Was there something you were fascinated by as a child that presaged the work you do now?

Recently, I’ve been talking to a friend who mentioned she had a strong interest as a child, and that interest led pretty much directly to what she does now. It made me wonder if this was true for other people.

For me, it’s a bit more difficult to find that connection. For one thing, I don’t remember what I was interested in as a child. I did a lot of things, but I don’t remember having an obsession. What I do now has mostly to do with intellectual work. I am involved in research. The closest childhood correlate to that is school, I think. I never minded school, but I wasn’t obsessed with it either.

My son has already had several interests: drawing, rocks, bicycling, piano, visual media (isn’t everyone?), and technology (the latest). We have no idea what he’ll so since he’s only 11, but I guess he’s trying out lots of things. Will one or more of them turn
out to be a professional interest in the future?

Is there anything in your childhood that foreshadowed what you are doing now, professionally? What was it? How obsessed were you with it? How did it relate to what you are doing now?