Hello all,
I am currently in last quarter of my first year at UCSC, and am planning to go with my girlfriend to Chicago this summer for volunteer opportunities at university hospitals and medical centers there. She obtained a research opportunity at UChicago. We would be spending 8 weeks there on our own, working and experiencing the city. However, my parents have taken a stubborn stance against this, saying that I am too young (I am coming up on 19 years old in May), unprepared, and subject to failure. My parents, especially my mother, are very traditional, relatively young, and like to keep a hold on me, considering I am their first child out of 4. They haven’t been to college and are unaware of the things I have done to get myself into college and what I do now. I think that they are struggling with the idea of losing power over me…
This concerns me due to the fact I have been a responsible and dedicated individual both at school and outside of it. I excelled in high school through sports and leadership programs, was selected for California’s Boys’ State by my high school, obtained an Air Force ROTC scholarship for college, and am pursuing a Human Bio major (one of the most intensive at UCSC). I am confident in living on my own, as I have been excelling in college myself - nevertheless, I am aware of the difference between living on campus and living in the middle of a big city.
One of my parents’ main reasons on why I should not go is because they believe that I am only going just to be with my girlfriend. Although I do not deny that being with my girlfriend is definitely one of the reasons why I want to go, I have stated other various reasons on why else I want to go. I believe Chicago is a great opportunity for me to grow, excel, and live a new experience - something I may not be able to do while staying home, running errands for my parents, volunteering at a local hospital, and not bringing in an income for myself.
What are your opinions on this? Are my parents justified? Should I not go mainly because of what my parents think? How should I convince them?