It started with a simple question about childhood: What is your biggest dream? In Big Issue’s Big Questions, Alice Roberts had a surprising answer – ‘Well, when I was five, I wanted to be a horse.’
The comment, tucked in among thoughtful reflections on her favourite childhood TV show, the defining events of her youth, and her current ‘big issue’, was disarming in its honesty. And it resonated. Responses came galloping in, both on our social channels and Alice’s, as people lined up to share the curious things they once dreamed of becoming.
From dolphins to fire engines, elephants to snowmen, the comments section became a joyful museum of childhood imagination. One reader even shared that they had aspired to be “retired”. Another, more ambitiously, aimed to become Taylor Swift’s cat.
Some were oddly practical. Some, delightfully unhinged. All of them, deeply human.
On Bluesky, professor Roberts reflected on the response: “Sharing my childhood dream to be a horse has been revelatory and joyful! This article sparked a conversation with my husband we’d never touched on before. Turns out he also LOVED watching Champion the Wonder Horse as a young kid. We were destined for each other.
“Lots of people have admitted a similar ambition; others wanted to be cars, fire engines or even a potato when they grew up!”
