On what college degree (or life choice) one should make...

In this day and age, when economy is in doldrums, everyone feels crappy. Top that up with the uncertainty and high anxiety to whatever choice in college major, and how much a college degree costs (measured in terms of student loan that one has to carry for life), that's enough to make headline news in places like Yahoo Finance, like, The College Degrees That You Have Gotten, or The Top Paying Jobs In America.

For those who are to make the choice, or to try to get in a field that might pay off in the longer term, this must've sounded all so confusing. Everyone seems to have a different ticks on things. There are also those who proclaim that College Degree Is Useless.

Although my kids are not coming of age yet, I'm forever mindful of that. Afterall, I myself am still in this life journey. Granted that you could say I luck out. I chose a field (computer science) that I like which turns out to be in high demands for the past 15 years or so. The field was also highly transportable from one country to another, allowing me to relocate with ease. I've always wondered the what-ifs, should I have chosen law or journalism instead (which were the other two fields I was considering).

But one thing is quite clear. We have to start out with something that we like. My parents, being older generations from Asia, are forever mindful of money and the payoff. (In hindsight, that's not a sole phenomenon with Asian parents alone, if we consider the amount of attention and write-up in the news of the cost-effectiveness and comparison in America.) For them, the best paying jobs are the best jobs to be had. I remember one time, my mom told me how much so-and-so's daughter is making this-and-that much, as a therapist to disabled children. I remember, my first response to my mom was, I hope she enjoys her work and truly loves working with children and helping others. I told my mom, imagine how it's like, locked in a room, most likely windowless, 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week. Fat paycheck only comes once or twice a month, but she's doing that 40+ hours a week. She'd better enjoy it, otherwise it'd be torture, no matter how much it's paid. That response gave a 15-second pause to my mom; to that, she replied, "you're probably right." Mind you, my mother is a very strong-willed woman, and she doesn't admit error in judgment that easier. To her credit, she's also relatively open-minded, given her age.

I have no care about that Amy Chua's Tiger Mom thing. (And yes, I read her book, for good measure, in order to be sure I'm fair-minded to my critique about her so-called parenting which is ridiculous.) My guiding principle is that, kids need to have sufficient exposure to try different things. That way, they'll find their own interests, desire and passion, and then they follow it. When they settle on something, they'd better give their 120% to see it through. As a parent, I don't want to be making life choice for the kids (which they'll likely regret later on in life). I don't want them to make life choice based solely on immediate monetary rewards. Just ask Steve Jobs, as illustrated by his excellent 2005 commencement speech at Stanford.

But there are certain basic building blocks in life that, if not mastered early on in life, will become very hard (if at all) to be mastered as one gets older. Math proficiency is one. Science is another. Reading and writing skills are a must. Whether one follows through with a math/science degree is a different matter - that's a path that the kid makes for him/herself. But if kids don't master math/science when they're young, they basically shut out at least half of college majors that are available, and almost all the good-paying jobs these days (which is important for those who look at the salary charts to discover their path in life). The latter argument doesn't carry too much weight for me, as the former one, which is that, one has to keep all options open. In other words, be open-minded, and be prepared so that one can make whatever choice when one feels like it, without being hamstrung by the SAT.

Since my kids are still young, I really would have no clue what they would want to do. Apart from pushing them to discover their own interests (whatever that might be), do their best (and I expect the best out of them), master the basics (math/reading/writing/science), do at least one sport activity, and do at least one music. The rest they can choose.

Having said that, some kids might not find their calling early in life. Heck, some people never find their calling in their entire life (!). But I wouldn't want their life choice to be solely based on near-term monetary gains. That's just too shortsighted to me.