When I grow up, I wanna be a…

“Veterinarian!” an 8-year-old Callie Ginter would have said. Now she’s a senior communication major.

“A teacher!” a young Rachel Elliot would have said. Now she’s a senior physical and health education major.

Chair of the English Department Andy Alexander chuckles as he recalls his childhood-self, dreaming of growing up to be a Boston Bruin NHL’er.

What did you dream of becoming when you were growing up?

Like Ginter, sociology major and 2015 graduate Lauren Crandall dreamt of being a veterinarian as well. Now she works full time as a social worker and is soon beginning her master’s in sociology.

Often times, people’s careers end up being not-so related to their childhood dreams; sometimes, not even their undergraduate major.

Courtesy photo

Castleton criminal justice alumnus Greg King repels in Colorado last
week. King isn't using his degree, but is enjoying life as a outdoor
apparrel rep.

Graduating from Castleton in 1989, sociology and criminal justice major Greg King has made a career as a sales rep in the outdoor industry, working with snowboarding and cycling companies alike.

King, based in Colorado, thought he would wind up with a law or law enforcement job. But, “when I got done majoring in criminal justice, I realized there wasn’t anything in the field I wanted to do,” King said in a phone interview from his Breckenridge Colorado home.

In a 2013 Washington Post article, statistics cited showed only 27 percent of college graduates get a job “strictly related” to their major.

Famous singer Sting and even more-famous director Steven Spielberg were English majors back in their undergraduate studies. So was CEO and 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Heck, talk show host Conan O’Brian even majored in English literature.

Castleton’s Director of International Student Enrollment Patrick Lieu spent his undergraduate studies learning how to teach the English language back in China. Now he manages and advises Castleton’s international students.

Crandall believes being a social worker is the perfect career for her.

“I’ve always had a knack for being a shoulder to lean on. I’m a problem solver and I really enjoy helping people,” she says.

Ginter recently secured a job as a journalist in Keene, New Hampshire. But, she says “I never really grew up being like, ‘I wanna be a journalist,’” although she has “grown to like it more and more.” Ginter says she enjoys working with people.

Senior philosophy and computer information systems major Jake Stafford just landed a telecommunication specialist job at Casella’s office in Rutland. He says the job gives him an opportunity to earn experience in his field and toward a management position.

From 1988 to 1989, Juanita Kidd Stout was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. She was the first African American woman elected to any judgeship in the United States, and the first to serve on the Supreme Court of any state. Stout spent her undergraduate studies at Lincoln University.

Her major was music.