!
Prompt: What did you want to be when you grew up? Why did you want to be that, and did you do it? Did you consistently plan to be whatever it was, or did you change your mind often?…
When I was young, I wanted to be a Mom. As the second of seven children, I grew up changing diapers (cloth), grinding baby food, and keeping tight rein on squirrelly youngsters.
In my late elementary years, I wanted to be a homesteading mom. I was entranced by the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, had entered into the normal pre-teen-girl horse-obsessed mode, and was overjoyed to find all sorts of 1970s back-to-the-earth homesteading manuals at our local library.
In Junior High, I started helping out with a girl’s club at our church–and when the teacher had to bail, I took over. I discovered that I loved teaching. I assisted in a fourth grade classroom for one year and actually enjoyed grading papers, writing tests, and figuring out ways to help kids learn. And so I figured that when I grew up, I’d be a homeschool mom. Of course, by then, I was becoming a bit of a pragmatist and realized that I couldn’t just count on being a mom–I should probably have a back-up plan. I would be a teacher.
I was chatting with an aunt one day as we drove through the hills around my grandparents house. Somehow we got on the topic of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said I wanted to be a teacher. She told me she wondered if she hadn’t really explored her options before deciding on being a teacher. She wondered if she’d have still chosen it if she’d felt like she had more options.
She got me thinking, and I spent a while exploring my options. I perused encyclopedias, college course catalogs, and occupational outlook handbooks. Even though I found dozens of degrees and occupations interesting, I ended up with five on my list of serious contenders: teaching, midwifery, nursing, dietetics, and English. Of course, English was quickly knocked off the list as being completely impractical–what can one do, after all, with an English major? Midwifery was struck from the list once I discovered that midwives cannot legally deliver home births in the state of Nebraska.
Which left me with teaching, nursing, and dietetics. I started thinking practicals: Which one would be most likely to let me do what I really wanted to do when I grew up? I finally arrived at dietetics. After all, a dietitian can be full-time and support herself if she has to. Or she can do on the side consulting as supplemental income if she’d really prefer to, say, be a mom or something.
It was decided. I would be a dietitian. I was fourteen years old.
Eleven years later, I’m a Registered Dietitian. Currently, I teach college students (many of them future dietitians) how to cook. Someday, I want to teach mothers how to feed their families. I wouldn’t mind working with a nursing home population, either. Or maybe I’ll get my Ph.D. and spend the rest of my life teaching future dietitians about the importance of food and family.
Or maybe, just maybe, I might be able to do what I’d really like to do…what I’ve wanted to do all along–to be that woman. I’ll settle in a little town or neighborhood. I’ll get involved with the community. I’ll be the house with the revolving door, with kids and adults coming in and out. I’ll share cooking tips with other mothers as we watch our kids play in the neighborhood park. I’ll do workshops and classes through one of the local churches. I’ll consult a few hours a month for the nursing home in the next town over. I’ll homeschool my children, hand-sew all my clothes, and can produce from my own garden. I’ll host Bible studies in my home and five-day-clubs in my yard. I’ll be a local La Leche League leader and maybe eventually become an international board certified lactation consultant. And when the women in the neighborhood need a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, a woman to help them when they’re having a baby–they’ll know that they can come to me.
That’s what I want to be when I grow up.
A girl can dream, right?
Visit Linda for more Flashback Friday posts.
I enjoyed reading this. Dietitians have lots of options, don’t they?
It was so great to read this; I loved it!
I started college as an English major…then I switched to music. Like you said, what does one do with an English degree?! :)
I found it interesting about it not being legal to have a midwife-attended home birth in your fine state. You’d think those hardy Nebraskans would be a little more practical than that! ;)
I’m sure your aunt had no idea that the conversation with you would have such far-reaching effects…reminds me to be attentive to the conversations I have with the young people around me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
First of all, so glad you joined us this week. I enjoyed reading your thoughts and memories. What a great career choice, and what great advice from your aunt.
until next time… nel
I love it! I love how you arrived at your decision to become a dietitian, and I love your dreams for how you can use your training in the future. I think people get so focused on girls being wives and mothers (the very highest calling, I believe) that they forget that some training in a career field might even enhance their lives as wives and mothers.
I really enjoyed reading this!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog too earlier :) I always wanted to be a mum too, I didn’t think to put that though. Hopefully one day!
Bekah, this is a nice meme. I liked the way you were so methodical in selecting your career and then sticking to it.
I can relate that kind of thinking to accountants, perhaps dietitians are like that too Our youngest daughter studied and worked in accounting. She was always making lists, even before she could write. We still have on of her picture lists. I read your some of your goals, you are just like her in the areas (mostly travel) that I read. :)
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Go Big Red Huskers! We have a wooden Harry that we get out on game days.
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After a stent placement procedure my cardiologist’s dietitian told me I could eat anything, but in moderation.
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Linda–Dietitians do have lots of options, which is one of the reasons I picked it! It’s a very “expanding” profession. There are so many diverse things that can be done with it, and the field is growing all the time.
Davene–I agree with you about midwife-assisted births. Myself and four of the seven siblings were born at home (three with a midwife-assist)–but our midwives were served papers in the early ’90s ordering them to stop practicing or be charged with practicing medicine without a license. It goes without saying that I’m a Nebraska Friend of Midwives and get a bit excited about midwifery law in my state :-)
That’s interesting about you being born at home. Once upon a time, I was pursuing having a homebirth…but then I had a miscarriage…and that’s another story. The babies born since then (Shav and Tobin) were born in the hospital, but I still think there’s something so special about homebirths.
Maybe you will help your state change their laws concerning this! :)