Back in elementary school, teachers always asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. As graduation nears, I think I finally know the answer to that question. So that inspired me. If I turned the tables and asked teachers to reflect on their youth, how would they answer that same question? Did they always want to become an educator, or did they hold other aspirations? To find out, I asked DIS faculty and staff, “What was your dream as a child?” Let’s check out what they said.

Ms. Nagy – English teacher:

I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was growing up because I wanted to work with animals, and I thought animals are better than people. Sometimes I still think that (laugh). But then I realized there’s a lot of dirty work to it, not as glorified as you think…I realized, “Oh! There’s a lot that I probably won’t like about this,” so I changed.

Mr. Balint – Science teacher:

Every single year, for whatever reason, my uncle used to work at a pizza place, and he used to do this trick that I really liked, like, making the dough, and he would throw the pizza in the air and catch it, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. So every year for like 6 years I put down [in the yearbook] that I wanted to be a pizza man.

Mr. Bartolay – 3rd grade teacher:

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot. I think I was in second grade, and I had no idea what I wanted to be. Everyone in my class was thinking about, “Oh, I want to be a doctor, I want to be a policeman,” and all that kind of stuff. And I was like, “What’s a unique occupation?…oh a pilot!” That’s what it was.

Mr. Rouse – 4th grade teacher:

My dream as a kid was to become a professional basketball player. I was obsessed with Kobe Bryant.

Mrs. Becky – School Nurse:

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a diplomat because I like to travel and I like to learn different languages, and that’s how I came up with the job of a diplomat.

Mr. Park – Elementary music teacher:

I wanted to be a basketball player when I was young because at that time, basketball was really popular. The animation ‘Slam Dunk’ was really popular back then. So I wanted to be like one of them.

Mrs. Hwang (황혜정) – Support staff:

I wanted to become a singer because I like music. I loved singing when I was young, and lots of people told me that I was a good singer.

Mr. Cameron – Science teacher:

When I was a kid, I wanted to own a board game store because I really like playing board games, and I thought it would be fun to have a board game store.

Mr. Jack Jinho Bae – Facilities manager:

My first dream was to grow animal things, like a farm for animals. My second dream was to build a hotel or a resort. I like to see how people enjoy life and also when they come to a resort or hotel, they take a rest, relax and everything. So even though I can’t relax, it seems like a peaceful thing.

It looks like some adults at DIS used to dream big. Do you also hang on to any imaginative goals that you think will last into the future? As a kid, I wanted to become a K-pop star like any other Korean girl. So how about reminiscing about some of your sweet old childhood dreams?