When I grow up...

There are those people who have always known what occupation they'd like to be engaged in from an early age. I have always looked at these people with a sense of awe and more than a tinge of bewilderment.

Often, in primary school, the teacher would ask the class to say, in turn, what each of us would like to be when we grew up. This is one of those sessions that used to really irk me. Possibly because I didn't get it. At 10, I didn't really understand the concept of a job. Truth be told, I'm still struggling with this concept at 26. I had real trouble wrapping my mind around the concept and the times I got close to picturing what a job was, I didn't like what I saw. Add onto this the fact that I didn't want to grow up and you'll understand why I never liked answering this question. I couldn't say "I don't know", which would have been the most truthful response. No. My open, honest, rude streak started in Form 2. What is it about Form 2?

Anyway, most of my classmates seemed to relish these opportunities. They'd say how they wanted to be lawyers, doctors and presidents. I'd always wait my turn in great apprehension. Seeing my turn getting nearer and not being able to figure out what my answer would be this time. I never could relate to what everyone else was saying. My mum was a secretary [I only knew the job title] and my dad didn't have a job. Rather than go with the flow, or just blatantly lie, I came up with the next best thing. I decided to go with something I understood. "I want to be a footballer". The rest of the class would laugh while the teacher looked at me with unmistakeable annoyance. Even at an early age, I didn't like placating people. Growing up, I played football every moment I could. It was something I knew. If push came to shove and I really had to grow up, that would be something I wouldn't mind doing. But kids who got good grades in school had to become doctors. This was like an 11th commandment, passed down unwritten from generation to the next. By the time we were in high school, people had graduated from wanting to be doctors, to becoming neurosurgeons. I had also graduated somewhat and was producing enough hormones to say "I don't know" to anyone who asked this question of me.

As it is, if there was no provision to change your mind about the course you'd applied to study at university, I would be a chemical engineer. Well, at least I would have studied chemical engineering. I can't, with a straight face, call myself a computer scientist. When I finished campus, I just wanted to code. It was the only thing I felt remotely competent at. What did I know about database or system administration, or setting up or managing networks, or hardware. Nothing. This desire has taken a bit of a hit recently, but people like JoelOnSoftware revive my desire and uplift my spirits, in addition to making me laugh. Inspire me to keep at it. Improve and do my best at what I do. When I grow up, I want to be a programmer.