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June 06, 2005
Mother, Father
I went home again this weekend on Saturday and pleaded quite a bit for somone to work for me that day. Monday through Thursdays I have class from 9:05 am to 5:30 pm with a ten minute break long enough to walk from the west bank to the east bank. So I tend to cherish my Fridays and Saturdays now! There was a Thao Family Barbeque on Saturday and I knew it would make my dad happy. Plus, my little sisters had been harrassing me to go!
My dad picked me up from my place, and he says something silly like, "if you get your masters, I'll buy you anything you want. A car? A computer? I know, a laptop?" I'm thinking...wow, I really do not want to go through more school. So I say, "actually, I'm going to join the Peace Corps, remember?" and this was a no, no. He goes, "haha...are you crazy?" I guess it hasn't sunk in yet with my dad. He says, "I'm going to throw a bug at you at the park" haha, thanks dad. He's trying to prove I can't make it, I hate bugs! We talk about other stuff, and I just drop the Peace Corps subject for now.
The barbeque was great, it rained on us and everything they had to eat there had meat in it except for cake and rice, but it was still fun. I would have stayed the whole weekend but I had a whole book to finish still and several papers to do.
So my mom is the one driving me back to my place. I told her about dad's loony idea, then I said, "but........I'm still joining the Peace Corps" and my mom is like, "crazy." I told her that I had made up my mind and I'm doing it since it's not like I need their permission. So, practically the same speech here; "We taught you guys to be good people and work hard and get an education....not to go to South America. And Julie wants to go to Japan, Chris wants to join the Navy..." she still doesn't know that Liz wants to move to Australia either. My poor mother!
I really want to make them happy and still, I really want to join the Peace Corps. I know everybody says I should just do what I want to do, but it's hard. I wonder if I can find something here at home that will allow me to make just as much of an impact. Otherwise, my parents better pray I change my mind before I graduate. Or they better pray I get engaged or something crazy like that.
Posted by thao0226 at June 6, 2005 02:46 PM | Reflections
Comments
"Something closer to home": The domestic version of the Peace Corps is AmeriCorps (used to be called Vista).
http://www.americorps.org/
Posted by: Tim G. at June 6, 2005 05:13 PM
Decisions like these are always hard. I suppose you just have to do what you feel is right.
Posted by: Kyle C. at June 7, 2005 01:56 PM
My parents didn't believe me when I said I was going to college in Minneapolis. In fact, my dad finally said, "so you are ACTUALLY going????" only when my car was packed and I was on my way. Then, when I decided to move to Louisiana, they laughed at me, thinking it was funny, when they realized I was serious, they flat out told me no, but I still went, and I do not regret it one bit. Though I know I would have regretted not going. So bottom line, you need to make sure you do what YOU want to do, not your parents.
Posted by: Dawn at June 7, 2005 02:35 PM