Desiree’s father opposes her plans to become an anthropologist because the profession doesn’t pay enough. She begins to doubt her interest in the field, feels guilt about defying and disappointing her parents, and thinks she’s selfish for pursuing her own dreams. She finally opens up to her mother, who urges her to follow her own interests.

Discussion questions: Your students’ experiences: Desiree and her parents resolve their differences smoothly and productively. Ask your students to recall an important conflict they’ve had with their parents or guardians. What was it over? Did they feel the same doubts and misgivings that Desiree did? How was it resolved? Did they try to talk to their parents about the issue like the author did? Did they ask for advice from a sibling or someone outside the family? What did they learn from this story about child-parent conflicts?

● Facing up to conflict: It takes Desiree awhile to talk to her parents about her feelings but once she does she’s surprised to discover that her mother supports her. Opening up to her parents also helps her clarify her thinking and understand her father’s point of view better. What do your students think would have happened if Desiree shied away from dealing with her issues in the open, forthright way she finally did? Is it always advisable to be open about what you want with people who might oppose you? Did talking with the school counselor make it easier for the author to talk with her mother?

ISSUE #2: CAREER CHOICES AND MONEY

Toward the beginning of the same story, Desiree describes how she’s been interested in several career paths before deciding on anthropology. At the end of the story she still wants to be an anthropologist but the “decision is far from final.” Do your students have any career plans? Where did they get their ideas from: TV, their parents or other adults, peers? Have they changed their minds about these options? What attracts them to those jobs? Do they think that Desiree made too big a deal about her career choice struggles while she was still in high school? Or is it good to be planning ahead in this way?

Her father disagrees with her choices because he doesn’t think anthropology will lead to financial security. Your group may not know how much money certain professionals make. Here is a list of national average starting salaries for people who graduate with certain bachelors’ degrees. Write these professions on the board (without the salaries) and ask students which ones they are interested in. Then write the average starting salaries next to them and ask students if that information changes their thinking. Why or why not? (Note: Students may be used to hearing pay in hourly rates. You can point out to them that $25,000 a year is about $12.50 an hour; $36,000 is $18 an hour; $42,000 is $21 an hour. You can also point out that these national averages vary a lot. A starting elementary school teacher in New York now makes about $39,000 a year, for example.)

Accounting $42,000
Civil Engineering $41,000
Computer Science $49,000
Economics/Finance $41,000
Business Administration $37,000
Marketing $36,000
Psychology $25,000
Elementary school teacher $27,000
High school teacher $39,000
Registered Nurse $39,000
Liberal Arts (anthropology, $30,000
sociology, etc.)