Balancing what you want with what is expected of you

I'm going to make the wild guess that you are an African child; the specificity of the country is not important. So, that being said, I assume you can relate with the "My son is studying *whatever prestigious course*, I'm so proud of him/her"; while the child is like: "mehn, I just want to write music" or something of the sort. This post is going to be the beginning of my personal chronicles regarding how I got to studying Industrial Mathematics while all I want to do is code.
I'm going to be a bit personal sometimes, so, just bear with me. Before we get started, lemme give you some background.

I'm your regular teenage guy who just wants to pursue his dreams and doing so is quite complicated. I'll explain later. Anyways, I have a love for coding (whether it be creating a web app, a website, a native app), but my parents are of the opinion that I should have something more "concrete" first; then I can do whatever I want with my life. So, this is my journey with them and how I have been managing to cope.

The Beginning

It all started when I decided to be a science student; bear in mind that parents were commercial and art students. They were somewhat elated, I could tell; I thought they were genuinely happy for me and maybe they were, but with time it turned out that they had other plans: they wanted me to be a medical doctor. Eish, me? Medical doctor? Nah, that shit wasn't for me. I already had a crush and it was everything computers. I couldn't just cheat on myself. So, the battle began.

Convincing them

Trust me, this wasn't easy. Finding a middle ground felt like an impossible task; but with time, we did come to an understanding. I was to read Chemical Engineering. I wasn't overly happy, but at least I wasn't reading medicine. While doing this, I was writing codes by the side, so it turned out I was cheating on Chemical Engineering... well, I mean, why not? It was basically forced on me.

Balancing both

This is where the pressure began mounting, a lot of times, I would be faced with the choice of either doing assignments or reading about some new framework. So, this is what I did:

• Compartmentalize: Separate your passion from whatever it is you are doing to just please your parents/guardians. When you are composing that song or designing that dress, hide every textbook and note related to academics (except if it is a source of inspiration). When you are doing that 10-page essay, try not to wander; keep your focus till you get it done, then you can go back to your one true love.
• Plan your time: You have to be an awesome time manager if you are going to balance both of these things. There are 24 hours in a day, share them in a way that you have ample time for both your passion and your academics(that is in a case where both are not one and the same thing). This might be the hardest thing to do, but it the most important. 

So, there it is guys, I know it's quite skeletal but, I just needed to vent and my thoughts are not really coherent when I'm venting; so, I hope I have been able to tell my story to an extent. I'll continue in future posts. 

Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments section below.

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LOVE AND ITS RESTRICTIONS

   Seriously, this love thing is tiring. Take it from a girl who has had two heartbreaks, and just summoned the courage to love again.

   Right from when i could understand what a relationship between the opposite sex is, i have been swamped with a lot of do's and don'ts. What a Lady should do and shouldn't do when dating. Why should I wait for him to call me first when its 4pm and i haven't heard from him all day and I am partly dying to hear his voice and partly worried, that something may have gone wrong? They say "that's the way its supposed to be, he is the guy and he should do the calling or most of it". Why can't i buy him a gift at random? They say "If you give him too much gifts, he will know you are into him". But isn't that the point?! To show that I'm into him. Then they say, "don't call him too much o, it will just look like you are begging for attention, don't go cooking for him o, tell him to take you out to an eatery, don't go all 'Miss Independent' on him, let him foot almost all your bills, don't show too much sign of affection, let it be that he is the lucky one to have landed you, you are doing him a favour being his girlfriend."
So much limitations, is love not supposed to come naturally? how can i say i love you and be contemplating whether to call you or not when i know i feel the need to talk to you and have to wait for you to call because "that's the way its supposed to be", why can't i love with the whole of my heart without expressing reservations? Why can't i love without thinking that i am breaking an unwritten girl code and loving too much? Why can't i just be free to love how i want?!

   Then there is this thing with guys, on a second thought, guys and girls alike, "I want someone that will love me for who i am, that will be a friend and a partner, someone who will be so in love with me that i will be the center of his/her universe" they say and there the person is in plain sight giving all the love He/She has to offer and they run away from it all because they think its too good to be true, the case of unrequited love being another story entirely.
I feel like i'm spinning off the topic here, forgive me, *sighs, i'm just, tired, worked up and angry. You know what? I'm still gonna love the way i know how to, giving my all, every inch of me, and i do hope to find someone who will love me as much as i do him before i get totally drained.

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