A father achieved financial freedom early on. For his son’s education and future, he moved to New Zealand. Like all parents, he was dedicated to raising his child, making sure he didn’t miss out on anything—tutoring schools, sports, music, the works. His son was quite the achiever, landing in the top five in New Zealand’s amateur junior tennis rankings.
When his son was in Year 11, one day after school, he came home proudly and told his dad, I found a part-time job, $60 an hour. Seeing his son’s smug expression, the father felt a sinking feeling in his heart. The son continued to boast, My classmates work at McDonald’s, only $10 an hour.
The father began to worry. His son was so content with $60 an hour, but it was time for him to see a bigger world. So, during university, he sent his son to Wall Street…
Actually, this father didn’t necessarily want his child to work in finance in the future, but he wanted his child to understand what $60 really meant—not just comparing it to the $10 others earned around him.
In Australia, the first generation of immigrants, after years of hard work and frugal living, have achieved a middle-class life that’s not the best but better than most. They also hope their next generation will rise to the top, becoming part of the elite in mainstream society.
Moving up through education is the simplest and most effective way to become part of the elite. Chinese parents are often willing to cut back on their own spending to provide the best resources for their children. For example, sending them to tutoring schools, learning music and sports. So, for ABCs or second-generation immigrants who came to Australia at a young age, without language barriers and with a solid foundation in Chinese culture, can they really fulfill their parents’ dreams?
There’s a saying online: top private schools produce social leaders; elite public schools produce senior technical professionals; ordinary schools are the source of the general workforce. And each exam, each choice, is a turning point in social stratification. Take a simple example, the choice of university.
Among Chinese parents who deeply desire their children to succeed, there are often many disagreements with their children about university course choices. Simply put, many people divide university subjects into two categories: useful and useless. The so-called useful ones are accounting, architecture, IT, medicine, etc., while the useless ones are obviously literature, art, philosophy, and so on. Chinese parents usually encourage their children to choose practical subjects that will make it easier to find a job and ensure a stable life, because they don’t want their children to repeat their own mistakes. These things may seem reasonable, but have you ever thought, if many of these majors are hard to find jobs in, why do universities still offer them?
Because university education is not just about training people who can find jobs, but also about cultivating the ability to handle various skills in the future. You don’t have to be as wealthy as the father above, who could just send his child to the US. As a parent, you need to learn to improve your understanding and broaden your perspective. If parents don’t recognize this, they often can’t see future trends, and short-sighted guidance might actually hinder their child’s development, because the parents’ own mindset and vision will greatly influence how far the child can go.
Drew Faust, the president of Harvard University, once said at a graduation ceremony: You can choose your fallback option, but life is long, so first do what you love most. Don’t start by choosing a fallback option.
Dear parents, have you given your children a pair of strong wings to soar high? Do you know how to build those strong wings for your child?