[Mallika]

Hello there!

Thank you for reaching out!

First off, like others have mentioned here - your career is YOUR choice and no one else's. You don't deserve to spend your energy and precious time on something another person decided for you, if you can't see yourself doing it.

Now, I get the feeling that your parents coercing you to pursue Med or Law is a cultural thing. In several cultures, parents put a lot of pressure on getting their kids to pursue a so-called "prestigious" career. Even if it has nothing to do with culture, I can give you a few suggestions on what you can do:

1) Find something YOU want to do. Is it Art? Is it Physics? History? You're only 17, so you are still too young to figure out what you want to do, and that's okay! Just try to think of some subjects you like in school - career options will arise on their own. Once you have an idea of the subjects you enjoy, you can Google some university courses related to them. It's even better if you can show these courses' webpages to your parents, so that they recognise that such courses exist and cater to students' interests.

2) Tell your parents you're not interested in Med or Law. Sometimes, we have to just spell it out. I'm a big advocate of making your feelings and emotions clear. Be bold, but also be patient. Try not to lose your cool. Try to find a time to sit and talk with your parents and tell them respectfully but firmly - "I'm not interested in pursuing Law or medicine. Instead, I'm interested in _____ and I would like to study this instead." Just like you described nicely the reasons why you don't want to do medicine (the long duration of study) here on TeenHelp, you can tell them the same!

3) Your parents might say stuff like "Oh, but there are no jobs in your field of interest." Don't be disheartened. I will mention this again - follow what you are interested in and career options will arise on their own. The world is really your oyster. Let me give you my personal example - When I told my parents I wanted to pursue genetics, they were not thrilled. They had never heard of this field and didn't know there was anything we could do with a degree in genetics. But I stuck to my decision and now work in a cancer genetics clinic - my parents are proud of my decision today. If you want another story, it would be that of my sister. She's a designer. Again, my parents would never have thought that their kid would pursue an artistic discipline, but she did and now works as a graphic designer. Both my sister and I landed jobs despite pursuing unconventional fields. You can literally state our example; just say you read about this somewhere on the Internet. Trust me, it might give your parents a new perspective on jobs and careers.

4) Follow your heart. Please don't do what you don't want to do. Doing something you don't enjoy will make getting out of bed each day a task. You don't want that! Remember, you can and should stand your ground.

5) If you're in school, you can talk to a trusted teacher about this. Your teacher might be able to put in a word to your parents and convince them to let you do what YOU want to do, not what they want you to do.

Take care and feel free to PM me if you have any questions!