My son is beginning to get stressed. Grade 12.. this is it.. the events this year will play a major role in his life. The past few days the weather here is extremely hot and I make it a point to sit outside with the kids at night. At the moment, Venus is visible in the South West sky and I like watching the stars and talking to the kids while enjoying a bit of breeze.
“Mom, what if I don’t pass IB exams?” He asked me this evening.
I told him ” sky wouldn’t fall if you fail the IB exams. You can go to TAFE, get a diploma, use that and go to Uni and get a degree then use that degree and go and do your masters. There are many paths you can follow that will take you to your final destination. Your job is to give your best shot and that is it.”
He looked a bit relieved. And I know I will be repeating this a few more times.
Seriously though, I remember the stress I used to be under. “oru varsham povum” ( you will lose a year) that was the only thing that mattered. It was something worst than dying. People used fake their birth certificates at the time of applying for jobs, in order to gain an extra year of work and therefor more money.
I wish someone had told me when I was young that the sky wouldn’t fall if you didn’t follow the standard format
You have given the right answer Sarah. In your time the situation was different. A different perspective. Parents want to stop the support as early as possible, to put you in a better position early and so on. The position you are in, you can take such decisions. “pettennu kettichu vidanam” enna attitudum change aayi.
Bipin: 🙂
Nice thinking and thought. I agree:
My brother and I were people who “lost years” due to some struggles and challenges. I guess according to Indian parents (or perhaps Malayalees at least) that you have to fulfill things at a certain time or else you “ruined” your life (I was told this before). So yea, you 18-22 you get that degree, then after that you have to get hitched and start having kids soon after…smh.
Brother and I spent a year or two working and figuring out what we wanted to do in life since all our other efforts trying to pursue a career weren’t successful. However, now we’re both in our last semesters and found we have opportunities open for us now. I realized that failing is part of the journey through success and that no one should be feel inferior for it. Not only that, it builds character and makes you have some sense of humility towards others who are in a similar fate, which many people lack. Life is never a guarantee anyway and success doesn’t always happen at the first shot. Your son can only do his best and if he doesn’t succeed, he can also find alternative solutions to make that “failure” into success.
J1206: 🙂