As a former "wanted-to-be-an-astronaut-when-a-teenager" myself who is now in my mid-thirties and very much not an astronaut:
Do it.
You know the percentage of people who try to become an astronaut and succeed? I don't. It's probably not high, but I know it is above 0%.
You know the percentage of people who secretly wish to become an astronaut but never do anything about it who go on to become an astronaut? That one definitely is 0%.
I feel like one of my bigger mistakes in life was listening to all the adults saying, "You shouldn't try to become an X because very few people succeed." Yeah, but if the people who did succeed listened to that advice, they wouldn't be where they are today. The only way you can succeed at those difficult-to-achieve-goals is to put your whole life into it. You can't succeed at them by making them the backup "maybe someday" options.
And you know what? You can fail at doing the "safe" option too. You can go get a business degree and still end up in a minimum wage job in your 30s.
At least fail at trying to achieve something you love. You might even succeed!
mca62511 t1_j27l1eh wrote
Reply to Likely-hood of becoming an astronaut by MisFitLoves
As a former "wanted-to-be-an-astronaut-when-a-teenager" myself who is now in my mid-thirties and very much not an astronaut:
Do it.
You know the percentage of people who try to become an astronaut and succeed? I don't. It's probably not high, but I know it is above 0%.
You know the percentage of people who secretly wish to become an astronaut but never do anything about it who go on to become an astronaut? That one definitely is 0%.
I feel like one of my bigger mistakes in life was listening to all the adults saying, "You shouldn't try to become an X because very few people succeed." Yeah, but if the people who did succeed listened to that advice, they wouldn't be where they are today. The only way you can succeed at those difficult-to-achieve-goals is to put your whole life into it. You can't succeed at them by making them the backup "maybe someday" options.
And you know what? You can fail at doing the "safe" option too. You can go get a business degree and still end up in a minimum wage job in your 30s.
At least fail at trying to achieve something you love. You might even succeed!