Why can't I just be really excited about the things that my parents want me to be excited about? That would make life so much simpler…
I guess you have no idea what I'm talking about. Allow me clarify my dilemma. I don't want to go to pharmacy school. I want to go to graduate school and get my PhD in psychology. I don't really enjoy chemistry or biology of any kind. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. That is also how I feel about pharmacy. I like that it is a stable job that pays well, but other than that I don't have any strong feelings about it. I could do it, but I don't really enjoy it. Even when I did my pharmacy tech training in high school, I was bored. I didn't look forward to it, and I couldn't wait to get done when I was in the pharmacy. I started Texas A&M as a chemistry major because it would have been a really good degree to have to do the things that I thought I might want to do...forensics, pathology, veterinary medicine, or pharmacy. Since then, however, I have found that I don't want to do any of those things. I don't like lab, which effectively eliminates forensics or pathology and I don't really want to go to vet or pharmacy school.
On the other hand, the only other major I could ever really see myself in before I went to college was psychology. I always thought that it would be interesting, but I didn't really think that I would be good at any psychology related profession and my dad thinks it's stupid. Upon deeper self-reflection, I think that I might be good a good psychologist after all. I've always been really interested in why people act and think the way that they do. Classes like psychology, anthropology, and literature always get me thinking; I think that is why they are so easy for me. I go away thinking about them, so I never totally forget what the teacher was talking about. Physical sciences rarely have that effect on me; everything either is or isn't, there is no interpretation, no maybe. I still don't have to work as hard as a lot of people do, but the information tends to get lost in the dusty, untouched corners of my mind. I recognize that psychology doesn't generate the highest paying jobs or the most guaranteed jobs, but I believe that it is a beneficial one and, for me, a subject that I truly enjoy.
Here is the hard part: I need to talk to my parents about this. I don't think that they are going to like it. They let me change my major to psychology, but I told them that I could still go to pharmacy school. I was excited about pharmacy school for a while, but I always had that thought in the back of my mind reminding me why I didn't want to do it in the first place. I think I really only ever wanted to do it because that's what my parents want me to do. All they ever really saw in high school were the good grades; I am perfectly capable of doing almost anything. What they don't see is all the thinking and analyzing that I do in my head. I don't talk to them about all of those things that I think about because every time that I share something like that with them I get picked on for it and they give me this look like I've lost my mind. I don't think that they are trying to be mean, but it bothers me that they treat my interests as if they are a joke. So I just don't talk about it.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with this, I would love to hear them. Pleaseandthankyou!
"If God had wanted me otherwise, he would have created me otherwise." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
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well katy first of all, it makes me a little sad to hear you say that your parents let you change your major. you are 20 years old now, and i just don't think that they should have that much control on your life anymore. college is about starting YOUR career and YOUR adult life, even if they're the ones paying for it. i know your parents katy, and i know your dad can be a bit difficult but they care about you and love you very much. if you can make it clear to them that psychology makes you happy, then it shouldn't be that hard. and i know this is probably going to be even harder, but you may need to sit them down and ask that they stop treating you like a child and ask for their respect. they did a wonderful job raising you, but now you're a grown woman who needs to be treated as such. just understand that they want to do right by you, and this is their way of doing that.
ReplyDeletedon't worry, i have faith in you.
Katy, go for it. That's all I can say. My parents are doing the same thing, and although teaching and math don't have the same reputation as psycology, my parents want me to be something greater than them, which means not a teacher. My mom wants me to go to med school, become and engineer, and work for the government, which obviously means she wants me to do something exciting. I like math a lot and love to teach, so this is what I want and i have firmly put my foot down on that subject. I think your parents will love you no matter what you do and you might say that. Say,"Mom, Dad, I don't want to go to Pharmacy school. I value your opinions but this is something I feel strongly about and it is what I am going to do. I know that you will support me in all my endevors." and leave it at that. I'm very proud of you in whatever you do and i agree that you would make a great psycologist. i still say you should come to ACU though...lol
ReplyDeleteyep, i agree, they might not be all gung-ho at first, but it is your life...i think they will get over it tho and see that if it's what you want to do that it's the right thing for you to do, rather than be miserable doing pharmacy...like it says in what happens in vegas: "I'd rather do nothing and be happy than do something I know I don't love." (btw, if you haven't seen it, you need too) do what makes you happy and that'll make them happy, in the end anyway... love ya!!! ;o)
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