Dear lajlachicha:

Your parents are only looking at part of the picture: if you study abroad you will have a much better chance of finding a job afterwards than if you study locally. This is all they see and it makes sense, if this is all you see.

But there is more to the picture that should be seen: you are in love with a man. If you go abroad because of your parents’ pressure, and the relationship with this man does not survive the long distance, you may believe that it is your parents that took away from you the love-of-your-life. As a result you may resent them for a long, long time, maybe for the rest of their lives. Do they consider this and willing to risk this possibility?

If you go abroad, you might miss the man so much that you will suffer and your studies and future career will suffer.

On paper, dry logic, it makes sense that you go abroad, but life doesn’t accommodate dry logic. Emotions have to be taken into serious consideration.

anita