So, for those who don't know, I have a younger brother and sister. My brother is 2 years younger than me, and my sister is a lot more than that. Despite his youth, my brother is far more intelligent than I am. I finished High School with an ATAR mark of 56.95 (out of 95.99), whereas his was in the high 80s, which is a massive achievement given how few people get into the 90s.
So, my brother didn't have enough ATAR points to take on full vet training at University, so he opted for a bridging course; basically, if you don't have the score prerequisites to get into a Uni course in Australia, you spend a year doing a lower-graded course, and then they can transfer you into the actual course you want to do provided you meet a minimum score. My brother did a bridging course involving some kind of science, but as he found out, Chemistry was becoming too much for him, and he's also trying to juggle his very successful and profitable job at the region's largest pet store.
My brother decided to leave University to push his work at the pet store to full-time. Now that he's a qualified forklift operator and has bird licenses, he's high qualified than a lot of the staff, and so he has a lot of prospects at the business. He also makes a pretty high wage for a low-level employee.
So, my Dad has known about this for about a week, and while he's a bit disappointed, he's overall trying to be supportive. It's weird since my Dad is usually more upset over education/job decisions. My Mum, however...
She found out today, and she freaked the forget out.
My Mum has since been taking it all out on my Dad and brother, saying that she's extremely disappointed and embarrassed that a kid "as smart as he is" would drop out of Uni, that he's going to be "working on minimum wage until he's 50", and it's lead to her claiming that the three of us kids "don't have any understanding of 'how hard it is'", and that "that clearly there's no point to education and we should all just drop out of school". forget, she even gave a backhanded comment to my sister directed to my brother and me, saying that my sister is her "only hope".
It disappoints me that Mum is acting like a critic and not a parent. My brother is well supplied; he pays his own petrol/car expenses, taxes, pet expenses (he has about 8 - 10 birds), owns 3 computers, 4 Xboxes and far more electronic devices, and has been saving up significant amounts of cash. It's pretty clear my brother is making a smart move; instead of screwing himself over with a course he's not coping in, he's going to focus on his career and save up money for the future, while also expanding his prospects at the company to the point he may be able to do the course he wants later in life based on his resume (since Australian Unis/Colleges use your resume instead of your direct ATAR after so many years you've left college) and without taking a HELP-fee debt.
I may not have the best relationship with my brother, but I certainly think he's done the right thing, and that his parents should be backing him for everything short of illegal crimes.
/discuss
tl;dr: Smart brother leaves University to pursue his career in animal care, Mum chucks a dummy about how he's an "idiot" and "won't achieve anything in his life".
