Heather Allen

I was just thinking about my career trajectory recently and then traveled down memory lane to my other career aspirations that never came to fruition. I currently work in publishing, but while I was in graduate school I would think to myself that if publishing didn’t work out I’d become a nurse because they always need nurses. (And I would be a good member of any zombie apocalypse team, obviously.)

Before a nurse, in my sophomore year in college, I was obsessed with Tetris and considered becoming a Professional Tetris Player; I liked it that much. I’m pretty awesome at Tetris. I even bought a Tetris necklace online. It broke soon after I bought it and much like my other phases, Tetris faded as a pastime.

Before college, while still in high school, I went through a lot of phases, so to speak, including one was what I considered emo, though only my soul was black and not my clothes and hair. It’s during that time I became obsessed with music, going to local shows, and thought I was a good writer. Being a music journalist seemed fitting, but SO MUCH EFFORT when all I wanted was to listen to obscure music (~Karate High School~).

Before puberty had taken over in middle school, I could think of nothing I’d rather be than a dermatologist, where I’d be able to solve all of my acne problems. I never wanted to tell anyone this career goal because I was afraid it would draw attention to my face and people would make fun of me. There’s also a ton of work that derm’s don’t get credit for, like detecting skin cancer. That’s not what I was interested in (depressing subject matter to a middle schooler).

Before life was complicated by boys and SAT prep, in the fourth grade, my aspirations were on the track for stardom. After being the lead kid in a church play, I could think of nothing I enjoyed more than the attention that comes with being an actress. And I was good at delivering lines on the stage. Stage fright? No way. It wasn’t a character I was playing. It was me.

But my first career aspirations were more simple. When I was five years old I wanted to be called Mary and be a waitress. It’s appropriate that I would re-name myself after the selfless virgin (not that I knew what that meant at the time). A waitress seemed easy, I suppose. And I’m good at pouring drinks and setting the table, as I’m sure my mother could attest.

As for the future, I’m pretty set on publishing, ideally as an Editor or Publisher, but I’m not opposed to being a travel blogger–should the opportunity arise! 🙂

What are/ were some of your strange career goals?