Letters to the Editor
-
Ditching pre-med and surviving
In my first semester of college, I discovered that I was bored stiff by my premed courses, and would rather take history, philosophy, and English lit. So I dropped all the premed courses, and signed up for the others. My Indian mother - who was very invested in my future as a doctor - was horrified, but she got over it. She was wistful about law school for a while, but got over that too when I showed no interest. Domineering parents fixated on med school (or law school) are a fact of life for middle-class kids with Asian (and, I suspect, Jewish) backgrounds, but for the most part they're not ogres. The "helping people" business is usually a crock. The parents want to see the Lexus in your garage, but more than that, they want the reassurance of middle-class respectability and professional status. If LW wants his father to give him permission to do what he wants to do, he might have to wait a very long time. He should do what he wants to do, and then mollify Dad. And rather than sell his father the "lawyer doll" that he himself doesn't want, he might try to convince Dad that architects, journalists, and educators (use as applicable) make perfectly respectable dolls.