“What have you done? Why would you drop out?”
“What are you going to do? What are your plans?”
“You need to go back to school!”
These are unfortunately all too familiar for my ears. Yes, it’s gut wrenching to tell your parents that you’ve dropped out. However, it’s a necessary procedure to let them know for you to move on with your life – the life you’ve wanted.
If you’ve dropped out recently, i know you are probably feeling mixed about your decision. The uncertainty in your life, career, dreams – it’s all causing your brain to go full panic mode.
The First Step
The first step for you to do is to self assure yourself by telling that you had a very good reason to drop out in the first place. No matter what happened, you would’ve dropped out in the end. Regretting right now would only make you more agitated by blaming yourself.
If you’ve dropped out with a backup plan, congratulations! (There still might be things you need to do. See below)
The Second Step
Now that you aren’t beating yourself over the decision you’ve made, here comes the assessment you have to make. You have to evaluate your current situation and come up with the best course of action. There can be factors which are time sensitive. For example, even though you’ve dropped out of college, there might be financial obligations you are still entitled to.
For example:
- Your dormitory/temporary flat contract
- Your subscriptions to educational programs (online/offline classes)
- Record of your College Leaving Certificate / Transfer Certificate (TC) (contact your university office for more information)
If you have a student loan, you can read here for more information.
The Third Step
This step is important depending on your financial independence. If you’ve gotten financial support from your parents to attend college, it’s the right thing to do to tell your parents that you’ve dropped out. Here, delivery is the key.
You might be thinking “they’re not going to understand me”, “they will disown me”, “my parents never supported me to do what i really wanted to do so they will tell me to go back to school”.
Let the voices in your head quiet down for just a minute and think about this:
Are you living your own life or your parent’s?
With every culture, the family dynamics may differ greatly. With Asian cultures especially there might be a lot of pressure going on and shame of ‘letting others down’. However, it’s important to note to not let yourself down in the process and sometimes, you have to choose you and instead your parent’s expectations to be happier.
You’ve been living your own life since you could walk and eat on your own without your parents and the voice in your head might say “b-but they raised me and they paid for my education and all my friends are doing the same thing!”.
You might be thinking that now but you’ll realize that sooner or later, you can’t have the same mindset if you truly want to be independent and support yourself.
You are your best friend and guardian – not your parents. They are your family and they don’t represent who you are.
The Last Step
This step is to prepare you to be who you want to be.
Check out these posts to find the answer to the question:
⬇️“Who Are You and Who Do You Want To Be?”⬇️
The Wiser Step
Get a consultation about your future and craft a plan for you. Includes discovery call with Coach J for 40 minutes and discussing best course of next action on your college dropout journey.
What one-time payment of $40 gets you:
- 40-minute online zoom meeting directly with Coach J
- Strategic ‘Pivot from Dropout Plan’ in PDF format to help you pivot on your dropout journey
- Premium newsletters (tailored to your needs and job opportunities in your region!)
