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Yes they did. At first they suggested business, and then later my dad told me I should get a union job and work for someplace like the phone company. I did not listen, I thought TV and video would be the future and fun! So I wasted 10 years in the TV business, a horrible profession. Then I got a job doing technology in learning centers and have done that ever since. Looking back, my dad was right. I would have been better off if I had just got a union job, a good pension, and a stable work environment. When I was working in TV I worked weekends, nights, holidays. It never mattered much. "Glamor" fields like TV, advertising, theater, film, etc. are all over run with people that are willing to do anything at any wage. If I had it to do over again I would have listened to dad, I think he knew me better than I knew myself really.
My parents never tried to steer my course, but they supported my enthusiasms.
As long as all of us kids didn't get into trouble, we could all go in any direction we pleased. Each of us 3 chose different paths and different times to follow them.
Neither of my parents were college educated. My dad became an electronics engineer after a stint in the USAF and the tech school they put him through as part of a contractor's training program. Mom worked for the phone company.
I did 12 years of Catholic school and never really took my grades or the idea of a college education seriously. When it came time to apply to schools, I missed out. I thought I'd stay home and go to the local community college so I wouldn't be leaving my friends. Guess what... They all went away to four year colleges. Dumb move on my part, but I was so naïve about the whole thing.
Anyway during my senior year of high school, my folks drive me out to Trenton NJ and I signed onto the waiting list for jobs with the phone company. After one year of county college, the phone company called and I tested for a position. I did well and was hired immediately as an entry level accounting clerk.
As the years went on, I worked myself up in the company and they paid for me to finish college at night and on weekends. Earned my Masters degree with them!
So yes, my parents wound up influencing my career choice, but I ran with it.
Or did they have no say in the career path you took?
Bossy as they both were, this was one case where they made only light-handed suggestions. One was to be school teacher, a very usual suggestion of working class parents who had a reasonably bright kid. The other I remember was to be a bank teller.
My father was a distant, unloving man. He has quit school in the 11th grade, left home and done manual labor his whole life until he owned his own small business. He had zero interest in anything academic, just don't fail. He was dedicated to his clients to a degree that was legendary, the fact that I was an excellent student was of no interest to him....it just wasn't on his radar. Fortunately for me.
My mother was a very immature person whose focus in life was appearances and reputation. She had gone to a small village school, had zero curiosity about the world and found anyone or anything she was not familiar with suspicious and probably bad. The fact that I was a good student and got awards, and, thus, has a good rep pleased her. Beyond that her goal was that I be middle class respectable and live in our town.
I won a competitive scholarship which paid all my tuition to any college in the state I chose to go to. I picked one and it gave me a complementary scholarship which paid my room and board. My parents were pleased at how well I had succeeded, and that they would have to pay virtually zilch for my higher ed. They made no issue with the majors (2) that I selected, nor did they have any interest in the courses I took.
My mom very much supported us from a cheerleader attitude. We never were under the guise that she'd share the cost in higher education. She was a single parent. We respected her . We found ways to meet our career goals. Scholarship,rotc,enlisting in military. Or like myself....self taught with a few mentors in the fields. I recall the mocking laughter of my bio dad and some teachers when I stated I wanted to be a psychologist. My first mistake was believing they were right and I wouldn't amount to anything.
So I did the indirect avenue. Married a gent who just so happen to be studying in that major. I did all his reports and note composition. Back then things were typed or journaled. I learned so much and enjoyed it! But no degree for moi! I cheered my spouse onwards...he deserved it.
My mom always said ... You are smarter then you give yourself credit for....someday I hope to say she was right. Never cared for "the degree" status...simply enjoyed the array of skills I learned on the fly.
Or did they have no say in the career path you took?
Heh! "You're not good enough" "That's not right" "You can't do it" "You're wasting time with that" Ahhh with such encouragement, I'm surprised I didn't commit suicide.
My parents had no say in my eventual career path. When I was in fourth grade, I asked my mother about college savings. (Kids at school had been bragging about their own college savings, and I was curious about mine.) My mother warned me that any savings done for college would have to be done by me alone.
So those were my marching orders. I got perfect grades and almost perfect College Boards and worked and saved money all through high school. When the time came, I won a full scholarship to a prestigious college back East.
Due to my education being self-financed, I felt free to study whatever and wherever I wanted, for as long as I wanted. I took my time getting my degree. I loved studying and learning; from my point of view, I made the most of the opportunities available to me.
Then, when it came time to choose a career, I fell into the dot.com boom quite accidentally and found my career there. There was no plan to it at all.
My parents didn’t. My dad died unexpectedly when I was 15, and I don’t recall my mom talking careers with me. I went to college a few years, and when I left I remember my granddaddy having a talk with me about jobs. He suggested I look for jobs with the city, state or county. Jobs with payed sick leave and vacation. Jobs with good health benefits and retirement. I always remember that discussion. Thank goodness I listened
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