why oh why????

Last night I couldn't fall asleep until wee hours. I started reading all kinds of novels including a children's book (Last Term at Malory Towers) by Enid Blyton. My little niece had given it to me on the day I returned to US - so I'd have something to read and not get bored on the flight. Very sweet and thoughtful of her! :) But I didn't get a chance to read the book until now.
One of the chapters was about young girls (14 yrs old or so) talking about their future plans during their last days in school. Most of them had a clear career path based on what suited their personalities or their skills. The rest were planning to go to college to figure out what they were good at as they felt they didn't have talents which stick out for a mile. That started me on thinking about my own career path.
Today when I am close to graduating with a MS degree, I give a thought to my interests. I feel I should taken up some kind of art as my major or should have been a children's nurse or teacher. I'd have really enjoyed doing that kind of work for a living - as I was always good with kids and interested in Painting/Sketching. But then how did I end up as (so-called) an engineer? I know why I took up computer science over other majors. But why did I take up engineering? Was I very innovative and a great problem solver in high school? To be honest, I was a better student when solving math problems but only if provided with atleast 2 or 3 similar examples before I tackle the actual problem. I can't invent a totally new solution. Currently, rarely do I come up with a creative solution to any of the technical problems in my field. And I am very hesitant to explore things when working on some project because I am unsure of my technical skills. Back in the days when I was just out of high school, my dad gave me two options - MPC(Maths, Physics, Chemistry) or BiPC(Biology, Physics, Chemistry). Any other subjects were looked down upon by parents and my peers alike and considered fit for only students who got bad grades in high school or didn't have any interest in a career! Engineering or Medicine was/is the only path for a succesful career according to my parents, friends, neighbours, relatives, teachers, our maid, tourist guide(during my India trip - the guy looked at me in admiration after knowing that I am an Engineering graduate) and the bus drivers etc. So I end up taking MPC partly because I loved mathematics (over biology) and because I was afraid of using a scalpel dissecting frogs etc. Atleast mathematics was close to engineering - so I didn't make a very bad decision. And this is what I made out of myself, a good(!!!???) software engineer!

And then I think about my cousins, friends etc and remember two stories which depicts how our society thinks. This is common in the place that I originally belong to(AP, India).

1) My little brother(cousin) recently passed out of junior college. He likes science(physics to be specific). So my cousin is also forced to join the crowd patronizing the engineering colleges. What I found interesting here is that my brother wanted to take up Electrical engineering or Mechanical engineering whereas my aunt and uncle want him to take up Computer Science or IT field. Reason: his forerunners(my other cousins) minted a lot of money as Software Engineers. Apparently even some friends commented that Mechanical engineering is only for people who didn't secure a good rank in the engineering entrance exam. Bah! And I thought the condescending ended at MPC/BiPC. Thankfully, my brother was sensible enough to make the right decision and chose something close to his heart(Electrical Engineering)

2) Then I heard about my other cousin who was forced to quit her fashion technology program to pursue Biotechnology. She started with a BiPC in Junior college to probably follow the footsteps of her father who is a General Physician. Following her not-so-good performance in Junior college, her parents let her choose her area of interest to make a career for herself. She chose to pursue a degree in fashion technology which was apt for her. Even she was doing a really good job in school with her creativity and could have made a great career out of it had she continued the program. The twist in the story came when her parents started looking for a suitable groom for her(Arranged marriages is a common thing in my community). Apparently most of the guys they came across wanted a girl with a degree in engineering or medicine! And her parents were adamant about her marrying someone with a degree in medicine so the father can pass on his practice to atleast her husband. So they forced her to change her degree program from fashion technology to biotechnology just to find her a husband of their choice! Now what do you say about that??

Why are our interests and careers shaped by what the majority in our society thinks about a particular field of study? Why don't people understand that each field/major has its own importance? And we are not even talking about other kind of jobs which involve cleaning the gutter, mowing the lawn etc (Even the people making a living out of these jobs are important as they make civilized life possible for the rest of us!) If everybody thinks mechanical engineering is not a good major then who'd come up with improved technology in automobiles? If fashion technology is not worth anything, then how come we read about several successful people in that field in almost every newspaper? Any career(not necessarily an IT position) would be good if only we have the right attitude/skills needed for that job.