u/FriendshipOwn2942

I’m turning 30 soon, and I’ve spent most of my life as a loner, aside from a few years as a kid and one year as a teenager. I remember turning 18 and taking myself to a movie, then going alone to a musical for my 26th birthday. I genuinely enjoyed celebrating those birthdays by myself and never felt any sense of dread or sadness about it. I travel the world solo, attend events that interest me on my own, and enjoy my own company. The only real downside is that my perspective has been heavily shaped by the internet, since it’s been my main source of social interaction for the past 15+ years.

I already work in tech, but I'm considering an MBA on top of my technical degree due to how the industry has imploded the past 3 years and I'm going to pivot into business orientated positions. AI has aided in automating almost all of the entry level positions and low effort technical ones. My advice is to switch into another field if you're considering tech, it's not worth it anymore given that Ivy League graduates can't find jobs along with FAANG alumni.

I just want to know how common this is, my parents put zero effort into caring about my education whatsoever compared to the amount of money they wasted on Dugsi. They never once checked my grades or even feigned concern over a single aspect of my academic career compared to them wasting hundreds of islamic madrassa.

This is a common question I'm sure but I don't understand the reasoning behind why they neglect this aspect of parenting, do they just assume a child will make strides in academia without anyone pushing them? I feel like they don't realize the amount of effort it takes to get into good schools and continuously over perform in the majors you gain acceptance into.

I noticed somalis dominate those Quran competitions but what about academia? Why don't they feel the push to do well in that aspect of learning, similar to East Asians or other African immigrants?

Are things changing? It's obvious somali parents failed at this for the 90-early 2000s babies, maybe the next generation will have parents with more sense.

I’m a grown woman in my late twenties and I feel like I completely missed out on learning a lot of basic feminine things growing up. I was a really isolated and sheltered kid, never really had friends throughout middle school, high school, or even college, so I did not have other girls around me to learn from either.

I never really learned about hair, makeup, skincare, fashion, salons, brows, etc. I did my own hair for years and never even went to a salon. I honestly did not realize how unkempt or awkward I looked until the first guy I ever dated pointed out that I would probably benefit from going to a real salon and getting my brows threaded.

Once I started doing those things and dressing more like someone my age instead of like a conservative granny, it genuinely made a huge difference in both my appearance and confidence.

What feels strange to me is that I have two older sisters who are both in their early thirties, and they have always been very stylish and into beauty routines, hair appointments, fashion, all of that. But they never really took me under their wing or helped me learn any of it. We're only 3-4 years apart, so there isn't a generational gap.

I sometimes wonder if this is normal in families. Did anyone else grow up feeling like nobody taught them basic self presentation or femininity even though the people around them clearly knew how?

Hey-ya