Okay, so first of all, I'm about to be an HS junior this September and I've been looking at colleges. I'm from Maine, by the way, and just so you know, Maine is like the complete 'nobody' state where opportunities are very rare. I've lived in Maine for the 16 years of my life and I really LOVE travelling and feeling independent. However, I have very strict and sometimes controlling parents who want me to stay here for college. Their reason being that I won't be able to handle living on my own (as in living in the dorm) and there are too many evil people in this world nowadays. Another point, they think cooking, doing my laundry (which I've never done before) will just be an obstacle for me to focus on my studies. Honestly, I think they did catch me there and sometimes I feel like I've been depending on them way too much. Unlike my other peers, I seldom do chores. However, I do currently work (this is my first job btw) as a cashier at McDonald's and sometimes I wash dishes and clean the lobby. So I'm not THAT ignorant to household work. However, I want to prove to them that I can multitask and it won't be an issue to my studies. Because after all, that's what the real world is like. I'll eventually have to work and do household work on the same day and I'm afraid I'll be dependent on my parents forever. Being the only child, I also feel like they just don't want me to leave. My mom and dad aren't exactly the most compatible couple in the world and I feel like I'M what keeps them together. Perhaps my mom is afraid that when I leave, my dad will change and it will be lonely here at home without their little girl? /sigh/
Anyway, what annoys me more is that what college I suggested to my mom is Northeastern University, which is like ~110 miles from my home! That's not even half the distance my other friends want to go and they're already complaining that it's too far! Then when I mention this to my mom, she turns it back on me and says, "Well, why are you comparing yourself to your friends? Their lifestyle is different!" She says this because we're a conservative Asian family and thinks I'm being influenced too much by my American friends who have really laid back parents.
I really don't know what to do anymore. I've always been an honor student since middle school and as for high school, I have a 3.9 GPA. I've taken 5 honors last year, will be taking 3 this year with 1 AP. I'm in many activities and clubs such as chorus, Ultimate Frisbee, National Honors Society, and the work I've done at McDonald's was for work grant so I have some confidence that I'll at least be accepted into some nice college out of state. Financially, it's not really a big deal because another college that she suggested was around the same tuition as NEU. We could always apply for financial aid too. It's really just the fact that my mom doesn't have faith in me. I think it also has to do with how her other friends' daughters have been coming back to Maine after not being able to take moving out of their homes... But honestly, I feel like I CAN live on my own. I don't want her to compare me to them because everyone is different! Any advice, please?
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