Whats next?

My eldest daughter will be completing high school this year. SMS me the other day to get my advice on her way-forward. It was 'what-course-to-take-which-univ-to-apply' kinda impasse. I am glad that she consulted me coz it is important for her to be guided appropriately. With peers, teachers, councilors giving all kinda mixed views, I know it could be quite a dilemma for her. I really want to make sure that the line she’s planning to take really best suits her interest. Not much of an advice, but I gave her these two points to take into account in whatever route she is taking.

1. On course/major – just go for what interests you, full stop
2. On University choice – anywhere in this world given that they are accredited, full stop

Bear in mind that the only fun thing about learning is when you are learning something that you like to learn (same goes with working). You like it you’ll enjoy it. And this shall only be the aspect to consider when choosing which course to take. Understood that at her tender age, deciding on this can be hellavu confusion. It is only natural for ones to choose a major that could land them a good and well-paid career in future, but how could you tell now. Why would one consider the market, job prospect, paycheck and other potential goodies at this stage as these external not only can revolutionize over a period time but are completely irrelevant. This is about you and what you want to learn; these external factor are immaterial. The one and only factor shall be your interest and passion - pick a course based on these.

On which u to apply, I’d advised her to just go ahead and apply any accredited u out there. Forget the ranking and shit like that, for all it tells is basically the ranking of the u, not the graduates. There are criteria applied in doing this ranking exercise that 99% of which have nothing to do with the performance of their student…Bush graduated from Harvard and Yale....duh..??.Why jeopardize yourself going for Ivy League when the standard that they need uphold to sustain their ’elite’ status will fail you. All you need is to learn and acquire knowledge, not to be penalized with exorbitant fees and failures.

I told my baby whatever it was, I would be 200% supporting her, it was her future and her life.