The month long ritual of the Class X board examinations have come to an end in most parts of the subcontinent. For a section of students and their parents, it’s a long awaited break to breathe easy till the results are announced. For a large section of the same community it’s the other way round – beginning of that tension packed period that holds a lot of surprises at the end of it.  Desirable and undesirable – both. This is that grand period to indulge into planning the next best move and asking questions.

“What should be her career choice?” – Many of the parents/guardians often ask me this question – quite surprisingly. I politely ask them back – have you ever asked the same to your child? Not really – is the standard response that I receive. Unarguably there is a large gap between the students and their parents – communication-wise.

My profession allows me to meet thousands of students every year. Essentially there are three broad categories. One category is completely clueless about its future. The second category is trying hard to match the pace its parents have set for their children. There is this third category who I love the most, listens to their hearts, communicates to their parents/mentors, takes suggestions and chases the dream they love to live every moment.

I am extremely worried about the first two categories of students. The cluelessness about career is certainly not a nice trait. The sheer casualness and ignorance about career, just going with the flow lead this lot to nowhere but frustrations. They need assistance to be a little disciplined in their approach.

The second category too is a substantially large group. Parents and well-wishers pass on their aspirations to their children and in many cases their decisions are very poorly researched. They often fall prey to the peer-pressure. I know of a public sector organization campus in Southern part of India where the children of the residing engineers only optfor engineering as their career goal. Anyone thinking about any other profession is often ridiculed. I’m not exaggerating it a bit – such is the impact of peer-pressure. In a family of doctors, often children are not encouraged to think about any other vocations. Insane. There are ‘I understand them all’ uncles and aunts in the families who decide on behalf of the children whether they should pursue a corporate dream or start visiting coaching classes for ‘secured’ government positions. A sizeable number of them end up achieving what they have been programmed to but end up becoming an unhappy lot. After few years in their career, start hating it beyond imaginations. What an expensive waste – the entire professional life.

Last but certainly not the least, the category that I love to interact with more often, loves to explore their lives, dares to experiment and chase their dreams. They are focussed about their career to the core bur never fails to enjoy life.

My sincere suggestions to students will be…

  1. Be disciplined but please don’t take life too seriously – rather enjoy it the most – as much as you can. Please don’t forget these growing up years will never return and they are so great.
  2. Do you love cooking and want to take it as your career? Go for it, be the best culinary artist. Don’t limit your options to medical, engineering or only the traditional disciplines. You are blessed to be growing up at a time when there are so much happening and even India has such wide array of vocations to offer to be trained upon.
  3. Study hard but don’t forget to play hard as well. A perfect balance between both will help you to be a ‘complete’ individual. You won’t be able to achieve much with a bag full of knowledge and no idea about life skills. Go out and taste the beauty of team efforts, comradery, and the joy of doing things together.
  4. Learn to accept failures. Failures are the pillars of success. Improve your coping mechanism and groom yourself for the beautiful world that isn’t beauty all the times. You have to learn to cope with the adverse situations.
  5. Ask questions and always consult before taking any big decisions. There are many experienced and able seniors around you. Never fail to discuss your views with them to have better clarities in life. Be very careful while deciding on your mentor. To get the best advice, you deserve the best adviser.

My sincere request to all the parents will be….

Simple. Please let your children chase their dreams and let them be themselves. All you could do is to be the best ‘facilitator’ and play the best friends’ role. Play a devil’s advocate (without being evil) too, probably at times :)