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Higher Education and Social Pressure
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| Lira |
How did society (and your family) influence you on your choice about what to study in college/university?
Here in Brazil, both law school and med school are considered "superior" in some sense, as they're the most traditional courses offered in higher institutions (the Emperor founded both courses back in the time when we had an Emperor :D). If you analyse the grades (and the competition) in university entrance tests, the result is surprisingly disproportionate: often, candidates for med school need to score twice as high in Geography as those who actually chose Geography as their course.
On the other hand, there are courses that are frowned upon by many... both in the Humanities (unless it's related to law) and even in Social and Natural Sciences (specially if it's related to teaching). Personally, I'm still in bad terms with my rents for having chosen a course related to languages and teaching (and there's a gap of 3 years between my graduation in high school and entrance in university due to this) and a friend of my brother's almost ran away from home because he wanted to study literature :p |
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| Caela |
My parents are both teachers so they hold education VERY HIGHLY. It's pretty much go to college or be disowned.
I agree that higher education is essential, however I do not agree with how much it costs (especially in the US). Also, I think it's retarded to expect an 18 year old person to go to college right after high school. Unless in the rare occassion that they know exactly what they want to study, most of us don't. I think it should be more socially acceptable to take time off, a little breather if you will, to figure it out and not rush in and waste money killing time. |
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| Frenchie |
With my mom it was, " All I want is for you to graduate high school, and I'll be happy. If you want to go to college/University it's up to you."
PFFFFTTTTTTT! She wanted me to go alright, she just didn't want me to feel pressured, what a tactic.
In my opinion , It's pretty much a bad thing to take a year off after highschool (at least here) because most people get out of the school routine and won't want to get back into it.
she told me, "Hey you talk a lot, why not major in something to do with communications?" And there ya have it! |
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| Silky Johnson |
| Nobody influenced me. |
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| CranberryJuice |
my parents influenced me let's say they always expected me to be on top otherwise i know they would have been very VERY disappointed so i would say til the age of 18 they decided pretty much everything ...
i shouldnt have gone to law school but an another school .....i finally chose to not go and my parents were disappointed but i chose law i dont regret it though im glad i finally got an interest in this field ....it kinda became a passion but i would say i wouldnt see myself study something different now ! |
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| Lira |
[off-topic]
What are the odds of having no one but the girls reply to a thread? :p
[/off-topic]
Interesting replies :) What Caela said has always puzzled me as well - why does it seem so wrong to take a leap year, for example? If Frenchie is right, then school should do a better job at telling us "what is what" at university, I reckon... |
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| Allied Nations |
| quote: | Originally posted by jennypie
Nobody influenced me. |
Immmmmmmpossible.
Everyone secretly laughs at me cuz I'm in fine arts :(
:p |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Caela
Also, I think it's retarded to expect an 18 year old person to go to college right after high school. Unless in the rare occassion that they know exactly what they want to study, most of us don't. I think it should be more socially acceptable to take time off, a little breather if you will, to figure it out and not rush in and waste money killing time. |
Liberal arts schools ftw. The most popular incoming majors at lib. arts schools are undecided. That way they take a year or two taking classes required for graduation in order to get a sample of what the various majors are like.
But yeah, I have to deal with familial pressure all the time. My entire family basically believes that my chosen majors are more or less worthless and will never actually result in a job. So I've had to fight for my ability to pursue them from day one. I think my dad is still a little bent out of shape that I didn't choose a field in the sciences. And I know my extended family still can't come to terms with why I would spend money to study something "so impractical." |
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| Allied Nations |
| Oh and in the UK, a gap year is SUPER common and often encouraged. |
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| idoru |
My parents, family and everybody at my job wanted me to go to college. I have no problem with being influenced so much, because ultimately it's a greater end result having a college education as opposed to just a high school diploma.
Nobody really influenced my major. My dad influenced a major area of my focus (music) through proxy. However it's at this point that I'm still not sure what I want as far as a major/career goes. |
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| Silky Johnson |
| quote: | Originally posted by Allied Nations
Immmmmmmpossible.
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Nursing isn't something I just picked out of the course guide and thought, "Hmmm, this will really impress my friends/family/other." Or "Gee, that sounds fun, I'll give that a shot!"
It's something I KNEW I was born to do. My decision to do it had nothing to do with the reasons Lira is talking about. :) |
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| lücid |
| i knew what i wanted to do with my life ever since i was a little girl, and no one influenced my decisions, nor did i ever feel pressured by family or society to attend college. |
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