[Rivière]

The position you're in must be very hard for you. Looking from the perspective of your parent, if your mum is very ill and you're the one who takes care of her I think this gives her the largest reason to want you to stay above all else because she fears no one else will take care of her. Your father wants to earn enough money for your family to help pay for things like bills etc. Having been in a similar position to you where I'd wanted to go and do a lot of things but when I was younger, my family never wanted me to go anywhere that was far from home. It made me feel so very trapped to the point of depression and loneliness and it was sometimes so unbearable. How do you feel about talking to your sisters and asking them if they could take some of the load from you?

It's such an incredibly high amount of responsibility to have to take care of someone who is extremely ill and it's also very time consuming as well as being both mentally and physically draining. I think this for you is something to be proud of! Try working it out between your sisters in trying to share the load or even talking with your father or maybe even your mum too because otherwise you'll be stuck in this position for a very long time. However, remember also that until you're 18/21 legally you're still under their parental consent and they have to take responsibility for you but here's your job to reassure them you're quite well mature enough to be responsible and that you could easily come home during breaks in the academic year to come and see them. Your dad might also have issues with money which is why he may be unwilling to pay for university. Some universities cost as much as from $10-20,000 and that is a lot of cash to be forking out. To help your dad with costs you could try and find a part-time job and save up all the money you've earned in helping to pay for education fees, textbooks etc because those can cost a lot too. Remember that in order to win them over, you must also see things from their side of the story, be realistic and be mature, then maybe your parents will allow you to get into the university you've been wanting to be in.