Hello, and welcome to another Writers Reveal (formerly Secret Subject Swap) post, brought to you by Emily Morgan of Emily Morgan Writes. This month’s topic was sent to me by Melissa, who suggested the prompt “When I grow up… Water”. Based on that idea, I decided to write about my thoughts as a child on what else besides a writer I wanted to be when I grew up. Thanks for the topic, Melissa!
The Dreams of Children
Elementary school is an important time in every person’s development. It’s that time when we learn the basic knowledge that will get us through the rest of our lives, when our minds are always buzzing with hundreds of questions about the world around us (or at least, mine was). It’s also a time when many of us start to think about what career paths we’d like to follow in the future.
When we were still children, grown-ups started asking us what we wanted to be when we were older, and those of us who took the question seriously began to ponder the possibilities. Some of us chose to become doctors. Some of us chose to become lawyers. Some of us chose to become scientists, or journalists, or politicians. Some of us chose to become athletes. And some of us chose to become artists.
But how many of us stuck to the first plan that came to mind? How many of us had only one plan to begin with?
I didn’t.
My Other Dream
Writing about what I wanted to be when I grew up is easy, but I still had to think about the last part of Melissa’s prompt: “water”. What could I say about “water”? I could write a fictional story about a young girl with a dream to study the ocean, but it would still be based heavily on real facts, because the truth is… that’s my story.
The first time I knew I wanted to be a writer was in the fourth grade. Creative writing was my greatest passion at the time, and I knew in my heart it was a decision that I was going to stick to for the rest of my life. But writing wasn’t the only career I wanted to pursue when I was a kid, because I had another passion: science.
Ever since I was about six years old, my favorite animal has been the bottlenose dolphin, mostly for its incredible intelligence and playful nature. Having spent a large part of my childhood living in southern Florida, my parents used to take us to Orlando all the time, where we’d visit all the big theme parks, including Sea World. It was there that I really developed a major interest in marine mammals, and I loved the attractions with dolphins so much that I eventually decided I wanted to be a dolphin trainer.
Over time, my passion for dolphins grew into a passion for ocean life in general, so that by the time I was in high school, my original plan had evolved from pursuing dolphin training to studying marine science. Years later, I graduated from university, and I now have a Bachelor’s degree in Biology.
From Dreams to Reality
So now what? Now I’m pursuing both my chosen career paths: creative writing and marine biology. I’m still doing research at my university while I prepare to start working toward a Master’s degree in Ecology, specializing in marine environments. In the meantime, I’m working on this blog to develop my skills and my identity as a writer, and I’m writing stories to release the creative energy inside me.
But these two paths are certainly not mutually exclusive. As a writer, I plan to draw from my experiences in science to write sci-fi stories with as much accurate detail as possible. As a biologist, I need to be skillful at writing to turn out high-quality papers for scientific journals, not to mention I need to be a creative thinker. In short, being able to follow both these paths is a wonderful experience, a real dream come true. I’m a scientist by day, an artist by night, and a dreamer by always.
What about you? What else did you want to do in life besides writing?
This has been a special topic post in Emily Morgan’s Writers Reveal. To learn more, just follow the button below to her site, and be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the event. Thanks for reading!
Other bloggers in the Writers Reveal
Melissa Khalinsky: Melissa Writes
Jodi Gibson: JFGibson
Becky Fyfe: Imagine! Create! Write!
Josefa: Always Josefa
Rhianna: A Parenting Life
Ashley Howland: Ghostnapped
Zanni: My Little Sunshine House
Oh hello fellow scientist! I am a scientist too! I research Type II Diabetes….graduated from university as a scientist and have been doing that for the past fourteen years. Writing has always lived in my heart and soul, and only in the past year have I pursued anything with it x
Hello! Always nice to meet a fellow scientist! Your research sounds fascinating! Writing has always been a part of my soul too; I know that even if I have to cut back on it for a while in favor of my scientific career, I’ll never let it go completely. Good luck with your writing! 🙂
What a great way to incorporate the topic you were given – it’s like it was custom designed for you 🙂 Thanks for sharing, and what a wonderful set of careers you’ve given yourself – I once toyed with the idea of being a marine biologist, but at the time I believed I was a dud at science (thanks to a very unpleasant physics class) so I assumed I would never be able to do it. How I wish i could go back to my teenage self and give me back some self confidence! Still, I found my calling in education and writing, and wouldn’t change a thing. But it has made me super-vigilant about making sure my own daughter feels confident to do anything, no matter what setbacks she faces. Thanks for making me think!
Thanks for reading! It’s a shame you had a bad experience with science in school, but you seem to have found a great path in writing! I hope your daughter grows up healthy and happy, with plenty of self-confidence! Best wishes to you both! 🙂
Sounds like a really interesting combination! I think diversity can only inspire creativity…
I think so too! It’s been very inspiring so far! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the topic & it’s an interesting combination. I’m sure your science can lead to a lot of different story ideas 🙂
That’s the hope! It’s already inspired a few interesting ideas. Thanks for the topic! 🙂
What a great topic. I was always creative. I never really had anything else in mind than to do something in the arts field. I wanted to be an actor but life had other plans for me. And although I look back at times and wonder ‘what if’ I am so pleased at where I am now. Writing feels just perfect.
Thanks! I’ve never wanted to be an actor (I’m way too shy), but I have a sister who’s pursuing the performing arts, and she seems to be having fun with it. I’m glad you’ve found your right place in life! Writing really is perfect. Thanks for reading! 🙂
How wonderful to fill so fulfilled. I have only ever dreamed of writing focused career, though I can recall a time when I wanted to be a formula one mechanic. Strange how that didn’t work out for me.
Haha, a Formula One mechanic sounds like an interesting job! Still, I hope writing is working out well for you. Thanks for reading! 🙂
My degree is in Environmental Science with a concentration in Geology and Global Climate Change. I totally relate to having a foot in both worlds, and science saturates my writing in wonderful ways! (check out my blog section “my addiction”) Although I’m not currently working in the field (SAHM), I try to keep up to date in the scientific community. It will always be a big part of me! You have the COOLEST job, J.C.! And this was an awesome post. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 🙂
Thank you! Your background sounds fascinating! I’ve also considered studying Environmental Science, mostly to work in conservation efforts. Science is a great inspiration for my writing, as I’m sure it is for yours too! Glad you enjoyed the post! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Sounds like you don’t get much sleep with all that going on! Seriously, what a great (double) career and a perfect prompt.
Music is my other great love. I was able to combine them with writing lyrics for a time, but realised I’d rather keep them separate – when I’m suffering writers block, I hit the piano, and when I’m stumbling on a new piece, I come back to the writing. It all balances.
That’s wonderful! I love music too, though I’m afraid I’m not very proficient at it. I’ve always wanted to be skilled at playing piano, but I never really got past the beginner lessons. Sounds like you’ve got a great balance between writing and music! Lucky you! 🙂
You sound a little like my 20 year old daughter. She’s always loved animals and science, so she is on her last year of a BS degree in bio-veterinary science, but she also writes short stories and poems, because she loves writing. 🙂
That sounds wonderful! It’s great to have passion for both science and art! I hope she does well in both! Thanks for reading! 🙂