I was thinking about the American Idol contestants and what they'll do with their lives when they're kicked off the show. Some of them will (and have) undoubtably gone on to a career in music, but others might try something totally different. For example, Paris Bennett wanted to be a gynecologist before Idol sucked her in. I know several musicians who haven't quit their day jobs. They're marketers, writers and food scientists (really) by day and singers by night. A lot of Americans work for a paycheck and pursue their real passion after 5.

Sometimes I think as kids we're steered out of some occupations that aren't stable or lucrative. We're encouraged to get a job in an office rather than take a risk and start a business. I understand why. Parents don't want their kids to be starving artists.

All of this leads me to this question: if you could go back in time would you pursue a different career?

I think I'm good at what I do and I certainly have an aptitude for marketing, but if I was facing my freshman year in college again, I think I'd start out as a geology major. I look at the course descriptions about geological structures and field mapping and I get a little excited. Or, maybe I would have double majored and ended up writing for a nerdy science magazine or teaching earth science (and yes, my class so would have made exploding volcano models). It's not that I don't enjoy what I do, but rather that, like most people, I think I could do something more.

So what about our readers? What's your second dream career?