h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When I was a lot younger, I remember being asked by a teacher if I'd like to play a musical instrument. I said I'd like to play the trumpet - I don't remember why, but I'm sure Roy Castle had something to do with it! (Yes, I used to watch Record Breakers )
A few years later, I got the chance to learn to play, and took it. And I'm still playing 14 years later!

Jobwise, I just want something challenging, and that will pay the bills. Something to keep me occupied...

well, as a youth i passed through many phases, as i assume most people have.
there was the phase where i wanted to learn drums or slide trombone. the precise reason for those two particular instruments escapes me now, but i remeber the will was quite veement.
economic factors restraining i proceeded through the astronaut, television comedian, hacker, director and vice-president of the united states phases. (someone once told me that the vice president doesn't do anything and gets quite a lot of money)
the director phase was interesting as i was reading the hitchhikers books at the time and kept imagining a cinema transportation. the thoughts on soundtrack were interesting, as i was about 10 or 11 at the time. i remember the '50s american hit 'personality' was to be marvin's theme...
i studied art in italian school, and returned to the director phase at the end of those studies. (the people i saw coming out of the accademia delle belle arti seemed to be all abstract freaks made with a mold, thus killing my artistic aspirations) unfortunately more economic obstacles prevented me form following through with those studies..
during the school years i took up singing, guitar and bass, and played in a few groups thereafter. at the moment i work with friends in our little music production studio, mostly on electronic dance music.. the most profitable way into the business (though i have yet to see any profit)

more to come....

From an early age I loved drawing, and i wanted to be an artist most of all - until I was about 16. Then I had a serious artistic crisis - I thought about all the works of geniuses throughout the history of art, and said to myself: How on earth can I contribute something original? It seemed impossible. But then I started playing the cello, and voila! now I'm a professional musician. Of course, I might as well have asked myself the same question about music, but somehow it didn't seem important...

I wanted to be a coroner up until I was about 14 or 16. That way, you'd get all the respect and money that doctors earn, but there's little chance of accidentally killing a patient if you're already dealing with corpses. Plus Quincy made it seem glamo(u)rous.

Around 13 or 14, I started writing short stories in school, and eventually got hooked to the point that I wrote in my free time, and still do. So now I want to write the Great American Novel if I grow up.

I got a bachelor's in Creative Writing, telling my pragmatic father that it would prepare me for a job in advertising or something like that. But I've been unable to get any job in writing, journalism, copy editing. I've applied to some technical writing positions, but there are no "entry-level" technical writing positions. They expect you to be born with 3-5 years experience.

So meanwhile, I'm a data entry trainer, a job which doesn't require college experience. And I'm hoping to finish the first draft of a novel before October (when I'll turn 30 and my self-confidence as a potential novelist might turn into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight).

i never had any great ambitions at all. the rare times when i did think about work or "a career" when i was a kid, i got about as far as "summat that pays me enough so i can buy a book/go out whenever i want". my mum always wanted to be a teacher so when the careers person at school forced me to say where i wanted to spend my work experience, the first thing that popped into my head was teaching. ended up doing 2 yrs of a teacher training degree, which i hated intensely, so changed to theology and english - interesting but not exactly practical. when i left uni the only thing i could think of doing was working in religious publishing, but after 3 yrs of doing both a full time job and part time job just to pay the bills, i decided i'd had enough and got a secretarial job in a charity. the work was dreadfully boring so i did some hr work as well, which they eventually made official, and at the same time suggested i do an ma in hr. foolishly, i thought it might be a good idea to get a professional qualification, so for the last 2 yrs i've had my nose well and truly to the grindstone. and i'm still not even sure that i want to do hr!

one of these days i might make up my mind what i want to do...

Wanted to be a ballet dancer all those years back. Went for ballet classes for 2 years or so and figured it was way too much work - plus I realised that I would never get far enough.

Got slightly side tracked through the growing period and finally managed to get an engineering degree. Now all I need is a job...