What do I tell a 12th Standard kid??

Well... This post is not about something that is radically new.. But, common people, I have Right of Speech and here I exercise..!! :P

One Saturday morning, I was asked to conduct a counselling session for 12th standard commerce students from underprivileged background  by Ernst and Young (organised by them..!!).. So there I am, with some 12 odd kids (Yeah.. I am old enough to call them kids.. :( ) .. Btw there was another CA too from a different team..

Now, when they ask us what should they study after 12th Std, I didnt have an answer... !!

I so want to tell that they should follow their heart, do what they want all that shit..
But having been in a similar position myself,
i. I know the level of exposure these kids would have had.. So how do one find what heart wants? As far as I know, all their heart wants now is, Maslow's basic needs without worry for their entire family throughout the year....
ii. Even if they manage to find out where their interest lies, the economic constraints their family is in, might not give these kids the time required for monetary success in non-conventional streams..
iii. Frankly, being a decade older than they are, when I am myself in search of answer for the question "what my heart wants", how do I tell them how to go about it..!!

By the time I was trying to come up with an answer, my colleague had started his sales pitch on CA (Chartered Accountancy)..

Had it been a few years back (when I was in a different level of awakening :P), I would be selling CA or ICWA or professional courses like these myself.. But, now, I know they are not end of life.. Not the only way to end all misery..

But how do i put it to these kids elegantly (if u are so vella, you can refer to side note on my opinion on professional courses :P ) - that u can look at these options, but its ok even if you find midway that, they are not for you and find other alternatives...

Wouldn't it amount to confusing them more?
It is something that my friends struggle to understand after trying for 7 years in vain to finish professional courses.. How do I communicate to these kids that, they should study, but look at the bigger picture too..
Wouldn't they feel pursuing it as a waste of time given their circumstances?  

Again only thoughts, and no tangible solution... :D

So, in effect, I could tell them to pursue the degree that will get them a job somewhere -- which I didnt want to do, as it will put them into a rat race, push them to accept mediocrity and create yet another generation of BPOers...

Finally, I ended up not talking much, but thinking a lot..!! :P Next, time when I attend such a session, I still do not have a solution to the question "What should I do next", but I will strive to find some... :))










Side note on my opinion on Professional courses:
Sure professional courses help.. I have personally benefited from them.. When I got my job after ICWA, my monthly salary was 150% more than my parents' monthly salary put together.. It was a great moment to see the content in your parents' face that there is going to be some financial respite
(the current state of their face after my MBA is a different issue though.. :P I will write a separate blog on "State of MBA Tambram single girl" ;) -- Btw this is called pre-launch promotion :P )


But, now, I think there is a risk in promoting professional courses for a group generically.. There are lot of things - emotional, psychological, financial, intellectual - that should fall in place for someone to pass them at a reasonable period of time.. And everyone's life is wired differently.. The problem with selling these courses is,

i. people get into the mode of thinking that, this is the only way to open up doors for numerous opportunities.. start thinking this is end of life

ii. after a few failed attemps, people tend to take it emotionally on their Ego to clear them come what may.. they fail to look at the bigger picture and tend to spend precious years of their youth running behind this ...