Yesterday my aunt decided to lecture me about dating and marriage.
She said "Date someone who's got a medicine/science degree so that when you're older you don't have to worry about finances because they earn at least 100,000 a year."
I told her "I'd rather be poor and in love than hating myself and rich. Money can't buy long term happiness. You're shallow."
She says "Oh please, you're still young you don't know anything. Look at me and your uncle, we're dealing fine with our finances."
Now normally if this conversation had happened ten years ago, I would have let it go but I'm here in my early adulthood in a completely different world as to when she grew up and this frustrates me. There are so many people out there on their deathbeds regretting the fact that they didn't live their life the way they wanted to but rather the way that others had expected them to. I've already broken the social norm for an Asian by being horrifically appalling at math so why stop there?
Fair enough there are some aspects as to why money and career is important. But it seems as the older generations don't know a thing about life balance. This conversation with my aunt ended last night with me saying this to her:
"I never said I would date a low life. I'm looking for a partner who is strong minded, who's intelligent because he understands why he's made his life choices. A person who has a willingness to work hard in times of distress and who doesn't mind a challenge. I wouldn't careless if he doesn't have a degree because in this changing world, no employee is looking for a piece of paper that says you're qualified anymore, they're looking for experience and hard workers and adaptability. So excuse me if my choices offend you, or my parents but in the end I am not going to do it to make you happy, I'm doing it for myself."
