moonlightgdess

So, my parents, like most parents, want me to get at least a four year degree in something that is useful, get a good $60-70K a year job, find a good man, get married, get a house, and have 2.5 children. Y'know, the typical American Dream.


Problem is, the "I want you to be happy and enjoy what you do" part seemed to skip the equation.

I got my AA degree about four years ago, in Liberal Arts. I have as much of an idea now about what I want to do in life as I did then, maybe a little more so since I've been grooming for almost three years. I've always loved music. Always. Took piano lessons at 10, started the flute at 12, sax/clarinet/bass clarinet/trombone/piccolo in high school and junior college. Took a semester of choir in high school, mainly to play piano for them though. I passed both music appreciation and fundamentals of music blindfolded for chrissakes.

So, you may ask, why the hell aren't you majoring in your passion?

Oh. Well, because Mom and Dad said I shouldn't. Even though they bought the lessons and the books, the band trips, the two flutes and the piccolo, marching band uniforms, and so on... they said "Don't major in music. It's a useless degree, you'll never make any money". On that note (NPI), that also eliminated pretty much all Arts degrees, including photography and theater (and to a lesser degree, graphic arts. Because not a lot of universities offer that as a major, and my parents snorted when I brought up the idea).

So I picked the next best thing: science. I took Astronomy and Genetics in college, loved them both (Dad was happy, he's an amateur astronomer himself. Oh, but I can't major in that either, because it doesn't give me many job options...). I liked Genetics the most, so I went with Biology, since very few colleges offer specifically "Genetics" degrees, and I'm not about to apply at UC Davis.

Problem is, I have enough enthusiasm and brains for about 6 weeks of the semester, and then I either get bored, confused, stressed, or D) all of the above, for one reason or another. Personally, I think it's because I'm taking both Chem *and* Biology in the same semester, but I digress. So what happens? I fail. I flunk, or get D's, and I flop. And I know it's not because I'm not intelligent, or because I don't have the will to get a degree, I just simply give up because I get *bored*. Because I'm NOT passionate about science. It was just something that I was doing to please the parents, because it's useful and it could land me a good job.

Now mind you, through all of this, the parents kept telling me, "Just get your degree. It doesn't matter what it's in, just get it. That's all you need". Oh, but don't get a degree in things that aren't deemed "useful". So, this is where I get confused. I need to get a degree in something that I don't enjoy, because, really, I'll have a job that has little or no use for my degree, but the point is that I wasted 4 years getting a BS in Biology when I could've just majored in Music... right?

I told you that story to tell you this one.

So I had a funny conversation with my dad today. We were talking about my business, how maybe, just maybe, I could take it with me (sorry, not going to spend $2K hauling that van out to Ohio with no customers when I have no idea how to drive in the snow). How if I just stayed in CA and advertised, I could really make this business grow. Maybe get another vehicle, and hire groomers to work for me. Y'know... things I really don't want to do. So, here's the conversation. See if you can spot the funny.

Dad: Y'know, if you put some work into it, you could really expand that business. Get a few more trucks and make $70K a year.
Me: I know. But I'm going to school. I don't want to put all this effort into this business while I'm working on my degree.
Dad: You can still advertise and work while you're doing that. Get someone to work for you.
Me: Dad, I'm going 6 days a week as it is. Sundays are my only days off. I really can't take the time away from my degree to work 40 hours a week, especially since the hours I work are kind of limited to daylight. That, and I can't take a cut in pay like that right now.
Dad: But this is a good opportunity! Who needs a degree when you've got a business making that much money?

I just about lost it. I sat there, for like 20 seconds, while he prattled on about something, and was like... "Did he really just say what I thought he just said?" And when he was done, I replied calmly (albeit a bit sarcastically):

Me: You guys *really* need to make up your mind as to what I need to do with my life.

So um... looks like I'll be majoring in music at OSU, working as a groomer in a shop where I have AC and benefits, and saying "fuck it all" to any parental advice aside from child rearing... and even that I'll take with a grain of salt.