This may not be true for everyone, but the majority of people I’ve talked to have understood the situation. Remember in nursery school, or even kindergarten when you were asked the all-important question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting at my desk, deeply pondering the question. After giving it some thought, a smile of satisfaction and determination signaled that I had chosen my future profession.
I looked up to see that all the other students were still struggling. Feeling a bit insecure with my original choice, I went back to pondering. Again, I kept the same answer. I guess that determined and satisfied smile I had was telling enough. It was time. The teacher interjected with, “OK, class. Lets hear what you guys came up with.” They started off with Abby.
“Astronaut.” Figures. She was always the first one to go. It’s OK though. I knew that my answer would be better than hers anyway. “Astronaut.” The nerve she had. Really? An astronaut? Abby would want to become an astronaut when she grew up. Next was Jerry.
“Firefighter.” Figures. This is what Jerry’s answer was to every question the teacher asked him. This was nursery school mind you, so some of the students weren’t at the same level as other kids. Some kids just stuck to what they knew, and some ventured off to mysterious, “off-limit” words like “butt” and “butthead.” Jerry loved firefighters, so he never would say anything but that word. More power to him, but he was a kid who yearned for adventure and excitement. Next was Ben.
“Doctor.” Nice, Ben. Nice. Doctor is a great choice. It’s a little conventional. It doesn’t have the pizzazz as other professions do. Anticipation was building up. At this point I wanted to scream out my answer. I had heard enough…
“DINOSAUR!!!”
“What was that, Erik?” the teacher responded.
“DINOSAUR!!! That’s what I what to be when I want to grow up…”
The students all turned to me and laughed hysterically. I sat there, confused, angry, but still determined and satisfied. Just then, I felt my body tremble with an unfamiliar feeling of euphoria. Just then, I got up from the desk. I tucked my arms in so that they seemed disproportional to my body and let my best roar rip. I then proceeded to knock over everything that I could. After all, this is what T. Rexes do after all.
My T. Rex tirade was put to an end when the teacher, Mrs. Rose, told me to stop what I was doing. But, I was a dinosar, I didn’t know when to stop. However, I listened to what my teacher had to say and sat down at my seat, my arms still tucked at my side. Mrs. Rose sent me out of the classroom to the principal’s office. I walked out of the room with an odd mixture of pride and guilt festering. As I romped through the hallways of my elementary school, I reflected on the experience. The guilt was starting to set in. After a quick walk to the principal’s office, I had a seat in the only seat that was available. Apparently, there were other students impersonating dinosaurs. In the end, it didn’t matter, though, because I had not only answered the teacher’s questions, but I also achieved my goal.
Chiodo is a member of the class of 2017.
