I went to high school in Karachi, there is no comparison between high school here versus in Pakistan. It is very different. After 16 years since my high school graduation I decided to go back to school and get my college degree. I started from Parkland and once I was about to finish I realized I wanted to get more education so then I went to Eastern University and from there I got my four-year college degree.
When I started at Parkland, my daughters were in Junior high. I learned about school education at the same time as my girls. And when they started High school, I learned every student meets with their school counselor, and she or he helps them to design their four year high school class plan. Among many other things I also learned how important it is for students to be in AP classes and to learn a foreign language. Before graduation many high schools held college fairs so students could see all the colleges that were out there. I even took my girls to many out-of-state college tours so they could see which college they wanted to go. It was a great and fun experience and not just for my girls also for me.
Before the college semester begins, students meet with their college counselor, just like in high school and he or she will help them to enroll in classes based on their major. The very first semester, my daughter signed up for an Arabic 101 class. When she told me that right away I said to her, “Arabic 101 would fulfill the language requirement, correct? Since you already took French in high school and the AP credits were accepted why do you have to take this?” She said, “Yes I know but my counselor told me I have to take a language for the requirement.”.
I said to myself this doesn’t make sense but no matter what I couldn’t call her counselor like I did in high school. I had to trust her but I still wasn’t satisfied. Half a semester went by, and one afternoon my daughter called me saying, “Mom, I am having a difficult time in Arabic and I want to drop it”. I told her to think it through and talk to her counselor. I wasn’t happy with what she was saying but I had to support her final decision. Lastly, I told her that quitters never win and winners never quit. I understood she was having a difficult time but this was her first semester, and she just needed to try her best. Of course she didn’t like what I said to her. Our conversation wasn’t going well, and we ended up not talking for a few days. Later when I asked her what she decided, she said she had decided to stay in the class, and I left it like that. The semester was about to be over with finals approaching. Two days after her Arabic 101 final she called me and told me she received an A in the class. Of course I was so happy and proud of her.
My whole point of writing this experience is because many of us parents know about college stuff, such as applying for FAFSA, loans, applying for a dorm, meal plans, and what classes your child should take. I feel blessed and lucky I understand how college stuff works because I went to college here in the States.
I salute those kids and their parents who are having to deal with this for the first time. It’s a huge and brave step. Those kids and their parents need more support and understanding than anyone. My hope is for either communities or high schools to provide some kind of college assistance for the parents so they can have a better understanding of what their child is getting into it.. When kids go to college they are young, excited, nervous and need lots of support from their family and their college. But how family can provide support if they don’t even understand what are they supporting? I hope my point is clean, and our next generation parents won’t suffer as much as us old parents are going through.
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