A Chip Off the Old Block - For Better or Worse

This has been cross-posted from my personal blog, SoCal Mom.

"What's material science?" my daughter asked on our way to school yesterday.

Uh. I wasn't sure. 7:30 AM is not the best time to ask me questions - especially when I haven't yet enjoyed my first sip of coffee.

"How about sociology?"she asked.

I dunno. The study of people and their social structures? Does that make any sense? Gawd, I need a latte.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I have to fill out this form for the PSAT," she replied. "And they want to know what I'll be majoring in when I get to college. I don't think it looks good to check 'Undecided.'"

Ah. In my day, you took the PSAT in 11th grade and the SAT in 12th, and that was it. Forty years later, they start administering it in middle school. Megan took it last year and yesterday, she took it again. This was optional; but I figured that they must be encouraging it for a reason -- and the more practice she had taking the test, the less nervous she might be when the results finally count (in another two years).

"You're only 14. It's OK to be undecided," I said.

"What's Communications and Media?" she asked.

Well, that's one I know well. I ended up majoring in Radio-Television-Film with a minor in Journalism.

"It's exactly what it sounds like - the study of how people communicate with one another and the means they use for it, like publishing, broadcasting and film."

She nodded her head. "That sounds interesting. And like you can make a lot of money, if you're good at it."

Yeah. Some people working in entertainment earn a ton of money. That's why so many people are drawn to it. That's why the competition is so fierce. That's why it's a business that is likely to break your heart. I speak from experience.

My daughter is NOT me. She has talents I could only dream of. She has resources (like self-confidence) that I still have trouble finding in myself. She's athletic. She's good at math and science - the areas where she's likely to have the easiest time finding a scholarship; the fields that are the likely source of the better jobs when she graduates.

But she's also very creative, and drawn to the arts. She's good at math. She doesn't love it.

I remember being shocked in a high school guidance class when I took an aptitude test and scored a 98 percentile for mathematics.

Then I took a test to see where my interests were. In math, my score was a measly 2. I think that's the reason I barely passed algebra and geometry.

She's more like me than I thought. I don't know whether to be proud - or panicked.

I guess I'm a little of both.