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Questions & Answers

College

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Youth, Dating and Friendship › College

The question

I am a very hardworking student. I receive top marks in my grades and I am an athlete too. I have even started to volunteer at a homeless shelter, once a week. I take my relationship with God very seriously, I confess regularly, I go to youth meetings at church and attend Sunday school. After I graduate High School, I want to apply to a university, which is a far way from home, but it is where I have wanted to go since I was 12. I have always wanted to get a medical degree and to travel the world helping the sick and less fortunate who cannot afford to see a doctor. My parents are all against it. They say that I will not be ready to live alone, but ever since I was 14 and my mum started going to Egypt and I would stay home, I was the one who did all the grocery shopping, cleaning, and cooking for my dad and brothers. Every morning before school, I prepared lunch for my brothers and I. Is it wrong of me to want to do something with my life? Are my parents right about me not being ready? I just want to do something with my life that does not involve me staying in one place wanting the best house or the best clothes. What should I do?

The answer

It is inspiring to hear of your seriousness regarding your spiritual life, your discipline in academics and athletics, and your initiative in assuming responsibility in household chores. You seem to be very mature for your age. With this maturity, I am sure you can also appreciate your parents' concerns and worries. Their worries most likely have much less to do with your capabilities and honor than with their fears about an environment so far away from home. First pray, and be sincere when you ask the Lord for His will to be done. That is the most important step.

Medical school is usually phase 2 in graduate studies after completing the preliminary requirements or obtaining a Bachelor degree, though this process varies in different countries. Is it possible that you may be able to attend a nearby quality university for the first part, then, transfer when you are accepted into medical school? In the meantime, see if your parents are willing to do some college visits with you to get an idea of the college culture at a variety of different institutions, near and far. Maybe when they personally assess your qualifications and the opportunities the different colleges have to offer, they may be more in tune with your perspective.

Your long-term plan of service and caring for the ill and those in need is admirable. God will provide you many opportunities. You may join mission trips in the summers and winters to gain that cultural and service experience. However, obedience to one's parents, spiritual father, and the church all have endless blessings too. You can still achieve all of your goals without upsetting your parents, but rather by gaining their blessings.

Keep the words of the Holy Scripture in heart and you will walk according to God's will.

So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 2214 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.