I always, always wanted to be a teacher & my favorite pre-teaching field experience was with the sweetest preschool class! But, like Rachel, I went with elementary education instead. I mostly loved being a 1st & 2nd grade teacher, then became a stay-at-home mom.
When my daughter was in preschool, I started to think more & more about how much I'd love to be a preschool teacher. And partway through the year, her class had grown so much that the school added a 2nd class of 4 year olds & asked me if I'd be the teacher! I loved it & decided that I'd be a preschool teacher forever. Then the next year, I was asked to move up to kindergarten with my class. So, so much for that
I'm not working now & probably won't until my husband retires from the military. But when we settle down somewhere for more than a few years, I'd love to return to preschool (half-day!) and I'd also love to assistant or volunteer coach high school track/cross country (not sure how long I'll wait to do that, because a huge part of the appeal of teaching preschool is being able to be home for my kids after school, get them to their activities, etc.)
But if we're talking totally off-the-wall "if you could do anything regardless of your talents or experiences", my dream job would be on Broadway. But I lack the talents required for that