In my conversations with various classmates regarding their college choices and ambitions, I've often heard repeated the phrases:

"My parents are forcing me to major in…"

"My parents want me to attend…"

"I applied to this school/major only because my parents…"

"My parents told me there'd be no money in that career… so they want me to major in…"

The frequency of this type of response (accompanied by a look of supreme glumness/disgruntlement) was astounding. In addition, I noted two things:

1. The people who responded this way were all (I suppose not surprisingly) ethnic Asians, and
2. Even though they were clearly displeased/unenthusiastic, they're actually following their parents' orders.

Continue reading »