I wanted to be a doctor. In college, I chased too many beers and drank too many women . My fault my grades weren't good enough. I still have a fascination with science and math. No regrets. We are our choices and decisions.

Alive I wanted to be alive -my family were mad as hatters and violent for no reason at all so I left home at 15 and am still alive at 70 -I m=nevr really knew what I wanted to do but as a baby boomer jobs were plentiful and i worked in labs an doffices and had an all round experience - my faavourite was lecturer in person centred couselling so I had a lot of joy in my work life and if it turned sour there were no end of job vacancies to be filled. I am sorry for this generation who never really got to test thei labour power

Never did figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up. The weird thing was they would always ask what I wanted to be and I would just shrug my shoulders, I truly did not know. What I did know was I was borned with school but I could get lost in the encyclopedia, LOVED math but struggled to get the correct answers(transpose numbers and not realize it), loved history but just memorizing dates seemed dumb, there are bigger backstories to those date.
Weird family dynamics is all I know for sure.

Is it too late to do something that goes in the direction of your dream? I was in my mid-sixties before I started my MA and though now in my mid-seventies would love to do a Ph.D if I could afford it. It's never to late to study and there are quite often organisations that help mature learners with funding.

I was primary caregiver for my Autistic nephew when he was a toddler and preschooler. I found his first special interest with him, and we did all things volcano for a couple years. These days, he prefers to design computers and code. I always try to find things to help him do what he wants.

People (close family included) had ever laughed at my dreams or taking them non-seriously, but as per now I have shown quite a determination in making them happen.
When I was 4 I got fascinated by busses, streetcars, trains, planes, etc. I knew all the routes, I was making my grandmother taking me out just for rides over the transit.
My parents were mocking me up how useless that knowledge is. They handed me a cello instead and demanded me to become a musician. Should I say it did not work?
Now, 29 years later, I am a mechanical engineer in transportation (railways), established tech expert in railway operations, train operator, and currently doing my grad towatds a degree in Urban planning with transportation concentration, so... pretty much my dream.
The lesson - never give up and it will work its way through.

I think you should pick up where you left off on your dream. Clearly, it sounds like you still would like to be an astrophysicist. I had wanted the same thing for myself and dropped it as well (as well as a career in music). I love what I do, but I do sometimes look back with regret. I say go for it.

No one helped including my parents. I am a self-taught artist with no qualifications which hasn't helped me. I just luckily am determined to do anything that people tell me I cant.

Agree. I think I would have loved to be an engineer. No chance. Girls in my day could only aspire to be shorthand typists, or if they showed some intelligence, a teacher. Just until you got married of course My girl children were still restricted. Hopefully my granddaughter will be able to choose something she loves, testicles or not.

I wanted to be a volcanologist, but chemistry and math and physics weren't my strong suit. Now I work with kids and encourge them to explore the natural world and get their science on! There are so many ways to encourage it. It doens't have to SCIENCE. We are doing Harry Potter day next week and one my activities is Is It Magic or Science? I'm going to do some dry ice demos and talk about what makes it work. Then we are going to make potions with baking soda and vinegar. You can sneak learning into just about anything.

I think I changed my mind about what I wanted to be a hundred times when I was a kid, and when I got older I was told career aspirations 'drew too much attention,' so I stopped.

Nowadays I have no idea. Narcolepsy and dyscalculia make it difficult to learn much of anything.

No, I didn't. For me it was a mix between the cost of schooling and the cost of health care. I didn't want to be that deeply in debt the rest of my life.

You are still young enough you can become what ever you want still. I was a bit of a non-conformer when I was a child. I just want to enjoy life. I’m still that way.

Its too bad you were unable to pursue your career aspirations. Today our children have more opportunities to learn and grow.

I have no one to blame but myself. I can't say I ever had a dream in terms of "what I want to be." Honestly, I'm 56 and still don't know what I wanna be when I grow up. There are some things I'd like to do in semi-retirement. My parents were indifferent and did not foster/cultivate dreams or imagination nor did they discourage them. So I own my own situation (working a job I don't love, but making ok $$, homeowner, late model car, etc. Not rich or wealthy).

What I would say to you is that it's never to late to act on your dreams. Also, applaud you for raising your kids as you have described. I have told my kids (I have two) to find their passion and pursue it. And that the key to at least part of their happiness will be discovering their passion and turning it into a career. =]

When I was a kid, I must have changed my mind a thousand times. Astronaut, firefighter, cop, soldier, paleontologist, forensic analyst, writer..... and so on. If you're going to take your kid's aspirations seriously, keep in mind that goals without deadlines are just dreams.

I believe strongly that kids don't know what they want... neither do most adults, but kids know what they like. My son is 6 now and in kadergarten. When he comes home from school I have him do homework which consists of 1st and 2nd grade content.

I also expose him to science, philosophy, biology, and most importantly the truth.

My point here is that I throw things at him and see what he likes, then he is able to approach them.