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I think my choice of career (a business owner) came out of a direct need to be in charge of my own time and be able to do what i want, when I want. As a result, I spent a significant amount of time building my dream by reading biographies of people who were succesful at business and getting to meet people in my communities who were doing the same.  
 
To date, I still do much of the same...I am continuosly inspried when i see people pursuing their passions and earning a living from it at the same time...it makes for quite a fulfilling life.

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My father was a major influence  on my career. Just being around him and hearing him talk about work made me more interested in his field of work which helped lead me into my current career.

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I agree, parents are a major influence. But also teachers can play a big role. For me, a friend of the family had a big part in my getting into publishing-- no one in my family had that sort of background, but my parents had many close friends who we saw on a regular basis-- an extended family of sorts. As a parent myself now, I am realizing that it's important to surround children with support and to ask friends to talk to them about their careers. You never know what might inspire a love for something you're not an expert at!

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Yes, parents can be a big influence, but not for all. Actually, my sisters and I all chose the teaching profession and no one in our family has any connection to education.
 
I will also give you one piece of advice I was given before I graduated HS. Someone told our class to find a job that we want to go to everyday, a job where we are excited to go and will make us happy. I was torn between politics (policitcal science) or education and that speach made all the difference. I have never regretted getting into education!

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My influences were all about avoiding the traditional path.  As a student, I majored in English because it occurred to me that if I were well read and could write, I could do anything.  Traditional business and classes with hundreds of students learning from a giant text book were a turn off.  So far so good...  

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My choice of career was to do something I loved and enjoyed doing. No major influences really pointed me to what I'm doing now, I just stuck to what I'm good at and its been great so far.

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I'd say that my parents and teachers had a big influence, but now, I feel extremely motivated by my friend group as well. Many of my friends are very motivated to go to grad school, volunteer, and to choose a career path that help people, not just themselves. I think that finding good role models at every opportunity will help you child feel supported and motivated at the same time.

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