As promised, I'm posting some of my favorite papers and excerpts from my students' "What I want to be when I grow up" responses. Some I picked for creativity, some for ability and some for pure comedic value. What's amusing is that the papers were written after a lecture on careers which included a 10 minute discourse by me on the importance of humanitarianism. Why was I not surprised to find that 98% of my students were planning on giving most (or all) of their earnings to the "poor man"? Creativity people, come on…
Here goes, unchecked grammar and untapped originality. It may be lengthy, but I promise it's worthwhile.
I know it's impossible in many people's eyes. But, I want to try. I will love all the things I do at the work. I will forgive all the bad sentences to me because I know it's not the fact.
Sadiya (I think this one might be my new life motto)
I will invent something like magic box. People can put anything in it. But when you are doing something is not right the magic box will become a monster. It can eat you.
Gary
I want to be a scientist in the future. Because I think science is gradually more important and more important now. And we need science to fly to the Mars, Venus etc. and move faster. I want to design spaceships. I think Chinese spaceships are very good but American spaceships is better, we must compete with America (I'm sorry to say that, especially to you. Please forgive me.) I want to design a lot of spaceships to find ET or moving to another planet. Maybe we can have a holiday on a dwarf planet!
Bobby
I want to make some fantastic things, for example: a boat what can fly, some water what can make everyone alive forever, etc. I love the song 'I believe I can fly' and 'Peerless'. They raise me up! Another way, I love money too. I want to be a richman and help poormans and beggarmans. I want everybody says about me: 'He is always helping others.' (I'm a badman, ha…)
Jim Whitey (my favorite little sociopath…)
I want to be a ET because I can buy UFO fly to the sky I have on pounds forever I work free…That's interesting but…This is Dream!
Megatron
I want to have a family with an ugly yellow woman.
Richard
I want to stand on the big world stage and show them a better China is standing at the east of the world.
Shirley
When I grow up, I will be a pianist. I like playing the piano. And I like all the music because music is really cool. It takes me happy. I like many musicians like Chopin, Mozart even Justin Bieber. When I am tired I will play the piano and when I am sad I will play the piano.
I hope that in the future. I will be a great pianist. I don't want much money, I don't want a big house, I just want music in my whole life. Maybe when I am really too old I want to stay in a quiet city like Luzer, Interlaken or Edinburg. Everyone knows, music needs a quiet environment. That why I want to live in these small cities. "I won't give up" that my voice. I will play the piano until I am 100 years old. I will be a pianist! Why? There are two reasons: First, I like music! That's simple. The second reason is if I can be a great musician I can travel many great places in the world! I like traveling! I want to go to Dubai, Rio and Paris. But who will I do this job with? The answer is I must have a family. I want a beautiful girl to listen to my music. And I want a clever son or daughter to play the piano or be a composer! Wow! That's my kind of life. It's really nice!
Raul
I want to be a singer in America because my idol Kirsten Stewart's motherland is America.
Kristen (the English name she picked…how ironic)
I want to be a lawyer in China because Chinese people is crazy, bad and dangerous. I want to help the police to catch this kind of people.
Jordan
I want to be a dreamer. Because dreams are always beautiful. I can use my knowledge and smart to make a world have no worry and bad. In there, I'll live soft and nice. My future will be better. In there, I'm the god. I can control everything and I can do anything I want to do. Perhaps I'll not get a lot of money. But I'm free. That's the most important. I'll help the poor man and beg to the rich man. That's my life in my dream.
Charlie
I want to be a businessman when I grow up. I wanted to earn lots of money. Because when I am very rich. I can play around the world. This was the dream when I was eight. I want to be a businessman when I grow up I wanted to earn lots of money. Because when I am very rich I can buy a lot of things for my mom and dad. This was the dream when I was ten. Now I am twelve years old. But I still want to be a businessman. Because when I am rich I can be a humanitarian. And when I am rich I can help lots of poor children. I can build lots of school. Every children can come and study in the school, the free schools.
Anna
I think if I work hard now, my life road will be smooth and easy to success.
Jason
Well, I'm not clear what I gonna do when I grow up actually. Maybe having a good report, yeah, I wanna be a graduated student in Harvard University with a high mark. I think studying in Harvard is great for me. After that…well I think I really don't know what to do, cause I think I'm good at lots of things such as drawing, designing, singing, acting (maybe dancing, I don't think so but lots of my classmates do, I'm too nervous to dance sometimes), copying different voices (I can do the whole conversation of my group in the dubbing show myself), and my school result is quite good. Maybe I'm good at writing too but, what I can't deny is, that quite many people write better than me. You may think I'm crazy, yeah, cause I have confidence. And I think lots of jobs are great fun, they fit me a lot too. I once said to my mom: "I wanna have no job when I grow up, with a part-time singer, a part-time actor, a part-time scientist, a part-time musician, a part-time professor in university, a part-time writer, a part-time artist, a part-time architect, a part time…well, I'd like to own a little shop which sells flowers and handicraft articles. This is what my mom answered: "You have to die for that!" Ha-ha, how crazy! So I really have no idea about that.
About family, well…I'm not really sure about it. I myself think the love between male and female (I have to use those words) is mystical. I don't know well about it. That's why I'm still "single" when there're lots of couples in my class, ha-ha.
Kids are easy to talk about...I prefer a boy and a girl, who will have been given birth at the same time, that is twins. Well, I'm too young to talk about it, so I shouldn't talk about it anymore.
Okay, that my crazy future plan, just 'studying in Harvard' is clear. Will it turn to truth? Only time will know!
Willow
I want to a corn. I to do this I win for flub night five to last for a life nice. Hie clerkiess around me shoes of a solar sea. Hum I wish to go cloum with imth thesum sleeping meeping with you. I'll to be.
Susan
I want to be businessman to make a lot of money and help the pool people. I think the pool people they are so pool. And they are cold everday and they are hungry everday.
Tom
I want to be a scientist of star. Because I think the earth will break on one day. So I must find a star to give the people a new 'home'. I will use my whole life in this way. And when I young I will find a job can give me money. I will be to engineer. I will designer the plane. Because it's can give my money. If I have money I will spend it to buy a 'can see the star' thing. I don't want a family because the love will spoil my job.
Bruce lee
When I was young I had a lot of dreams. I wanted to be a writer, but I'm not good at Chinese. I wanted to be a scientist, but that is too far for me. I wanted to be a teacher, but I'm afraid that I'll teach something wrong to the students. I'm not clever, I'm not beautiful, I'm not always kind, and I don't always want to do some good things. So I think I can only be a worker. I can use myself, my body and my life to build some buildings for people to live. I don't need lots of money, I don't need to have a rich life or a big house. I just want to do something for people. When I old, I will go back, to the mountain. I'll live with the nature, forever.
Helen
When I grow up, I want be a bird. In mountain. I want fly in the sky. I want sing on the tree. I want to be free. I can do anything I want. I can play, I can love…. I can see the things that people can not see. I can see all the top of moutain and I can see the world. I can catch many animals and flies to eat and give to my parents. It will be happy.
Tommy
Now, I still don't want a family (husband and children), because I will love them more than my parents, sister and many people. I don't like it.
Doggy
A family! No, I don’t'! Because it's very tired! But they can give me some happy in life.
Bill
When I grow up, I want to be a primary school's principal. This school is not a common school, it's a very special school like 'little bean at the window sides' (this is a book's name) school. This school is named 'happy school'. My school has flowers and trees everywhere. Students can study in a very relaxed environment. They have less homework, even no homework. Because nowadays in china, children do not have many times to relaxed and play their favorite games. They're very happy in 'Happy School'. They can learn more and more things.
'Happy School's' teachers is also nice. They friendly, sweet, knowledge and so on. They're not scathing, mean and they also can give children a very happy childhood. This is my dream. I hope and I believe, someday, I can do it. I can let chinese children and everybody have a meaniful childhood!
Annie
I want to be a actor because I want to give other people funny.
Rain
