It’s something that we hear so much, that we need to “follow our dreams.” But as parents, we may have fought hard for our children to get scholarships and have started on their college journey, but if they have turned to a different path, this could be a big shock to us. If they choose to change their major it could shock you.

But this may warrant a more important discussion. Do we encourage our children to follow their passions when they’ve worked so hard towards one path in college and suddenly changes paths? 

What Are the Options Available in Their Interests?

The fact is that there is more than one way to skin a cat. And a lot of why we feel our children shouldn’t follow their passions is because they may get burnt. There are a lot more organizations in place that can support people to follow their dreams, from arts scholarships and support all the way through to organizations such as the https://cie.spacefoundation.org/ that can get people started within the space industry, the reality is that if our children want to follow a passion that we cannot necessarily comprehend, perhaps we need to do more research? 

Understanding What Is the Real Key to Success

Part of the reason we discourage children from following their passions is that we are worried that they will fail. But if our children don’t have the necessary skills and make a U-turn away from what they studied, the fact is that we’ve got to remember that there is a big difference between passion and effort. You can have a passion for something without necessarily being good at it. But this https://www.selfgrowth.com/ article laying out the difference between effort and passion could be something that we all empathize with.

Because effort, rather than passion, is the true key to success. If we work hard at something, we become good at it which also helps us to develop a passion for it. And as far as success is concerned, we might very well believe that our children are aiming too high. But we need to teach our children the importance of effort in terms of learning, which is something that they should be doing throughout their college years. 

It’s Never Too Late To Change Their Major

There is still a stigma of our children wanting to change their major, but surely this is the best time for our children to decide that they’ve actually been on the wrong path? Happiness in life is far more important than actually going down a path that we want them to go. And this means that if our children want to follow their passions and dreams, doing it within the structure of their college is a far better way to do it because they have all the support to guide them.

We can all worry when our children want to follow their passions and dreams, but the reality is that it’s something that we should all do. College is the ideal environment for them to truly branch out and discover what they are all about, so who are we to stifle this?