Ice Breaker – What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up

Last Friday, I threw out an ice breaker question, and I loved the response.  So I thought I’d try again.  Ice breaker questions are used to help people get to know each other – to “break the ice” so to speak.  As I stated last week, I love to hear what other people have to say and how they think.  So for today, I’m throwing out another simple ice breaker question.  I’ll answer it first, then it’s your turn.  Answer the question by leaving a comment for us all to enjoy.  Thanks!

Question:  When you were younger (or maybe you’re still younger), what did you want to be when you grew up?  How did it work out for you?

My Answer:  Here you go….

What little boy doesn’t want to be a firefighter.  I think I wanted to be a fireman up until 1st or 2nd grade.  This never panned out; however, I did go through a pretty good stint as a pyrotechnics engineer – I mean pyromaniac.  In fact, I almost burnt the New Jersey Pine Barrens down during a junior high camping trip to Bass River State Park.

I switched over to wanting to be an actor when I was in 3rd or 4th grade.  My parents took me to see Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Fiddler on the Roof, so these provided some inspiration.  But I really took on the acting bug when I had the chance to play one of the leading roles in our church’s production of The Music Machine.  I have seen lots of pictures of my debut performance, but I think a video would be pretty hysterical.  Speaking of videos, I had the honor of being the lead reporter in a video featuring our junior high youth group.  The video was called Jerusalem Today, and it brought out some of the funniest outtakes I’ve seen.  Needless to say, my acting career never really took off.

During high school, I thought for sure that I wanted to be a pharmacist.  I loved chemistry, and it sounded like pharmacists made a lot of money.  Honestly, I’m not sure what swayed me from this path.  Perhaps, it was the knowledge that I would have to go to college for an extra year or two to fulfill this dream.  I’m not sure, but I’m not a pharmacist.

As it turns out, I went to school for engineering.  I became a project engineer and project manager in the building automation industry when I graduated college.  Somewhere along the way, I realized that I wanted a more direct role in managing and helping people succeed, so I pursued my MBA.  Now I work as an operations manager in the building automation industry.  I love what I do (most days)!

So there you have it, my answer to the question.  Now it’s your turn….