Atsym Sknyfs
Superstar
We must have had very different experiences in college breh. Maybe things have changed a lot since I was a student - but the kids I knew who came in with a plan did very well for the most part. That's what's shaped my opinion on this - the kids who I met as a freshman who told me they wanted to be doctors, lawyers, etc. and put that work in in the library and in the lab...they mostly ended up doctors and lawyers.
Maybe what you're talking about (wildly varying outcomes, burnout) happens when its a goal foisted on the kid by overbearing parents with unrealistic expectations. That I can understand 100%. But that really doesn't sound like the case with @tuckdog daughter...she sounds like the kids who I saw go on to great success because of their passion for whatever it is that they were doing from an early age.
As far as focusing on what's in front of you...that's a given, isn't it? If a high school kid came up to me and told me they wanted to be a doctor, but they were barely passing biology and chemistry...then yeah, I'm gonna be pretty dismissive. But if they're top of their class, and on top of that seem to have a genuine interest in it...why wouldn't that be a good thing?
I don't come from a well off or educated family, so I can't really speak on what those sorts of families are up to. But I'm curious - is discouraging early career focus a status symbol for them? Or is it seen as a healthier way to raise their children? Both?
alot of the discouragement of certain careers in the minority households comes from parents not having the money to pay for school... but you'll be surprised how much these schools give..
my daughter was part of a program in her HS and had the chance to do her senior year at st johns... the merit based aid alone was enough to pay her tuition.. so money should never be the reson for discouragement. and with my kids... I there's a natural desire I'll find a way...
that do nothing in today's society is because some people feel they deserve a level of entitlement