How do I convince my parents to let me study interior design?

For a long time, I have wanted to be an interior designer, but my parents insist that I study a business-related course instead as there are many employment opportunities in the field. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • There is no conflict between pursuing a business-related course and another in interior design. An interior designer would benefit from a business-related course as it would provide better appreciation of how business works.
  • If they had a guarantee that you would succeed in life through pursuing a career in interior design, they would probably not stand in your way.
  • Have you taken time to explain to them what interior design entails? Have you listened to them and respectfully affirmed their views? Do you have a successful mentor in the field that you can point them to and from whom you have sought advice and insights for the journey ahead? 

Q. For a long time, I have wanted to be an interior designer, but my parents insist that I study a business-related course instead as there are many employment opportunities in the field.

I have tried to tell them that I am not interested in their choice since my heart is elsewhere, but they won’t listen.

How do I convince them to let me study the course of my choice?

 

There are stories of people who have succeeded in the careers they have chosen for themselves, as well as those who have met success through heeding advice contrary to their initial perceptions and aspirations.

You are confronted with not only the challenge of convincing your parents that you should pursue interior design, but also one of ensuring that it is the right career for you. Apart from interest and requisite academic and professional qualifications, you will need to possess the required abilities, among them an artistic flair to enable you become an interior designer par excellence. 

There is no conflict between pursuing a business-related course and another in interior design. An interior designer would benefit from a business-related course as it would provide better appreciation of how business works.

With some sacrifice, it should be possible to pursue the two courses either simultaneously or consecutively. 

Your parents have not prescribed a specific path, but general guidance based on their perception of the probability of finding a job. It is indeed likely that what they most desire for you is a great future, a destiny that should equally be in your interest.

If they had a guarantee that you would succeed in life through pursuing a career in interior design, they would probably not stand in your way.

Have you taken time to explain to them what interior design entails? Have you listened to them and respectfully affirmed their views? Do you have a successful mentor in the field that you can point them to and from whom you have sought advice and insights for the journey ahead? 

Remember that the more convinced you are that interior design is your field, the more compelling your persuasive onslaught is likely to be.