Only Science Is Worthy Na?

A few months back I got to know that an old colleague was looking for a career counsellor for her son taking the Xth boards. Given the pressure on marks and exams, the teenager spent all his time cooped up inside preparing for the dreaded exams. This was mid December 2019 and we thought one could possibly meet during the December break and take him through the process.

I didn’t hear from her for some days. Then I got a text that the pre-boards didn’t go too well and so the child is disappointed. So we decided to look at an assessment and counselling in a few days. Children tend to get very pressured and making them attempt an additional assessment needs to be timed carefully.

A few weeks later we met online as the commute to my office and back did not seem feasible then. I was also keen to meet him asap as I had a few observations regarding his learning style and thought it might help him prepare better for his boards.

The details of the counselling, the assessment, the roadmap etc are not so important in this case. What seemed to stand out for me as a challenge was the child’s own assumption that taking Science in grades XI and XII will be considered worthy. I did not see this assumption in the parents, I somehow felt it to be true of the child. Deep inside maybe he knew it wasn’t the right choice, and so he would go all silent when someone asked him about his career goals. When I had met them face to face, I chose only to share what I could understand through his assessment factually. I found great resistance to the suggestions to taking a non-Science subject that seemed apt for him as he thought it was very boring.

Hmm…now I wasn’t sure what to do. I decided to do nothing more for then. There were still a few months before he opted for his subjects so there was time. There may be more aspects I might need to uncover and discover as we meet. Perhaps, I missed something.

I got a text late one night from his mom stating that he was thinking of pursuing the boring subject. That’s when my gut feel got confirmed. The child wasn’t thinking for himself, he was unable to figure out what he wanted and what society thought desirable. He was confused to the point of not knowing the difference. Aren’t we all like that sometimes. 

I believe it will take one more solo chat with him to release some of that resistance. For now, am glad he changed his subject choices to what was more his inner calling.

We are all programmed to look at careers and subject choices based on what others will say even though it’s a choice we need to live with for many years if not a lifetime.

Invest some time today to assess and reflect on your own self. Reclaim the power to choose what you want to do. Reclaim the power to be you!!