Assalamualaikum.
Being a student who will be graduating soon, InsyaAllah, I am stuck in a road branching to two paths;
a) pursue a higher education
b) get a job
As the requirement to elevate myself in terms of knowledge is not on par with how my CGPA reads, I chose to settle with the 2nd choice, and Alhamdulillah I have secured a job not too far from my parent's home, which is lucky because I won't be paying rent and bills and I can do some saving from there.
Or so I thought.
You see, my parents are hmm how do I describe them? Conventional but requires high maintenance? Hmm still sounded wrong. But read along and let's see how does it go and hope that I can figure out what they are, eventually.
I update my parents about how my life is going like, consistently. Sometimes we Skype way past normal people, like 6 hours or more, 10% of it is for conversing normally but the remaining is usually for just watching them watch the television.
So they knew about my interviews and when I told them I was offered a job, they, like how parents all over the world would, happy about it. And I was ecstatic, for already having a job long before I graduated.
And then they asked about my salary.
So I told them it's not much, but for a fresh graduate, that sum of money is pretty standard (or so I thought). It is my first job, my first experience in the career world, so I don't mind much about the pay. I just want to get to know the 'real world' and enjoy what I get from my hard work. A friend of mine said, 'It's your first job, don't be so picky about it'. And I don't.
But my parents does.
Instead of being grateful that I will take shelter under their wings WITH money in my hands, and that I am DOING something instead of fooling around and devour all their belongings, they dismissed me by saying how not relevant it is that I am getting that much during this time because that amount equals to the standard starting salary 10 years ago.
I can get more, with my oversea degree and my qualifications, they said.
The thing is, I have an elder brother who is the most successful among us 5 siblings. He has a half a million worth house in the center of KK, own 4 cars (two of them are Audi), an executive in a well-known company, and a 5-digit salary. He's 40+ years old and had worked for half of his life.
And they compared me to him when the only similarity that we have is that he is currently holding the same degree as what I am currently pursuing. This is so one-sided that the amount of prejudice in this matter is inexplicable.
Like all parents, they want the best for us. They want us to achieve more than what the get. They want us to be more successful and won't have to endure all the hardships that they have been through. I acknowledge that and I am thankful for what they have done to me just to get me to where I am now.
That is why they expect the highest from me.
But I want it to be a two-way kind relationship. I want their support in everything I do. Instead of bashing me to make me go further, I also want the occasional nod of them being proud for what I have achieved so that when I am taking another big step and turn around for encouragement, I can still see them smiling at me with pride, ushering me to go on and do what I want to do best.
And maybe, just maybe, by seeing that scene, taking a leap won't even be a problem to me.
