Why I wanted to be a Disney character

MANILA, Philippines - When I was younger, my answers were always a bit different from the rest of my classmates. For example when I was in kindergarten, the conversation in class went something like this:

Teacher: What do you want to be when you grow up?

        Student 1: “Doctor!”

        Student 2: “Lawyer!’

        Student 3: “Businessman!”

        Mae: “A Powerpuff Girl!”

This is the point where the whole class would laugh, unaware that I was serious. I get to fight crime, look cute and star in my own cartoon show who wouldn’t want to do that for a living? 

My dream to become a Powerpuff Girl was not exclusive, though. I wanted to be everything from Simba to Tarzan. There was even a point in my life where I said my dream was to become a Disneyland mascot. Maybe this is the reason my teachers back then always praised my wild imagination.

I sometimes took my dreams a bit too far. I had a Chinese tutor back then and one day she left me in the room to answer a practice test. By the time I finished, she still wasn’t back yet. One thing you should know about me when I was a kid: I could never sit still. I remember I played with her stapler and stapled every paper I could find until it ran out. I also sharpened every pencil in sight. When I was done, a bottle of powder caught my eye. I decided to fill up the whole room with powder until everything from my tutor’s clothes to her furniture was white.

Just when I finished that big bottle of powder, my tutor came in and I could never forget the shocked expression on her face. My only explanation was that I was Balto, the cartoon of a Siberian husky sled dog, and that required a room full of snow. It has been 13 years since then, but my tutor never forgets to bring up the story whenever I see her.

To say that I like cartoons is an understatement. I looked forward to dismissal when I was a kid because it meant that I was closer to watching cartoons. During the weekends, it would always be a battle among my brother, my dad and I over who would have the power of the remote control. I would wake up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning because I couldn’t risk not getting to watch my favorite shows. Unlike most of my peers, I couldn’t wait for exam week because it meant that we would get afternoons off, which meant that I had more time for cartoons. Until today I still don’t know how in the world I passed elementary school.

Even now my passion for cartoons hasn’t worn off. Don’t worry, I no longer spend most of my time glued to the TV or believe that I could one day transform into a cartoon character. However Lion King is still my favorite movie and I would definitely fall in line to catch the new Monsters University.

Contrary to what most parents worry about, I think that watching cartoons has been good for me. When I see a cartoon  character fly across the sky, I don’t think to myself, “Hey, maybe I should risk my life, follow this character and jump from a 50-foot building too!” I also didn’t think that I could ride on a carpet after watching Aladdin.

What I got from all the shows I watched is that in the world of animation, nothing is impossible. I know it may sound clichéd but I always found it so amazing that these shows all started off as sketches on paper. I loved thinking that this character, this whole world, was built out of people’s ideas.

I knew right then that I wanted to breathe life into characters of my own creation. The proudest moment in my life would be to see a story of my own come to life on the big screen. Someday one kid would sprinkle powder all over his or her teacher’s clothes because of me.

My new answer to the question “What do you want to be?” is no longer to be a bug-eyed cartoon whose head is twice as big as her body. I want to work in animation. I know it’s not exactly the “dream job” parents would imagine for their children. When I hear parents brag about their children, it would usually be like this:

“This is my son who got into med school. He’s going to be a doctor!”

Or...

“Yes, this is my daughter, the CEO of the company. They’ve tripled her salary!”

When did you ever hear a parent say: “Have you met my daughter? She makes cartoons for a living!”

Don’t get me wrong; I fully respect the doctors, lawyers and businessmen of tomorrow. I see people my age in these career tracks pulling all-nighters and studying their butts off and I always think to myself: “How do they do it?” But despite how much I wish that I could save a life or discover the cure for cancer, I always sort of knew that it wasn’t for me.

I remember our high school had an entrepreneur fair where we had to create and sell a product. Our group made mini pancakes, which I still believe were delicious despite the feedback of some of our customers. I remembered thinking to myself that I was going to be so miserable if I did this for a living. I hated dealing with money (I have already accepted, long ago, that I wasn’t going to be bragging about my huge salary). There was a time when I also thought to myself, “What if I become a doctor?” That possibility was automatically shut down when I realized how queasy I get when I see blood.

Choosing your career is a huge commitment. I think it would be unfair for everyone involved if you force yourself into something that you don’t have the passion for. What I want to be may not be the ideal job for most people, but it’s the dream job for me.

The good thing about society is that it’s constantly evolving. Careers are getting more and more creative. I’ve met people who dreamed of becoming an artist, a comic book author, and a fashion designer. I even know someone who wants to become a stuntman. Life may not be a cartoon but you still get the power to design your life and who you want to be. A dream that is not common or conventional doesn’t make it any less of a valid dream.

I honestly don’t know what I’m going to be in the future. If everything goes according to plan, you might get to see my name in the credits of an animated movie 10 years from now. If that doesn’t pan out then I’ll be in another career. I’m going to make sure that I will love whatever I choose to do. I may not earn the most or be the most famous but I am going to be happy.

Whether you’re a successful professional or an 18-year-old naïve girl like me, my advice is to always go for that dream job. It may sound impossible or even ridiculous, but like they say, no one ever got hurt by trying. People beat the odds every day. Go out there and find your dream job. My advice? Maybe try watching a bit more TV — that worked out for me!