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

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.): “I wanted to be a forest ranger. I loved the outdoors, camping, hiking, fishing, and all that went with it.”

Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.): “An astronaut. I was 5 years old in 1969 during the moon landing.”

Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.): “A sportswriter. I just thought it would be great to get paid to watch sports.”

Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.): “An NFL football player, but I was too slow.”

Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.): “I wanted to have a farm. My father had a farm, and I grew up on one in rural Tennessee, and the people you grow up with you end up respecting a lot. Now I’m married to my wife of 43 years, with five grandchildren, and have a farm of my own.”

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.): “Actually, when I was young I wanted to be president.”

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.): “When I was 10, I wanted to be a grocery store manager like my dad. It seemed to me that being a [grocery] store manager was like being a mayor of a town. He knew by name everybody who would come in, and he worked for big stores so he knew a lot of people. And he worked very, very hard, and got promoted young; he would be sent to turn around other stores in the chain that were having problems. But women weren’t store managers back then.”

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.): “Perry Mason. He always got the man, and got the innocent guy off.”

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.): “When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a fireman. I wanted to save damsels in distress.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): “The earliest memory I have is of writing a letter to my grandfather saying I wanted to be a policeman, a fireman, a lawyer or a doctor. He sent me a letter back saying, ‘Why not an Indian chief?’”

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.): “I dreamed of playing sports [professionally]. Baseball always had a greater allure, but I loved football too. Realistically, I wanted to be a [high school] teacher and a coach.” [Larson later became a high school history teacher and coached basketball, baseball, and football before becoming a member of Congress.]

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.): “Bruce Springsteen. I would fall asleep [at night listening] to ‘Rosalita.’ But in 1984 I had to give up my guitar and help my uncle run for Congress. I still want to be Bruce Springsteen.”