The question

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Others on this question

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Ian Rankin Scottish crime writer
In my teens, an accountant. In my 20s, either a rock star or a novelist.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 October 2020 source ↗
Kate Mosse English writer
First I wanted to be in the circus, then a tap dancer, then prime minister. I have failed at all three.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 March 2022 source ↗

More from Arnold Palmer

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Question What are you most proud of? Identity & self
That’s difficult for someone to talk about themselves. If I’ve helped improve the game of golf and if I’ve helped improve people’s outlook on life and the game of golf, that would be something that I would be very happy for. I would really like to think that maybe I have left something that other people will look at and say, when people come in back of them, that they have given them the same opportunity that we had. And that means give our kids the opportunities that we’ve had through these years. And if I can do that and leave something along those lines to people, I’ll be very happy for that.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Orlando, Florida, 2 December 1997 source ↗
Question Which teacher, parent, coach or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them? Relationships
My father was my major teacher, disciplinarian. But my mother lent a lot to me and to my life, in that, when things weren’t going right, or when my father was too tough, I had the soft feel of my mother to help me, and she did. And she a lot of the times gave me confidence that I needed to overcome some of the things that happened that weren’t so pleasant.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview source ↗

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