By: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Sr. Associate Editor, ICN Group
(In some of the past articles, we knew about some strategies and mindset for preparation of examinations and good practices during & after examinations. Today, we will know how to align the stream of subjects with chosen career.)
ALIGN THE STREAM OF SUBJECTS WITH CHOSEN CAREER
NOIDA: These days a lot of confusion prevails in the minds of parents and children regarding choosing the right career and stream in class 11-12. This confusion can be bifurcated in two parts; first is to decide the career of your dreams; and second is aligning stream of subjects in Class 11-12 with the chosen career.
Regarding career, often people think that two situations prevail in the society:-
- Where child himself decides his career either on his own or under reasonable parental guidance.
- Where parents decide the career for the child and the child has to OBEY.
I would say that a much dangerous third situation also exists, where the parents decide the career for their child and gradually try to impregnate the sub-conscious mind of the child with the thought that this particular choice is ‘HIS/ HER’ only.
I would like to ask all the parents to honestly ask themselves whether they regret about their own choice of career. Whether it is not good for them to allow the child to choose his own career? Though your child does not know about lots of choices as he is still unexposed to the outside world; but dear parents, please appreciate, that these days, a 10th standard child is smart enough to choose his career. As a parent, your role is to guide him and tell him about the different opportunities available and the pros & cons of different careers and let him do further research and decide his own future. After all, it is his life, which he has to live.
Second aspect is aligning stream with this chosen career. I take an example here. I know a boy who was not sure about his career in class 10. He opted for PSM stream in class 11-12. During class 11, he found that he wants to pursue ‘law’ as career and has to crack CLAT entrance examination. But he was not having enough time to prepare during class 12 for CLAT due to excessive preoccupation in studying science and maths and due to his percentage consciousness. After 12th class, he had to prepare for one year and cracked CLAT. I know another student who had got clarity in class 10 about the career. He decided to join NIFT. Accordingly, he decided to opt for ‘commerce’ stream, as he did not want to lose much time on regular studies. Even there, he opted for ‘fine arts’ as optional subject, which was helpful in preparation for cracking entrance examination for NIFT. As he was not feeling excessively pressurized due to his regular studies and was not obsessed with percentage in class 12, he was able to join coaching for NIFT during class 12 and cracked entrance without losing a year.
You see the difference. The clarity in class 10 about the future career allowed him to align the stream of subjects in class 12 with the chosen career; saved one crucial year in life; and brought him clarity in mind so as to make focused efforts towards his chosen career for 2 years during class 11-12.
I would request all the parents to simply perform their role of helping their child in choosing the right career, while he is still in class 9 or 10, and guide him properly to choose the stream of subjects in perfect alignment with the chosen career. Keeping the choices open is not order of the day, as it was one generation ago.
I take another example here. Suppose your child wants to become an IAS for which he has to appear in the entrance examination after completing graduation. Now all of us know that the student has to choose optional subjects. There are three options available before the student to choose the subjects: 1. after completing graduation; 2. after completing class 12; and 3. after completing class 10. Now see the student who has his vision clear at class 10 would choose his optional subject after class 10 and will join the stream in class 11 & 12 accordingly. If he opts for Geography as an optional subject, he should choose ‘Arts’ stream during Class 11 & 12. It will give him 5 years to prepare his subjects automatically, because he will read geography during Class 11 & 12 and even during graduation. Even if, one is not able to select his optional subject in Class 11 & 12, he should at least select the subject and choose the stream in his graduation course, so that he may get 3 years to prepare the subject in depth. If he doesn’t do this, he has to choose the optional subject after completing his graduation.
You must have seen many students who complete their graduation with different stream and choose the different optional subject for their entrance examination for IAS, which has no relation with their previous studies.
Now it is upto you to decide, whose chances are better to succeed – the child, who has already studied the optional subject for 5 years; or the child, who has studied the optional subject for at least 3 years during graduation; or the child, who has taken a different subject altogether from his previous stream of learning.
I want to caution the modern age parents to understand this concept from the bottom of their hearts and believe that your child has seeds of success. You just need to believe in their potential and then nurture the seed with GOPTA. Clarity in thoughts & focused efforts will definitely lead him to success.
(In the next article, I will discuss about some good habits, which need to be inculcated in students at early stage. I believe that you are enjoying the journey towards the future of your dreams with me. If yes, please stay tuned. Happy G.O.P.T.A.)
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Creator & copyright holder of the concept G.O.P.T.A.© is an Author, Certified NLP Lifestyle Trainer, Strategic Interventionist, Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker ( http://bit.ly/Signature-Workshops-Sanjay-Kumar-Agarwal ) and recipient of Honorary Doctorate of Excellence (Management) by prestigious Young Scientist University, California, USA. He is Founder of ‘Read, Learn & Earn Movement’ and is popularly known among his fans & followers across the globe as ‘Time and Goal Guru’.
