Obsessive Asian Parents
patio11: Just between you and me, stability is a myth, its a freaking jungle out there, and if you don't adapt to that reality you're tiger-food.  However, that never flew with my mom, either.a)  Business skills give me an excellent fall-back option to $SAFE_CHOICE if the business thing doesn't work out early in my career.  (Where early is "age plus five years" and updated accordingly.)b)  I considered going to graduate school but I was worried that going into debt for it wouldn't be financially prudent, so I decided to better myself by hard work and independent study.  You can appreciate the value of hard work and independent study to avoid debt, right?c)  Microsoft et al would scarcely consider hiring someone who didn't have experience doing this.  After all, they'd be seen as someone who had insufficient drive to do the work.  I'm just looking out for my future.(I'm not Asian, I'm just a Japanese salaryman.)