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MARCH MADNESS 31-DAY CHALLENGE

Day Twenty-Seven: What did you want to be when you grew up?

Can I only answer if I’m grown?

Karen Schwartz
3 min readMar 27, 2023

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Photo by Artem Makarov on Unsplash

I never achieved my goal. I don’t know which is worse; not becoming a veterinarian or never growing up. I’ve still got time to achieve, either.

When I was young and believed anything was possible, deciding what I wanted to become was a no-brainer. I loved animals and wanted to help them — to be surrounded by them. Case closed. Nobody needed to ask me the question. They all knew the answer, and each gave me their blessing. It was a fit until it wasn’t. I never factored there was more than tending to the animals in this profession. Somehow, the idea of studying to become a doctor escaped me. How would I pass and get my license with mathematics, science, and statistics involved?

It wasn’t happening. I’ve never been skilled at math. Have you ever met anyone who, when asked how many jelly bellies and peanuts there were in a jar, replied with a negative number? I’m useless, even with a calculator. I wish I could better manage my money, but I can’t. Although I know the difference between having enough money to pay the bills and enough to have some play money, and I’m aware when finances are tough, that’s the extent of it. Even with a tutor’s help in high school, I…

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Karen Schwartz
Karen Schwartz

Written by Karen Schwartz

Children's picture book author, fiction writer, personal essayist, kindness specialist, and lover of chocolate.

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