FOR high school seniors in the Philippines, fourth year is that nerve-wracking time when they have to balance academic load with preparations for college entrance exams and deciding what course to take up ? a decision that can really affect their entire future.

Here are four tips that can make the process a little less daunting, and possibly more productive for both parents and their college-age children:

1. Let your children decide what courses they?d like to take.

Of course, parents want nothing but the best for their children. Having been successful in their respective fields, some parents assume that their kids will excel in similar undertakings as well.

Wrong on both counts. First, give your children the chance to think for themselves, make their own decisions and act on them. Such qualities define successful people, which is what you want them to be, right? To get to this point, allow your youngsters to make their own mistakes and learn from them. Hold their hand, console them, and help them extract lessons from the process. That?s how they learn.

Parents who pick out their children?s courses for them are setting the kids up for failure. In a course that they?re probably clueless about, they?re bound to be mediocre, lacking the interest and the drive to excel. Having decided for them, parents are also likely to see their children lacking the confidence to explore, to take risks, and to lead. What good is it if your child takes up a course that would please you but never develops some spine?

Remember, while parents are there to love, support, and to guide their young, their main mission in life is to teach their children to survive without them and to build happy and successful lives they can proudly call their own.

2. Ask around.

High school seniors are generally clueless about what exactly each course entails. And it can be dizzying just looking at all the programs offered in each university?s catalogue. So ask around, starting with your parents. Having been through college and work themselves, they?ve interacted with people from different fields and would have some idea of where each course will take you.

If you?re closing in on a specific choice, it would help to talk to students or graduates of such course to find out what to expect in school and afterwards. You can also put in some leg work by heading to the administration offices of the colleges you?re interested in and asking for their prospectus. These come with brief descriptions for each subject and will give you an idea of the work load you?d be tackling each semester. Most if not all colleges have free and ready-to-hand-out copies of such.

3. Ask yourself: What is it you want to do?

This is the most important question to ask when choosing a course. What are you passionate about? What kind of work would you want to do and can do for a lifetime? Follow your bliss. People function best when they?re doing something that makes them happy. It keeps their creative juices flowing and gives them constant intellectual stimulation as they dig deeper and learn more about their chosen craft. And when you?re at your best, chances are you do good work that in turn attracts commendation and more opportunities.

Remember, choose to work at something you love, and you?ll never work another day. You?d be having such a good time, it won?t feel like work at all.

4. Don?t fret about it too much.

One of the flaws of the Philippine educational system is that kids are plunged into such a major decision as choosing one?s future career at the premature age of 16. Really, hardly anyone that age knows for sure what he or she wants in life. In an interview for our student organization, P&G Philippines president, Jim Lafferty, said there was no such thing as a 20-year-old who knows exactly what he or she wants to be doing for the rest of his or her life. And he doesn?t even believe the 20-year-olds who say that they do.

To complicate this further, it is human nature to constantly be changing and expanding. This means that in latter years you are bound to stumble upon other interests, other vocations and opportunities, and, yes, new passions that may replace the ones you have today. It?s a scary thought, and one you may not even believe now. But as you grow older, you?ll realize that it?s true.

In another interview, international competency coach Jes Occena said that people whose careers directly follow the courses they took in college are actually a minority. Most people end up working in fields that they did not major in.

So kids who still don?t know what they want are not alone ? and neither are they doomed. For now, just try majoring in something broad enough to give you a lot of options later on.

College is when you start to realize that life isn?t a box. That there is a world of choices out there, and that at any time, you can decide that there?s something else you?d rather be doing. You can even juggle two or more fields if you?re willing to work harder than most people, either by taking a double major (allowed in some universities) or by choosing extracurricular activities and part-time jobs that are worlds apart from the course you?re taking. Quite a number of students extend college a couple more years trying to find their niche.

In short, you never really know where you?ll end up. All you can do is keep making a go at life with the best intentions. Be aware at all times that you are the one at the wheel and are therefore responsible for how your life turns out. And finally, just do what makes you happy. It?s really that simple. ?

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