Graduation and The Future

"Men speak of killing time, while time quietly kills them."
-Dion Boucicault

    What is the future? Is it comprised entirely of our dreams and goals? Or is it a continuim of time that's ahead of our current one? No one really knows what it is, but yet everyone has dreams for it. Parents speak of plans and dreams for their children when they grow up; little children fantasize of being heroes and doctors when they reach adulthood, and teenagers just dream about tomorrow. I've never actually thought about my future; I've long since realized that my far-fetched dreams from fourth grade were just delusions of grandeur and hopes. But then again, if I didn't have such high goals and expectations, I wouldn't have put so much effort into my everyday school-life. But I must say, that parents have way too high expectations of their children. I can understand the fact of wanting the best for your kid and all, but I find it preposterous and unfounded to hawk your child everyday to get them to fulfill your dreams. I wonder if parents have ever thought about what their kids want. Sure, you want them to be a successful doctor with a fancy PhD from Harvard or a rich lawyer that rake in over eight hundred thousand a month, but what if the child doesn't want that? What if the child just wants a nice Average Joe life away from all those expectations and hawking eyes of their parents? I know I do. I absolurely hate it when my parents pull the "Immigration" card on me... Going "I didn't come here to America for myself, I came here for you" or "I could've been a doctor in China, do you think I moved here to America just to be construction worker?". I couldn't care less what you could've been back in China, Dad. It may just be teenage angst or rebellion, but I really don't believe that my future should already have been planned out by my parents before I was even born. Isn't it better for the child to get to choose what he or she wants to do when they grow up? Wouldn't that make the job more enjoyable for them?
    Now that the end of the year is here, and everyone is thinking about what they're going to do next year, I feel a bit left out and in disarray over what to do next year. Everyone has some vague idea about what they're going to do later on in life, whereas I'm only thinking about as far as to my 20's. There's nothing wrong with not thinking ahead, it gives you more chances and opportunities to experiment and try new things in the present, giving you more perspective when you do decide to figure out your future. Nothing good can come from conforming to doing what your parents or other people wish for you to do without having a single say about it. Parents be damned, I'll be deciding what I do with my life.