How do I tell my parents that landing a job is what actually counts?

Posted by shovonr on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by shovonr
Published on 2011-03-14T22:42:37Z Indexed on 2011/03/15 0:17 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 157

On one side, I just want to get a degree with a 3.0 GPA. On the other side, my parents want more than just a 3.

Now here's the thing. I program with a passion. I spend day and night programming. And I ace all my programming courses. However, I do terrible on all my elective courses -- such as writing, history, and all that stuff -- which only leaves me with a 3.1 to 3.2 GPA. And my parents want more.

They think that university is like high school, where you need super-stellar grades to get to the next level. But they don't realize that good enough grades will land me a job.

And they don't realize that a programmer needs to practice to become good at programming, and that having good skills is what will land a job in a nice software development company.

Thankfully, though, they don't threaten to beat me with a baseball bat or anything like that. They just occasionally give me the little "tsk-tsk". But even that little "tsk-tsk" makes me feel guilty for opening up an IDE. And on top of that, I procrastinate because of that feeling of guilt.

So now, I want to come clean with them. I want to know what's a good way to do that.

[Edit]

OK, so now, I realized, I should aim for higher grades, as some have suggested below.

© Programmers or respective owner

Related posts about education

Related posts about personal-projects