Undergraduate / "following my family's wishes" - Evaluate a Significant Risk-Macaulay Honors Essay [2]

Honest opinions are much appreciated
Evaluate a significant risk you have taken or ethical dilemma you have faced and discuss its impact on you.

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde
Since birth, my family's pillars of success have been instilled in me. Cleaning, Cooking, Respect. I have been conditioned to please, learning everything from how to ensure that there is never a streak on a clean window to mastering the art of cooking rice. One might compare me to a perfect solider, armed only with detergent and a ladle.

I have learned my family's version of respect, when spoken to look speaker in the eyes, when being reprimanded look at speaker's feet. Answer every command with a "yes ma'am" and quickly execute the task.

For as long as I have been taught these principles I have gawked at their inaccuracies. How can my ability to cook or clean measure my value as a woman? I can look at any person in the eyes this does not signify my respect for them.

I feel as though this truth is known to everyone in my family but hidden by the conformity that we all live in. Out of "respect" I to have followed the laws of my family, often going against my own judgment to please others. I have been able to do this until it came to the matter of my future. I could not conform myself to their limitations when it came to choosing a school. As my mother looked for places that had suburban campuses, and other superficial qualities I searched for schools that would allow me to blossom intellectually and personally.

Choosing to follow my family's wishes may be the easiest thing to do. I would finish college, start a family, wake up every morning to clean and cook. Some may say this life seems ideal I have however struggle to see any fulfillment in it. I would rather travel the world, to learn and help. And if my future plans do not lead me to waking up every morning and doing the same thing I know I will not regret my decision.