So, it used to be that me and my parents got along GREAT. Like my mom and I were SO close. And me and my dad joked around ALL the time. But in the last few months, not so much. Like we just do NOT get along at ALL. Like, my parents suddenly (and i mean suddenly) want me to be a PERFECT straight A student, which they've never done before. And if I say that I have no homework, they don't believe me and bug me about doing my homework for hours, and thats weird because I ALWAYS do my homework, and they know that.

Then, like mom just doesn't understand. I'm always saying that I can't wait until I graduate next year (like, next school year, 2010) because I can finally get out on my own, and she'll ask me where I want to go to school and I say like a school in California or New York and she laughs at me. And not in that way thats like 'honey we don't have the money' but in the way thats like 'you don't want to move there, thats crazy, you would hate it!'. How does she KNOW I would hat it?  I mean seriously, just because she wanted to live in this stupid boring small town, doesn't mean I have to. And then if I tell mom or dad that I want to go to auditions for plays and music, they say 'we'll see'. I don't understand it, they've always said I'm a GREAT singer, and everyone at church says so and my friends do too. But my parents won't let me audition for anything, they won't help me get any kind of REAL audition, even though they KNOW I could do it. It's like they just don't want me to be an actress or singer. I don't know why, because if they are worried about me getting caught up in bad stuff, like drugs, etc like so many seem to do these days, they should no better. They know that I have NO PROBLEM just being like 'no drugs/etc are stupid, thats retarded'. They've SEEN me do it. I just don't understand. They don't even let me audition around the town we live in. It's like they want me to never follow MY dreams and follow the same ones they had. All of that is making our relationship even more...not so good.

I just don't know what to do. I have to start looking at colleges this year, and take the SAT and all that stuff. It means I have some BIG decisions. I know that if I go try and fufill my dreams my parents will be mad, and I don't want that. But, I want to do this SO bad. And I really don't want to make my relationship with my parents any worse. Any advice?

~Carrie

the only thing you can do right now is talk to them,
if you stress to them how much it's upsetting you that they're acting this way then
they'll realise.
my mom used to be like that, until it really got me down and i spoke to her 
and told her how much she was hurting and she really realised
that she should support me more, so now she supports me 100%
i live in the UK, and the next three years of my life i plan on being my last few years in the UK.
i want to go to a university in the US. and now that my grades are rising once again
[they dropped badly cause of jonas obsession xD] my moms agreeing to the idea
of me studying in america. yayyy for me :]
so just talk to them both and no matter what happens,
stay true to yourself, don't let them influence your dreams.
stay positive and just continue doing what you love. <3