Advice Request

This person wants to convince their parents to let them select the course of their choice as they do not want to give up the course for many reasons.

Answered Submission

Hey, Hon!

It's wonderful that you've decided to come to us for your advice needs! I'm going to make my advice short, sweet, and to the point. First of all, trust me when I say that I understand your struggle to do the activities you want to do vs. the activities that your parents want for you to do. I don't think your problem is commitment here, though. I think that you have more than enough space in your schedule to fully commit to one activity, but you just don't want that activity to be color guard. That's perfectly fine. Dance, as I can see, is your coping mechanism; it has helped you get through a lot, and you don't feel like doing it to gain some end result—you just want to be able to let loose and be happy. That's something you can do with dance.

Now for the parent problem... Honesty, there isn't one right way or one wrong way. It depends on your parents and whether or not that activity in their minds is negotiable for change. You might try talking to them about everything you have told me (sans the crush). I think bringing up the actual reasons why you don't want national credibility and don't care about P.E. credit will help sway their decision. You could also try talking to your dance instructor and telling her that you are most likely leaving dance, except you don't want to. You can suggest that your instructor talk to your parent(s) about your natural talent in dance—ways it can help in the future (health-wise mentally and physically), etc. Honestly, even what I'm suggesting to you is a shot in the dark. There is absolutely no guarantee that this will work and that you will change your parents' opinion. But stay optimistic. It's always better that way. Even if your parents do end up disregarding your preferences and make you go through color guard, don't mope. Be your best self, and perform beautifully. You have to remember that color guard in itself is still an amazing activity no matter what.

We wish you the best of luck in getting through to your parents and in all your future endeavors.

With love,

The Advice Column Team