I'm going to start sixth form soon, but I just don't feel happy or excited for it anymore. My parents have gained a lot of health issues over the past year (severe diabetes, liver cirrhosis) and I was too distracted by academics to focus on that, focusing for GCSEs when I shouldve spent that time with my family. I want to get a job, like a retail job or anything, because I want to contribute to an income, give back in some way, because my parents work so hard and I've been really ungrateful and arrogant these past years. But I also want to live my life as a 16 year old. I want to succeed academically, and spend time doing so much, which I can't do if I get a job. If I try to do everything, succeed at academics and get a job, I don't think I'll be able to cope emotionally and I know I would be very stressed and burnt out. I already have a lot on my plate right now. But I fear that I'll spend all this time on academics, work and university applications that I'll permanently miss the time I could have spent with my family. I don't want to have missed all that precious time. What if they pass away soon? What if I'm left with nothing but academics? What if, by the time I finish university, they won't remember me because they suffer from dementia? I can't imagine my life without my family. All the efforts I put into academics, into work, is pointless if they're not there alongside my journey. They're so completely and overwhelmingly pointless. I have a constant headache from the stress I have thinking about this, and I just don't know what to do anymore. I want to pursue academics, spend my time attending lectures, researching, but there's nothing I care about more than family. How do I get this time? How do I excel at both? Can I excel at both or should I just give up on academics? There's just this sinking feeling in my stomach that I don't have a lot of time with my parents. I'm really scared