13 careers I considered growing up
A dive into the various branches of careers I considered and still consider for some. There's time, maybe. 🤓
Growing up my mind was as creative as it still is today. I drew inspiration from the movies we watched growing up. I fancied myself a rich woman who wore red gowns and pearls with a house full of servants at one point with no husband. Just because I watched a show where the protangonist was this fine woman I think it was a series in the James Bond 007 series.
One time I fancied myself a wild life photographer who lived a solo life but had so much money because she was paid $5000 per exotic shot she took of rare species of wild animals. Another time I was the damsel in distress and my indian actor came and rescued me from the hands of the bad guys. My mind vividly conjured things up. It still does today and now I sadly do it all. 😂
Today I am on so many various journeys and I believe it leads to a certain path I'll see soon. However, let’s talk about the various careers I considered growing up.
Coming top on the list was the Nigerian household favorite: Surgeon. Yup I wanted to become a surgeon not just any surgeon, a cardiac surgeon. But alas, that career didn't even get the chance to begin with the numerous hiccups that came with family life going from middle class to poor, thanks to daddy’s poor money choices. 😂
Second on the list is Newscaster. I admired these fine women I saw on the TV screen and wanted to read news. With my father working at Radio House then and the Fed Ministry of information and admired for his solid news pieces I wanted to be at the forefront reading news. I saw them as celebrities then and admired the niche they were in. All I got to do was wear Ankara and do makeup and read news with an accent. That's what I thought. Then I became a science student and that dream stopped after secondary school grad.
Third on the list is a chef. I loved to cook. I have a diploma in culinary arts and catering. I also wanted to apply to Red dish chronicles once I moved to Abuja but then the accident happened. I am better now and thinking to enter the kitchen back again. I loved cooking and learning the art of food. I also applied to culinary schools in France. I got a couple but the fees then shocked me. We weren't in a good place then for me to pursue that. But I would still like to do that. It is on my list. I am loving pastry arts now although before it wasn't my favorite angle of food making.
Next up we have an Editor. I was the senior editor at Prazzle Arts. It is a wonderful career just that editors are a slow build-up career. You become reverenced as you grow older and build years of stay at a place. I loved working with artists. Currently I still interview curators for Prazzle Arts. If you know any curator I can chat with do holla, I'll be most pleased to engage. This came as a result of loving the magazines and newspapers my papa brought home from work. I admired it.
Next we have Farmer. My family still farms till date. I considered making it full scale career but it demands mental capacity beyond my imagination. Being a farmer in Nigeria is tough business. So now we only farm for consumption. Plus I think it demands huge capital to make it large-scale. I remember helping my papa to draft proposals for Agric bank, all these banks that support farmers after he left civil service.
Into the tech world I have come to love designs on Figma, codes on GitHub, and all Operations and Management software like Asana, Softr, Perplexity AI, Claude, Notion, Clickup, and Monday.com. I love software and tools that help streamline the process. I love the world of tech. I love innovations. I want to be an innovator positively. I wanted to have an holistic mental health app and flow into psychology of being. Now more than ever many things I do considers people like me, overthinkers, people on autistic spectrum with anxiety. These things seem like big fancy words but they exist. People do not understand how hard it is they say words like “Just breathe, stop thinking, it is not that deep Wnifred.” I know but it is hard and it is a process. So I hope all my love and learning for technology leads me down a holistic path where technology is used positively. I don't know what career path this one is but we will find out.
On number seven we have Project Manager: as the ultimate big sister, I think I excel here. It has been funny to pivot since most of my experiences range within the creative industry and the writing or media industry but I am here. This is one path I prayed to God to grant me clarity in. I asked for signs and got them so I am standing here in this space and filling it in. I also like that it helps me embody my love for technology well and be the connector belt in the middle of things.
Funny as it may sound I've considered being a model. I don't have the finest catwalk, height, or anything like that but well-tailored clothes fit my body. I have a beautiful body and wanted if just for a day to wear outfit be on makeup and just dance as I showcase clothes tailored to my body type. I admire pretty women who get to model wears elegantly. It is such a womanhood thing to do in my books.
Stay-at-home wife. Yes yes yes stay at home wife is a dream I dream on some days because why not? Dreaming is free. I think being busy keeping the home and just being around my home is such a dream. One some days when the hustle and bustle gets bursting I just float to this world where I am a stay-at-home wife.
Rich pottery artist or contemporary artist. This is self explanatory I think having a studio where I conjure the most creative works and sell them for good money is something I've really considered on my scale of monetizing hobbies or creative aspect. However all I have in this regard is one pottery pot I moulded that now holds all my pens and one small painted work where I mimicked Van Goh. 😂
Shoemaker and bag maker. I once ventured into making Ankara bags and shoes at the time it was vogue. I sold but I couldn't keep up. It was tasking.
Yes how can I forget this sweet one? Being a rich author in children books and adventurous fictions, nonfiction or whatever I choose to write. However I made money from writing beautifully. I am a ghost author 👻 boooooohoooo 😂
Clinical psychologist or be in academia studying human behavior. I love school. I love learning. It doesn't matter what I do with it the goal to me is to always learn something new each day. And somehow this has helped me touch many topics in life and read about them. My friend told me that I have the curiosity of a child. My mind is always open for more. At the same time I have been the most consistent on my values. Since he knew me he knows what and where i stood with things and society. And that my friends comfort me.
Even if I did not end with the first career path I know life is so vast that you literally do not have a linear path with things. It is all an experience so lets live it each day as it comes.
What were you funny career paths and what do you now do?
Tata for now.
Winifred is such a dreamer, a freaking whole 13 careers?
God, i’m so boring
It is all coming together, it appears; or much of it, at least: you will become a proficient coder, which will require you to be a diligent editor, and then you can display yourself as a model in clothes and with accessories that you have designed. You could even modify your own image, though there is no need to do so. And THEN, you could take the images to illustrate the children's books you write, which you could read to your kids as you raised them. That's not quite all 13, but it is many of them. I don't think I would recommend being a surgical news presenter from a farm or commercial kitchen, but I may have insufficient imagination. Good luck!