My dear steemians, you are once again welcomed to my blog. I know you all enjoyed last weekend. It was full of activities. I found the above topic interesting. It is interesting because parents who notice that their children are gradually transiting to adulthood feel highly elated and at the same time worried. They get worried because because of what the kids will do to succeed in life. It's usually a mixture of joy and anxciety. it is a mixture of joy and anxciety because the children are in their teens and the children irrespective of their sex are effervescent. They are energetic and adventurous and susceptible to being misguided. If they are not properly guided they will lose focus and the parents will die in anguish as a result. It is a period full of apprehension. Parents must be ready to provide assistance materially, financially and morally to ensure that they succeed in life.

In this Nigeria, we begin to think seriously about what carreer our children can do from the time they finish their secondary education and are about to take their university matriculation examination. Parents begin to ask themselves the courses that their children will study in the university. In my Igbo community parents want their children to study professional courses such as medicine, law, accountancy, computer engineering, nursing without finding out first if their children are inclined towards such courses. Cases of children who cannot and are unwilling to go beyond secondary school are there also. There are also the problem of choosing the right vocation and the right person to be given the child for training.
Most parents in order to satisfy their ego would insist on the child going to the University when the passion and interest is not there. Such steps are not right. The outcome is usually disastrous. Thefore the tasks facing our parents is usually how best they can help their children chose their carreer.
Choosing a carreer does not entail attending the university to study big courses only. Everybody must not go to the university. There are vocations that people who cannot go to the university for one reason or the other can do. Trading is a carreer and so also artisanship. Some can choose farming. The problem is how do we know what each of our children can take up as a carreer that will be able to assist them in life? Before I go into the discussion I will like to explain the words children and career.

Short Definition of Children

A child, male or female, is a young human born of a man and woman who may be legally married or not. A child may be a young human fostered or adopted into a family. When they are more than one they are called children.

Carreer

Carreer means an occupation taken for a significant part of someone's life in order to sustain himself, his children and dependants. It is the wish of every couple to fruitful and have children and when they arrive to have means to care for them until they grow into adults. A child must choose a carreer he has passion in from which he can fend for himself in life. It is the duty of the child parents to help their children choose their carreer .

My Four kids

I want to believe that in this community, there are many parents and Youths. Some of the Youths are still at the various stages of their school carreer. I am aware that some of them are still grappling with the problem of choosing suitable carreers for themselves. I am also a father and am facing similar situation.
By the Grace of God I have Four kids. While two of them are girls two are boys. My first child is a girl her name is chikamso. She is 19 years. My second child is a boy of 17 years old. His name is kosiso.. The third is a boy of 15 years. I named him Mathew while the last is a girl of 13 years old. Her name is Peace. I will discuss how I helped Chikamso choose a course. After that I will do the same about the 3 others .

In good schools chosing a carreer is a shared responsibility among the child, the parents and the schools guidance and councillors. In Nigeria of today such teachers are no longer available in public schools. It is only in private schools that students receive such help.

Suggesting a Carreer for Each of My Kids

1. Chikamso
   Chikamso is science inclined. Since her primary school days she kept saying that she will be a doctor. She continued showing interest in the medical profession while she was in secondary school. I am not somebody that impose my will on people, so I did not force her but I went to her school and discussed her choice of carreer with her teachers. The teachers advised me to give her any assistance I could. I arranged and registered her for extra lessons in schoolvwhich I believe helped her much. She passed her matriculation examination and she was offered admission to read medicine and suggery. She is now in 400level class. I am still supporting her as much as I could.

My Carreer Suggestions to Her

When I noticed that Chikamso is good in science subjects, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, further Mathematics agricultural sciences and English language etc for the first time and after I sought her teachers advice I had a candid discussion with her over her carreer choice during which I suggested two courses that I believed will help her in life
These two courses are computer engineering and information technology.
My reason is that the courses will broaden her carreer prospects. I thought the same of information technology but she did not like them and I left her to her choice. Helping a kid choose career is difficult. Parents should be careful. Any mistake results to disastrous consequences .

Opportunities Available in Her Choice of Carreer

Well medical profession carries prestige. It also carries huge responsibilities. It attracts respect to medical practioners. I think it is because they treat and care for us when we are sick. Also there is job prospects. Qualified doctors have many places they can work. They can work in public or private hospitals or set up their own hospitals. Some travel outside the country to work. There is huge prospects for practioners who take their job serious.

Challenges She Will Face in the Carreer

Every carreer that a person goes into has it's own challenges. In the medical carreer she has chosen there are challenges too. The course will take her a longer time. It takes about 7 years to complete medical studies . You can imagine the impact of the long period on a girl who will be under pressure to get married soon after her studies. Finances is another. She must be sufficiently supported to enable her focus on her studies. You can imagine the impact on parent who are public servants at this time that salaries are not coming frequently. It calls for endurance and prudent management of the available resources. The number of medical students are increasing beyond the carrying capacity of the Teaching hospitals so it is possible that it may take longer to qualify as a medical doctor.

How I Will Help

I respected her choice of carreer and as a father will continue to do so. I will continue to support her materially, morally and financially by praying for her
to succeed,supplying her needs and sending her allowances periodically.

1. Kosiso
   Kosiso as I said is my second child and he is a boy and the most troublesome. In primary school he was bright but when he entered secondary school he became distracted. He is arts inclined in his basic education classes.He is easily distracted and even avoided classes. When I noticed this traight in him I did not give up. I began to pay him close attention. One day during one of their holidays I called and tried to give him advise on how to be focused in life. He did not improve rather he was always at the bottom of the class. The only subject he liked is Fine Arts drawing and painting He would draw designers shoes, dresses and sometimes boxes of different sizes and shapes.One day I returned from the office to see a portrait of myself drawn, framed and hung conspicuously in one corner of my parlour. He was proud of his achievement. Drawing is the only subject that sustained his interest in school. When it was time to write his JSS 3 examination I paid for his registration. I was not optimistic about his success. I told his mother that after the examination he would look for other vocations like trading, dressmaking , any other handwork. She was not happy about my suggestion. It did not go down well with her that her son who has educated background would drop out . Then the the examination came and gone and what happened was miraculous. He was among the first 10 persons that passed.
   When the principal of the school, who happened to be his guardian, called me on phone to break the news, I knew his success in the examination was unexpected. When I finished discussing with the principal I sent for him . On seeing me he cried. He looked at me in the eyes and said I wrote it myself. I know you thought that I will fail. I was deeply touched.
   I changed my plans for him instantly. I gave him support. I got teachers who gave him extra lessons in school and during holidays. I bought books. I supported him with necessaries. He never lacked. I allowed him to choose the course he preffered. Like Chikamso I merely supported him. His first choice in UTME matriculation examination was Fine Arts and the second choice was Architecture and he got Architecture. Today he is his 300 level.

Choosing a Carreer for Him

Parents always look forward to when their children will make choice of carreer. Some would want them to follow the Carreer chosen by them while others would guide them in making their choice. I do not choose careers for my children. I merely guide them and when they have decided I support them. When Kosiso bought his matriculation forms I suggested law as a course of study for him. I needed someone who will take over my practice when am no more but he objected to it
.

My Reason for Suggesting Law Profession

Right from childhood I see him as a kind person. He likes helping people in trouble. So I suggested a profession that will help develop this rare gift of God and make him fight and protect the rights of the weak in the society but he rejected it and chose the one that will let him design, draw or paint. Today he is an Architecture student.

Challenges he Will Face

Every Carreer has it's own Challenges. I will support him as a student and am just doing that. When he is done with undergraduate course I will ensure that he comes back to do his master's program and then get him to register with their professional body. I will continue to support him materially, morally and financially until he is able to stabilize in society.

1. Mathew is my second son the third child of the family. He just completed his SS3 and has written his WASSCE/NECO Examinations. He Wrote the last matriculation examination and did well. He will soon write Post UTME examination. He is seriously preparing for the examination and by the grace of God he will be successful. I expected hm to choose Law as his course of study but he chose Business Administration. Like the others he has the liberty to choose a profession by himself. In my time I chose my carreer. I will support him hopping that he will make it in the examination.

2. Peace
   Peace is my last child. She is in SS3. She prefers law and Mass Communication to other courses. I playing supportive role. Like her siblings she is in a boarding school and I have engaged some of the teachers to give her extra lessons. I pay them monthly. She is making progress and I am hopeful that by the time she is in Senior Secondary Class she will be able to choose the course she can study in the university.

My Carreer Suggestions to Her

When I noticed her inclination towards arts I first suggested that she start thinking of language courses and she said which Language are my thinking about I said Igbo language. She said tufiakwa, God forbid. I told her there is job prospects for people that studied Igbo language and that she would also help protect, preserve and promote Igbo language. That there are jobs for people who read Igbo language in the media industry especially in the radio and television stations. She rejected my suggestion. I allowed her have her way .

Challenges She Will Face in the Carreer

I advised her that their is not much challenges she will face in the Carreer apart from people who might at the initial stage look down on her for going to the university to study Igbo language. Another challenge might be funding and I promised her I will support her fully financially and morally and she is still insisting on her decision .

< center> What I will do to support her
I have been giving her my support morally and financially and she will continue to receive our parental support. We the parents are their pillars of our children. God has giving us the duty to support them and we should do our best for them
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Prologue

I found this topic interesting because every parent wanted to be involved in their children's choice of topic. We want to have good children, train them and help them to get good jobs and to contribute to the socmm should be well equipped to compete in the modern world. We should not forget that they will be the ones that will bury and mourn us when we die. It is a thing of joy to see our children doing well in the society so let us participate in their training and development. In doing this we should avoid imposing our will on them as they choose their carreer.