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Everyone else has given some great advice ... but I tell ya, wanting to please your parents (even more than they really want you to) comes with the territory of being an oldest child. We think our parents' suggestions and dreams are hard-and-fast expectations, even though they aren't.
Even though my beliefs are closer to my mom's in many ways than my younger sister's are, I still feel guilty if I disagree with her, whereas my sister could care less. Not that Mom puts a guilt trip on me in any way - I just think, "Oh, no, she's my mom! What will she think of me!" (Even though my brain knows that unless I announce I'm becoming a serial killer, she will support me and be proud of me.)
I think what you have to do is realize that these pressures are in part self-imposed. Unless your parents are really controlling, they want what makes you happy, not to reach for an impossible standard. Although they probably wished for your brother to go to college, they've accepted him as he is - after all, the girlfriend lives with them. Your parents are tickled pink you are succeeding in college and trust you to pick a good career for yourself. Your brother just doesn't feel your parent's dreams for you with the same sense of obligation you do, and that can be hard to accept ... "How can he let them down?" The secret is, they're not really let down, and they're not going to be let down by you either, whether or not you go to grad school or become a Fortune 500 CEO.
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Alpha Xi Delta
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