Candice Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 I am having touble convincing my sister how important it is to recieve a proper education. she is very skilled at making jewelry, however she insist that an college education is not neccesary to persue her dreams. i have tried to explain to her that even though she is so skilled - knowledge is power and she could use her education to fall back on in case something should go awfully wrong and she is unable to do her jewelry. she is however only 16 and knows everything already. is there anything i can do to convince her? maybe i should lay off ? I am running out of things to use to try and make her see that high school education is just not enough. please help. Link to post Share on other sites
Tony T Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 Back off. She'll see in time just how important college is, especially when she gets out into the world. Maybe you ought to take her to visit a jewelry maker. They don't make very much money unless they sell it as well. A degree in business will go a long way in showing her how to build a sound business to distribute, market and promote her jewelry creations. Believe me, you can't convince someone to do something until they are good and ready. There are also a lot of people who just aren't meant to go to college. Either they're too lazy to study or just not intellectually up to the task. I think you've done enough. Just tell your sister that if she doesn't go to college, she can forget borrowing money from you later on in life when she's broke. Link to post Share on other sites
sparkle Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 (I'm assuming that you live in the US) Take her with you to your local career center or library. Ask the info desk or search for books/articles on US average/median yearly salaries earned by recent college graduates or professionals in various job fields. You can also search online. The US Govt has a website listing the average salary a person makes in almost EVERY job in the US, from a brain surgeon to a bricklayer to a jewelry maker. (I can't remember the URL off the top of my head...but if you can't find it, let me know and i'll find it for you). Take these yearly salaries, divide them into monthly or weekly salaries to give her an idea of how much people earn weekly, so she'll have a better idea. If this still doesn't persuade her into wanting to goto college, drop the subject and let her deal with it on her own. You can offer help, you can give advice, but you can only do so much. The final decision is up to her only. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
Candice Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 thank you for the advice. (I'm assuming that you live in the US) Take her with you to your local career center or library. Ask the info desk or search for books/articles on US average/median yearly salaries earned by recent college graduates or professionals in various job fields. You can also search online. The US Govt has a website listing the average salary a person makes in almost EVERY job in the US, from a brain surgeon to a bricklayer to a jewelry maker. (I can't remember the URL off the top of my head...but if you can't find it, let me know and i'll find it for you). Take these yearly salaries, divide them into monthly or weekly salaries to give her an idea of how much people earn weekly, so she'll have a better idea. If this still doesn't persuade her into wanting to goto college, drop the subject and let her deal with it on her own. You can offer help, you can give advice, but you can only do so much. The final decision is up to her only. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
clia Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 You can probably talk yourself blue in the face, but your sister still might not be convinced. Sometimes it's a good idea to back off and let her live her life the way she wants. I know it's difficult to see your sister make what you think are wrong decisions, but ultimately it's her life and she has a right to conduct it the way she wants. She's still young, so she might change her mind, but if she decides to pursue the jewelry making thing, sit back and support her. (Not by giving her money, but by being a nice sister.) When she gets out in the real world, she'll start to understand. (I'm in a similar situation with my sister, who is 19. She dropped out of high school because school was 'stupid' and has been waitressing for the past 3 years. Recently it's occurred to her that her money making potential isn't going to go up, so she got her GED and is taking some college classes. She had to realize that on her own, and no amount of talking to, convincing, yelling, or anything else by my mom or me could convince her otherwise when she was 16.) Your sister doesn't have to start college at 18. She can do her jewelry making for awhile and start at 20, 25, 30, whatever. For some people, taking a different route is a better solution. Also, college isn't for everyone. It definitely makes things easier, but there are a lot of successful people out there who don't have college educations. Don't force her to go if she doesn't want to--she'll only end up resenting you for it. Consider it wonderful that she's found a passion in life at so young an age. Did you go to college? I am having touble convincing my sister how important it is to recieve a proper education. she is very skilled at making jewelry, however she insist that an college education is not neccesary to persue her dreams. i have tried to explain to her that even though she is so skilled - knowledge is power and she could use her education to fall back on in case something should go awfully wrong and she is unable to do her jewelry. she is however only 16 and knows everything already. is there anything i can do to convince her? maybe i should lay off ? I am running out of things to use to try and make her see that high school education is just not enough. please help. Link to post Share on other sites
WGirl Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 It is your sister's choice whether or not she wants to go to college. It is important to get an education. There are other options besides college. It all depends on where her interests lie. Maybe she isn't interested in staying in school for another four years or longer. College is not the best choice for everybody. She should make her own decisions about her future. I am having touble convincing my sister how important it is to recieve a proper education. she is very skilled at making jewelry, however she insist that an college education is not neccesary to persue her dreams. i have tried to explain to her that even though she is so skilled - knowledge is power and she could use her education to fall back on in case something should go awfully wrong and she is unable to do her jewelry. she is however only 16 and knows everything already. is there anything i can do to convince her? maybe i should lay off ? I am running out of things to use to try and make her see that high school education is just not enough. please help. Link to post Share on other sites
Rogue Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 I agree that you should let her make her own decisions. One thing you can try though, is to convince your sister that college is fun,rewarding, and that she doesn't have to stay four years! Maybe she can find a one or two year program that she might not mind taking....from there she might realize how far she can go and decide to take something more! Or just convince to at least take a night course or two, just so that she get's a feel for what it's like.What I'm trying to suggest is to get her to open her mind a bit. You can try relating some of your more pleasant college memories to her,about the cool people you met or the stuff you studied. Talk about what you study, what you learned, how it applied in the real world. Tell your sister she can learn a lot from some of her courses,too. Link to post Share on other sites
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