Yeah I don't like the generalizations people are making. It's clear each family had different levels of guidance and opinions on career choices. My parents wer

Yeah I don't like the generalizations people are making. It's clear each family had different levels of guidance and opinions on career choices. My parents were like yours. I chose not to go into STEM, and they were extremely worried, especially since the rise of the Internet, web startups, and smartphones were still in its infancy and I was basically studying things that hadn't gone into the mainstream yet. They were supportive but pretty darn skeptical they thought I was just messing around on a computer. I will say though, I go back and forth on the benefits of University. With the rise of online videos, detailed writeups from people in the field, and scanned copies of textbooks and answers, students who are driven might be able to achieve a high level of education without needing to enroll into a program that costs tens of thousands. I've learned more in a few months of self-training via MIT OpenCourseWare, Coursera, Udacity, Stanford (online materials), Khan Academy vs. one year of studying at my University many years ago. I was even listening to an interview by Ezra Klein with Kara Swisher, who mentioned she wouldn't recommend anyone going to journalism school these days as you can probably get by via practicing things on your own, becoming much b So I'm sort of in that camp, but on the other hand, her graduating from a University may have helped give her a slight edge in getting even entrance to a first internship/job. Likewise, earning a degree helped me get work visas and gave me access to people who eventually boosted my career and life opportunities.