Thanks for the words of wisom. The decision is a hard one to make. The problem is that I'm an only child, and my parents are 1. afraid of losing me, 2. afraid of Chicago, and 3. afraid I'll have a huge amount of loans to pay off after grad school. It's true, I'll have to take a chunk of $$$ out for Northwestern, but they have a top notch school for speech path. My supervisor says that I will have no problem paying off the loans, and my bf (soon to be fiancee I hope!) believes it won't greatly effect our fiances once we settle down.
I do try to talk with my parents, but it's extremely hard. When I try to rationally talk with them they tend to start the guilt trip and bombard me with reasons why I should go with their choice. When I try to explain why I want to go to Northwestern they simple grumble. Sigh.
Anyway, thanks again for the support. I don't have many I can talk to about this or who have gone through similar experiences, so advice and warm thoughts are great!
Ok, I'll step back again. Too many lows for one day!
PS. Speechpath..I love this field. I have therapy tomorrow and am anxious to see how it goes.
My little client always seems to make my day brighten.