“It can take years to mold a dream It takes only a

“It can take years to mold a dream. It takes only a fraction of a second for it to be shattered.” ― (Mary E. Pearson, The Kiss of Deception, 2014). Everyday, hundreds of people stop dreaming, believing and pursuing what they really want to. The absence of spark in the eyes, and the superficial smiles echo the tales of shattered dream of these people. According to the Wealth research group of 2016, 98% of the people die without fulfilling their dreams (Personal Finance, 2016). Every human has interests and talents in various fields that they might want to pursue as careers. However, not everyone stumbles upon the opportunity to achieve what they dream of. Indeed it is unfortunate how majority of people are deprived from pursuing their passions as careers in life. Just less than 30 percent of workers land their dream job, or work in some related field of interest, according to a recent LinkedIn survey of about 8,000 professionals (Huffington post, 2012). This is due to various reasons that hinder the possibilities of one’s success at pursuing their dream careers. Contrary to this, many people are not even sure about what they really want to do with life and so, they remain complacent with whatever little opportunities they get by. For people who dream, the hindrances are innumerable. It rarely happens that anyone is fortunate enough to have bestowed with an environment where passions are fostered to become real life careers.One of the many major hindrances is parental pressure and their high expectations. Children at a very young age begin to feel under pressure of their parent’s high expectations. These expectations include an A grade performance throughout school, high school and college. Moreover, a lot of parents are interfering in the kind of professions their children should pursue. Professions like acting, singing or maybe arts are not given the due acceptance in the usual conservative households and so, they become adamant on forcing the professions they like on their kids. Professions like medicine, engineering and law are forced onto young minds coming from the majority of traditional families. A kid might be passionate about acting but just because his/her parents are unhappy with the selection of their career, they would subside their passion. Many young people live a depressed life because they fail to meet their parent’s expectations. The findings of the survey done by Donald McCabe tell us that 2100 students on 21 campuses attempted serious cheatings in tests and assignments. It is one of the consequences of parents being too strict. (Parental Pressure,anonymous,2017) The implications of the study tell us how students want grades just for the sake of pleasing their parents. Moving on, studies suggest that for some parents there is a gap between students’ previous academic performance and parental expectations about the future. Parents with unrealistic expectations about their children’s future performance may have difficulty knowing what they can do to maximize their children’s academic potential.(Yamamoto, Y. & Holloway,2010) Thus, the youth is challenged with unreal expectations coupled with the need to forgo their desired careers in order to please their parents. Peer pressure is the influence of one’s peers or friends. It is also a common factor affecting the career paths young people opt for. In Pakistan, the potency of the parental influence and peer pressures on career choices has been researched by a few. When the relationship of parental and peer attachment bonds and career decision making self-efficacy was investigated on a sample of over 300 males and 250 males recruited from different colleges in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, study concluded that both parental and peer attachment bonds contribute in predicting career decision making self-efficacy, although parental influence seems stronger than the peer influence (Samia Nawaz,Nighar Jilani,2011). The study interprets how parental influence is much greater and common among the youth concerning their career choices.Another challenge that the youth faces today is the emptiness within. This emptiness is usually caused by the fear of the unknown; the risks attached to their magnificent dreams for future. Young people are quick to question their dreams, ambitions and their drive because of the fear of failure. The book “The path to purpose: How young people find their calling in life?” by William Damon says something in relevance to this issue: “The most pervasive problem of the day is a sense of emptiness that has ensnared many young people in long periods of drift during a time in their lives when they should be defining their aspirations and making progress towards their fulfillment. For too many young people today, apathy and anxiety have become the dominant moods, and disengagement or even cynicism has replaced the natural hopefulness of youth.”The book further goes on to talk about the lack of career guidance and encouragement for the youth. It presses on the need of finding the purpose in life for the youth that seems to have gotten carried away over time. Thus, the availability of career counselling i.e. the process of educating the youth about the future prospects, must be prevalent in all schools, high schools and colleges. However, in Pakistan regarding career counselling sessions in school it is evident that very few schools provide their students with career counselling session and there is no concept or presence of career counselors in any school of Pakistan ( Dr.Uzair Yaqoob, Fatima Arif, Maryam Samad, Asra Iqbal,2017). This clearly shows the issue at the grass root level that why young people choose what is not meant for them and they end up regretting their decisions later. It is now high time that the educational institutions of Pakistan take the responsibility on their shoulders for the general lack of awareness amongst Pakistani students regarding their future prospects. Adding to that, the burden of any wrong decision taken by any student lies on their shoulders too. Hence, one of the major objective of our paper would be to find out why administrative authorities of high schools and colleges are barely bothered about career counseling session for the youth and why they these students are deprived of such a basic necessity.Financial constraint is another major factor influencing career paths for a lot of people. This is because in many parts of the world you even have to pay for school such as in countries like Pakistan, where government schools do not live up to the international standards. Paying for higher studies or college is a major issue for the youth as well as parents as millions are charged every year. This is why for many, career depends on their family earnings and social status in the economy. Furthermore, every year these tuitions costs are increased causing students to drop out due to insufficient funds. Rising tuition costs, if not coupled with adequate financial support, may keep low-income students from entering or from completing college. For example, in U.S for students from the bottom 25 percent of family income, total costs at four-year public colleges equaled over 70 percent of family income in 2003 (Ami Zusman,2005). Many students drop out or shift their career paths to what is affordable for them and their families. Therefore, many dreams are shattered on the account of inadequate funds for higher studies.Socializers can also be termed as the social capital (Franke, 2010). Social capital includes all those people whom we see in our everyday life and gradually they become a crucial part of our lives. These include peers, media and significant other people like teachers, people having liaison capability in the society or any role model through which we are impressed. It’s not necessary to have only one person as a socializer but actually these people have the qualities that you look upto and have passion to adopt them. Young minds are easily influenced of the opinions of their peers and people they admire. According to the National Institute of Career Education and Counseling, the effectiveness of our deep needs is also influenced by these people who we see as our role models and hence shape the career decision (Amna Sarwar, Amna Azmat,2013). Society is a place where judgments are frequently passed, a place where people are looked down upon when standards set are not met. The goals that society sets for us:• In 20s, people are expected to make money via our careers • In our 30s, we’re expected to buy a house, and get married (right after we’ve chosen the right career paths)• In our 40s, we’re expected to focus on stability and savings• By the time we get to our 50s and 60s, we’re expected to help the community and the people around (Ramit Sethi,2017). For many young people, the opinion of those around them matters and so they follow the career paths according to the likes of these people. To their dismay, it might cost them their crucial time, money and even passions just for the sake of pleasing a certain group of people. Cultural pressures play a major role in accepting or rejecting a particular field. ‘Cultural Lag’ was a term coined by author W. F Ogburn which he used to explain the different parts of culture changing at different rates. He argues that we as humans have become more susceptible to dogmatism and conservatism and as a result we feel pressurised into doing what everyone believes to be more ‘valuable’ rather than going for a more heart driven approach(Ajay Bhatt, 2012). In many cultures, some professions are respected, liked and encouraged for and others are just not ‘’accepted’’. Cultural factors such as values, attitudes and ideologies play a vital role in influencing our career decisions(Ajay Bhatt,2012).Many young people forego off their passions and dreams considering the likes and dislikes of their cultures. This reason majorly influences career decisions in Pakistan and further research is required to access its potency. The primary determinant of decision making and hindrance related to human psychology is stress. Stress is the way our body reacts to any kind of threat or danger. Researcher Mara Mather of the University of Southern California says that “Stress is usually associated with negative experiences