Dear counsellor,

After my high school education, I earned a scholarship to study a science course at university, which my family received as a blessing. However, I have always been interested in business courses, and that’s where I see my future career. I’m now puzzled since I don’t know how to convince my parents that I don’t have passion for science courses, so that they support me in what I love. How do I go about this situation?

Yours, Kayirebwa

Loyalty to your parents can be used as a measure of obedience, trust and actual relationships that give them pride. Your parents want you to get the best in life that is why they’re pleased about the news of your scholarship in science courses. However, most parents today think that the only safest highway to career success is through offering science courses. They’re simply not aware of any other field and believe that there are little or no opportunities in other areas of specialization. If you are ever going to be able to convince your parents about this, you need to lay strategies on how to go about approaching and assuring them about the importance of pursuing business studies as opposed to science courses and clearly display your plan for successful course completion. Your career choice, loyalty to your parents is not an obligation imposed by outside influences, but internal potentials and decisions that should be made freely on the basis of your own passion and intuition.

One of the key benefits of studying business is that it will offer you the opportunity to undertake work placements and professional projects which will in turn equip you with practical exposure as well as technical knowledge and transferable soft skills. Therefore show your parents that you are interested and that you have a passion for business courses. Choosing the path of creative fulfilment and pursuing your dream of becoming the best person of yourself is by choice and ability not by parental fear or coercion. Offering business studies, in current times of globalisation, is a wise decision, because its work-market has several job opportunities. People who specialise in business courses for economic reasons stand a great advantage of climbing to top positions in large companies as finance, accounting, human resources, operations or marketing officers with a very attractive pay.

Sit down with your parents and talk to them openly and politely about your feelings and passion for business studies.

Convince them that you will succeed in a field you’re happy in - not one in which you are completely disinterested. No parent ever wants to see their child fail or unhappy, so use your emotional appeal and they will be convinced to pay your tuition fees on a self sponsored basis for your business studies. Just use this approach and you’re exactly squarely in the victory circles.