The very first time that I indirectly encountered this question was in kindergarten. I was asked what I liked to draw by my teacher one day and I replied without any hesitation: "houses". She asked me why I liked to draw houses, and I replied in all honesty: "so that people can live them". That was all it took to trigger my brain into start thinking about the inevitable question of what I wanted to be when I grow up. Was is a sign that one day I'll become an architect? An artist? A builder? If you want to know what I finally decided on many years later, then keep on reading~!
End of first year preschool, right before I turned three. Can you find me? If you look closely, all the girls have a red dot in the middle of their forehead.. everyone did it in China at the time. Don't ask me why, it's stupid now looking back.
End of second year preschool, right before I turned four. Can you find me? Sucks to sit in the rain to take a picture.. why couldn't they reschedule?
End of first year kindergarten, right before I turned five. Can you find me? It was this school year that I said I liked to draw houses =)
End of second year kindergarten, right before I turned six. Can you find me? By the way, the lovely teacher on the left side once told me that I was her brightest student in the class.. and I agree =)
My first graduation! Boy I was so ready for grade one after four years of school already! All I remember on this day was that we were all taking our naps then one by one we were dragged outside to take this photo.
This is how I fly, 11 years old.
As a child in elementary school, and like many other children, I didn't exactly know what I wanted to be when I grow up. But when I was around seven years old, becoming a flight attendant was a very popular career for young girls in China at the time. I was told that the only requirements for flight attendants were that they had to have a pretty face along with a nice body. Well, let's just say I kinda failed both criteria. Although it was probably too early to tell at the time, I still wasn't too fond of fearing for my life all the time while working. However, I do still think about this possibility today but not being able to have a set schedule is a real turn off. Also, I don't adjust to jet lag very well *sigh*
In front of the Shanghai Dance School, I was 12 when I visited.
I've always been known as the skinny girl. Maybe it's in my genes or maybe it's because I've always been a picky eater. But if it wasn't because of immigration, I probably would've went to ballet school to become a ballerina. Did you know the parents of children who want to study at the Shanghai dance school will bribe teachers to accept their children? Aside from your family background ($$$), the child also need to have a proportionate body (shorter upper half, longer legs). I neither had the body nor the flexibility so I wouldn't have qualified anyway lol. But you have to admit, I can totally pull it off as a ballerina =)
Trying to teach myself piano one summer... didn't go so well.
People have also suggested that I should become a model. Being a young girl, modeling sounded very attractive. Strutting down a runway with pretty designer clothes was every girl's dream. But his "short" lived dream failed almost immediately because I obviously wasn't tall enough. And it didn't help that I didn't look like I was gonna be 175cm+ (5'9''+). So modeling didn't work out but I wasn't sad because I got over this one very fast. In fact, how many years can a person model anyway? Not a lifetime that's for sure.
It was in fourth grade that I directly encountered this question finally for the very first time. We had to fill one of those "all about me" sheets in class and of course there just had to be a line dedicated to this topic. All my previous materialistic dreams didn't exist in my brain anymore because after immigrating to Canada, my life changed completely. I remember I contemplated between becoming a doctor or a lawyer. Asian stereotype much you say? I do want to make it clear that my parents never forced this thought upon me. They only demanded good grades (all A's, which I finally and only achieved this in grade six). But I guess I lacked knowing other possible careers that I just stuck with the common and obvious. Anyway, I do remember putting down lawyer on that sheet and that was pretty much the end of that.
This concludes the childhood portion. To be continued with my teen years in part 2 =)
