Obsession with Doctors

Since I was a child my parents kept telling me that I will one day become a doctor. Without a second thought I would always agree with them. As I grew older and graduated from school, I discovered I had more of an interest towards engineering subjects. However my parents were still adamant that I would become a doctor.

When I started applying for University, I was forced to keep the subject of my degree a secret but eventually my parents found out and there was a huge quarrel about it. It took a lot of persuasion and many arguments later I managed to convince them. Seeing my passion for engineering they vowed their support.

I felt like I have changed my family’s mind about enforcing what they want on us. I was mistaken. In the recent months, my nephew had to go through exactly what I did. If it was just an issue in my own family perhaps I wouldn’t be so worried but this obsession exists in most Afghan families.

I can’t speak for other professions but if you are an engineering enthusiast and having similar problems with your family here are some of the arguments that will help you fight for your right.

One of the arguments my parents gave me was that doctors are the healers and saviours of human being, which is true. However, engineers are the not only the saviours of human beings but also the providers of the convenience. Everything we see around us that wasn’t made by God is the creation of Engineers.

Without engineers there would be no ambulances to get the critically ill people to hospitals, doctors and surgeons would have no tools to operate on patients, there would be no x-rays or other technology to diagnose illnesses, all in all there would be no hospitals with out engineers.

There would be no roads without engineers, no electricity, no aeroplanes, no cars, no ipods, no laptops, no toys, no dolls, no bridges, no boats, no buildings, well basically nothing. Look around you, well there would be none of that without engineers.

From the early days of the world, the engineers have made the lives of other humans easy. Those with engineering minds dug caves for shelter. It is the blessing of engineers, who invented the printing machine, which made education accessible to all. Without this invention, most people won’t be able to afford books.

With computers, engineers made life even easier for every one on this earth. Communication is almost free these days but more than that learning about any subject is only a click away.

Engineers didn’t stop with providing all the needs but continued with entertainment for everyone. Radios, televisions, DVD’s, ipods, etc are all gifts of the engineers.

You would think that would be it but fortunately it doesn’t stop there. It took an engineer to work out the causes of the deadly Malaria, which claimed many innocent lives, just like cancer before an engineer working in a mine found a cure for it. Cancer is another example of engineering research. The amount of contribution engineers make towards medical advancement is immense. You could call engineers the real healers :)

This is just an example but if you do show you are so passionate about what you want to do then there would be no problems. It is also advisable to do a detailed research about your choice because nothing is worth doing without absolute passion.