Dear Super Sis,
I have two very irritating problems. The first is that I am in intermediate pre-medical, but I don’t want to become a doctor. Please tell me what I should do.

My second and rather complicated problem is that my parents always fight and I feel frustrated. I always request them and make them realise that they should not fight and ruin the atmosphere at home but the effect of my advice does not last for long and they again start quarrelling. Please help.
Anonymous

Anon, your first problem is actually not a problem at all if you look at it in a positive light. The fact that you are in pre-medical opens up your academic future to endless possibilities. You can move into a non-medical field very easily. If you are interested in a science-related field (e.g. chemistry, biochemistry, marine sciences, etc), you can always apply to these departments in your local university because you have all the right prerequisites to apply.

Or if you want to move into a non-scientific field e.g. business, arts, law you can apply to the relevant professional colleges as well. Yes, you will have to study a bit, perhaps from a private tuition centre, to prepare for their admission test(s), but it is very do-able and a number of pre-medical students switch to non-medical schools after their FSc.

Perhaps some lines of studies you will not be able to pursue is engineering and physics the reason being that mathematics is a prerequisite for these fields. You could, however, reconfirm from your local university. Also, you will struggle in fields like hardcore accountancy as there is significant advanced number-crunching involved. My suggestion would be to apply to as many (at least three to four) different professional colleges as you can after your FSc, just to keep your options open.

(For general readers out there, please note that this is precisely the reason why I keep reiterating to O-level students to take up a combination of physics, chemistry, biology and, if possible, maths for their A-levels. It opens up endless future possibilities this way.)

Anon, as for your second problem, I am sorry you have to witness your parents’ differences so blatantly at home; and yes, they should not be altercating in front of you. But you must also give them some space and time to sort out their relationship issues among themselves. At times like these, the best thing to do is to resort to your room, turn up the music and read or distract yourself. If you can go out for a breather, that is even better; I hope their problems get resolved soon. Good luck!