If your current career is plan "B" then what was plan "A"?

There was no Plan A.

@ragingloli I am interested, and intrigued. Please tell us more?

In college I majored in physical therapy. Minor was actually art history.
I used to be quite the artist. I won a statewide competition for creativity, for my age group (14,) and was considered gifted. I was always in an art class. I took all the advanced classes through high-school. It was a natural Minor. Would have been my major, but I didn’t think it would be very fruitful financially.

I did not graduate. I was making decent money at the time, roofing and painting. I had a very expensive (for me) car, with expensive insurance. First girlfriend with a drug problem.
And I was traveling to the Caribbean often. The Bahamas are actually not far from Charleston SC.
I got the flu one winter, and lost my financial aid for missing too many classes. So I dropped out, and planned to get right back into it.

Life, had other plans. Time, slips away so fast. I had an unforseen medical emergency, that left me like $80,000 in medical debt when I was 21. A rare DVT, unrelated to any heart issues, and considered a fluke. No insurance meant that that medical bill would define my next moves.

I fell into a law enforcement job that seemed exciting and potentially more lucrative and better quality of life than construction.

I could go on forever.
The fact is this is like plan E7.

At my age, I have no plans for a career. In my late 20s I wanted to get a doctorate in psychology, with a focus on either counseling or research. Instead I got married and lost my focus.

My dream job would be either a forensic psychologist or a criminal psychologist. I also enjoy lab work, so a forensic pathologist would be interesting.

If you didn’t move Plan A down or throw it out, then its always Plan A.

Demote it.

PLAN A
Starting in third grade, I wanted to be an artist.

PLAN B
I later studied and worked in architecture for four years.

BACK TO PLAN A
I then went to college for illustration.

PLAN A ADJACENT
Eventually started working as a graphic designer along with illustration.

PLAN A/B MIDDLE AGE EDITION
Went to grad school for graphic design and became a professor – now teaching art and design.

I’ve worked my way through many a plan before reaching Plan “R” for retirement.

I guess it depends on when you actually believe Plan A was actually Plan A. Some 5 year old boy wanting to be a fireman or a little girl wanting to be a nurse isn’t necessarily an honest Plan A. It’s a fascination.

For me, when I was 18 I moved out on my own. I started supporting myself and putting myself through college at age 19. I realized I wanted to be a chef. That would have been Plan A. But to be a good chef would require culinary schooling which I couldn’t afford. So I looked into the military to see about getting education. Instead of culinary I went with Nuclear Power mechanics, chemistry, and radiation controls. At that point Plan A (chef) turned into Plan B (nuclear power plant technician/supervisor. Plan B ended with a massive layoff and I moved onto Plan C (beer and wine delivery) as a filler until I could retire.

Interestingly, though, retirement was always part of every plan. So it was always Plan A. so I ended up back on Plan A.

@seawulf575 Ok. Thanks. Then I did not have a plan “A” or plan “B”. I’m still at the fascination stage.

Plans vary on age so lets say senior year in high school.

Plan A: Rock Star
Plan B: Geologist
Plan C: ?? I fell into my career by accident.

My plan A was to major in English and then teach. I loved all aspects of the subject, including grammar, which I believed I could teach in a nonstandard way that would be engaging to kids.

I majored in English all right, Dean’s List and all, and graduated into a time and place where there was a glut on the education market. Would-be teachers were washing cars and waiting tables. I wound up in an office.

Computers were just making their way into workplaces. Laptops were far off in the future. Office computers were largeish free-standing boxes with various peripherals to fulfill the basic office functions—“BICARSA,” billing, inventory control, accounts receivable, and sales analysis. I was tapped to take the classes and learn to operate and program the thing.

That’s how I wound up working with computers. That became plan B.

But I never really let go of plan A. It was incorporated into plan C, when I converted a moonlighting semi-career, editing books for book publishers, into a full-time job. I ended up with an amalgam: working for computer companies as editor of their technical documentation and user manuals. It left me with some dissatisfaction, since there is nothing literary about tech docs, but it was a nice, lucrative wrap-up of my career and left me with a good retirement plan.

Plan A: Veterinarian.
Plan B: Medical Technologist.

It’s best for me that plan A didn’t work out. Don’t think that I could handle treating farm animals or dealing pet owners well.

How far down the alphabet are your Plans? ZZ?