Helping dd select high school courses
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| Wed, 01-09-2008 - 1:41pm |
13yo dd will be a Freshman in high school next year. I'm wondering how much to butt into dd selection of course electives.
Last year during career week she got to visit another high school's vocational school campus where she saw their nursing program. Ever since then, she constantly talks about being a nurse. She really, really wants to sign up for the nursing program. She would take a bus from the regular high school to the vocational school either before or after school for the nursing classes.
I wouldn't mind supporting dd in this EXCEPT she'd be the world's worst nurse. She has horrible balance and motor coordination. As a child she would fall easily 100 times a day for no apparent reason. Even now she trips and falls easily on a regular basis. We cringe any time she approaches us with a pencil or knife in her hand because we know we're going to end up with an injury. She has horrible attention to details. I can see her giving patients the wrong dosages of the wrong medicines, if she even remembers to give them their medications. She'd drop supplies constantly, she'd injure people repeatedly. If she had to clean a patient, and if they survived her "care," they wouldn't even get thoroughly cleaned since she wouldn't see the filth on them. Etc., etc., etc.
We have not really tried discouraging the nursing idea since we hoped her interest would fade naturally but it hasn't. We've gently encouraged her towards other careers, like in computers that she's so naturally gifted with, but she doesn't think those fields would be interesting (or writing, but she doesn't think she'd make any money).
Dh never really received any career direction when he was younger (of course no one realized he had AS, either), and he's had a series of jobs he wasn't really suited to. He's been a willing soldier doing the jobs, but he's hated most of his employment and struggled to do them. As a result, he's not made great money over the years, either. He desperately wishes he'd better understood what jobs were more appropriate for him at an earlier age. (Of course, we're looking at this in hindsight. I'm not sure whether he'd have been open to suggestions at an earlier age.)
Do I sit dd down and point out why nursing is a bad idea for her? Do I let her do it and hope she eventually loses interest? How do I approach this? I hate to see her pursue a career that is so completely against her best interests and that of everyone around her. I also hate to see her lose time pursuing an interest in a career she'd be good at.

OMG that is a tough, I totally understand you. When my dd was your dd's age she wanted to be a rocket scientist. We got lots of materials, on a regular basis, from all the colleges pertaining to this. THen at the junior year, she totally decided that she is going to make use of her very good writing and reading skill and now she is pursuing a degree (one of them, another one in history) International Relation. The reason for the switch is she was part of this intense debate team. SO your dd might find other extra curricular activity that might change her and help her decide her strengths.
Hey there..
As a 42 year old nurse whose carreer dates back to when she studied back in High School. My suggestion right now. Let her volunteer in a nursng home or
13 is awfully young to decide what they want to do in 5 years or 7 years or whatever...so the possibility that she will change her mind is quite high.
Ooooh, I like the suggestions of having dd volunteer in a setting where she can see what nursing entails. I guess I'll step back and let nature take it's course a bit and hope that nursing doesn't become dd permanent interest. I'm just never sure how much I should act like a regular mom and how much I should be dd AS advocate!
Thanks for the ideas and reassurance.