Day 207- Passion Pressure

Hey guys,

      In today's society, there is an immense amount of pressure on high-schoolers, and I'm talking more than just getting good grades. These student are expected to have some sort of dream, passion, aspiration, or a "life goal" of some sort by the time they graduate. However, here is reality; it is VERY common for teens to graduate high-school and still not know what they're going to do, in fact, it's also common for college students to switch their majors, because they aren't sure what they want to do, so this idea is essentially bogus, and it gives high school kids MUCH more of a burden and headache than necessary. Here's another dose of reality; many high school students who DO have dreams or aspirations, or something that they're passionate about are told that their said dreams and aspirations are unrealistic, and sometimes even silly. Parents, I DO get it, you love your children, you want them to be able to make money and support themselves, and maybe even support you when retirement comes, but please, don't do that! You don't know the opportunity your child could get, you don't know the kind of money your child could make doing what they love to do, so please, don't crush their spirits! Then, there are students like me(although I'm not in High School anymore), who have MANY passions, that are all equal in importance to you, and you are equally passionate about the many things. For me, that is music, and education. Luckily, I come from a family of a music educator, so they have always been VERY supportive of both of my dreams and aspirations, and I am so grateful for that. However, with music being as competitive and emotionally and physically draining as it is, there is always doubt, doubt in myself, doubt voiced by my parents, and doubt voiced by all three of us. Let me explain something; doubt and telling you child that their dreams are ridiculous are two completely different things! Especially with music, there is no second place, it's either, you get the part in the play, musical, chorus, etc. or you don't, end of story. So, it is completely natural for me to have doubts about pursuing music. Anyways, parents, please do your best to support your children, and help them to achieve their dreams, but keep your own opinions out of it! Obviously, keep them grounded in reality, and remind them that it may not be as simple as they think it may be, but don't shoot them down completely!  
<3 Always,
Rose