What I wanted to achieve in life does not seem possible, but I would also not do what my parents want as it is my life and not theirs. My ex when I met him, had been working in a factory doing the motherboard printing for 16 years. It was a dead end job...he wasn't happy, but it was a routine he knew and it felt safe. Once I arrived, for some reason or other, he left his job...I remember helping him to write the letter to his employer and encouraging him to make the move...and he applied to go to college to take A-levels(British Qualifications you need for university) and he did very well and got 4 A-levels. He applied to university and he got in on a psychology course as to do psychology had been his ambition. He did well on it, getting a 2:1 and also managed to get a full counselling qualification. He is now hoping to move onto clinical psychology training having spent several years working in care to acquire the necessary money and experience for that. When I met him, he hardly mixed with people, had no understanding really of emotions(Well, he is an aspie) and would not leave the island he lives on for fear of getting lost.
Whenever he came to london with me to stay with my family for xmas and theatre visits, my mother made him do little things on his own. remember once she sent him back to a large store alone to get himself a pair of jeans...gave him the money for them. He behaved very badly, and sulked and got angry, but he did manage it and came out armed with his pair of jeans. Since I left him, he has achieved even more. He always had an interest in pyrotechnics. He has gone on to learn circus skills and fire spinning to a level where he is paid to put on performances. He has even gone abroad to Greece to perform, which I found incredible. He is better at socialising than I am now, and to me, that goes to show what can be achieved as he is from a finacially poor background and had quite bad social issues. Then again, here in the Uk, your university fees are paid for you if your parents are below a certain income.