This is a true story of the social enigma faced nowadays by an individual who is supposed to follow in the footsteps of their parents rather than following their heart.
Paul’s parents are both renowned doctors in Hyderabad and as the conventional trend states, Paul himself was supposed to pursue MBBS when the time comes. Just after completing his senior secondary studies, Paul was confronted by his parents as to which reputed medical college he wants to join to pursue MBBS. Regardless of what Paul has in his mind, he was enrolled in the entrance examination, attended an expensive coaching institute in their locality to crack it and secure a seat. When he was not able to do it in the first attempt, his parents realized that they need to sort to alternate methods to secure their son a seat in a medical college. After enquiring at various colleges and universities in India and abroad, they decided to pay 37 Lakh Rupees at a medical college in Manila, Philippines and secure a direct admission for their son.
The moment of truth arrives, Paul tried his best to get accustomed to his new field of study. But his inner calling for something more satisfactory and acceptable to his self-consciousness rather than the study of medicine, could not be stopped. It started affecting his personal and social life and Paul spiralled into an uncharted territory of stress, depression, anxiety, tension etc. Having failed at all of the subjects in the 1st semester, his parents were worried and tried to communicate with him as to what led to this washout at academics. He wrapped himself in an impenetrable cocoon and did not let anyone near him. He cut off all communication with the outer world and made loneliness his best ally. After many unsuccessful attempts at reaching out to their child, the parents finally landed in Manila worried sick for their child.
They found out that Paul locked himself in his room for the last few months and was not divulging with anyone. They finally realized the culprit behind his present condition was nothing else but his field of study i.e medicine. He never ever wanted to enrol for medicine in the first place. Having ignored his personal career aspirations and interest, his parents chose his destiny resulted in an unstable state of mind. They thought that now we should do some damage control and take their son back to India. After coming back to India, he was not ready to open up to anybody.
Following various failed attempts to make their son open up about his crushing predicament, they decided to take professional help and took him to a Psychiatrist. The psychiatrist had to conduct about 8-9 rigorous therapeutic sessions just to unbolt his thought process. Then finally, he opened up and latched back to reality. He conveyed that he hated the study of medicine to his core. As his parents had already spent a colossal amount of money for his admission, he had no choice but to prevail in it. He tried his best to establish a common ground with his academic studies and suppress his inner calling, but he failed.
After a point, he realized that there is no other viable proposition left for him other than isolating himself from this outer world. Hence he felt helpless, he accustomed himself to loneliness and rolled down this path of despair & sadness. Having listened to this invigorating testimony from their son, tears rolled down the parents cheeks and they realized their mistake. They tried to comfort their son in whatever manner possible but at what cost? The prime time of adolescence age of their son was lost with an enormous amount of money. Still, their son had no vision or perception for his future life.
Feeling powerless and inadequate, they finally decided to determine the correct career path for their son. They took him for psychometric evaluation. They wanted nothing but the best and most advanced methodology to determine the correct career path for their son and luckily, one of their close friends recommended them to visit Edumilestones network of Career Counselors. Being the pioneers in structured Career Counseling Services in India, Edumilestones helped Paul ascertain his most suited career path. As anticipated, Medical Science was not even close to what his inner calling was. The career report clearly stated that Paul had an optimum creative aspect in his thought process and found various inherent talent. It was suggested that he was best suited for a Career in Industrial Designing or Fashion designing. Eventually, he enrolled for an academic course in a Top notch Fashion Technology Institute and now he is happily pursuing it. But still, the emotional scar that was caused by the unplanned decision to pursue medicine, remains dormant in him.
This paradox is faced by most of us at some point of time in our lives and its outcome can be disastrous. An unplanned or poorly derived career choice can cause us to entangle with irreparable emotional trauma or grief which results in a lifetime of anguish & distress. To avoid this unpleasantness, everyone should opt for proper and structured career counselling.
(Note - This is a True Case Study, observed at one of a Career Counseling Centre of Edumilestones channel Network)
(Disclaimer - All the characters mentioned in this article are fictitious, but based on true-life events)
