Sometimes, life-changing events can be a good teaching method to learn from. For me, the life-changing event happened when I was 21, living with my family in the United Arab Emirates. I opened a business and lost it after a few years of trusting someone. Since that happened, December has been a unique month for me which always reminds me about the incident that led me to change my way of thinking about the importance of education in my life.
“No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.” – Madonna. In Dubai, 2012, one of my uncles gave me the advice to open a business related to cell-phones when I was attending high school, at the same time working as a salesman with my father in his perfume store. After finishing high school in Dubai, I decided to join a private institution to learn about repairing cellphones. However, my parents weren’t happy about my decision and advised me to carry on my studies.
They always worried about me, related to my education. They told me many times that it’s too early to work on your own. I didn’t realize the importance of education and as I finished my high school in Dubai; I went to Pakistan to get an admission in a Vocational Training Institute, Lahore. I spent six months and got a diploma in cellphone technician. I started working in different shops as a cellphone technician and as a salesman. After getting some experience I came back to Dubai and looked for shops, so I could buy them and work for my own.
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A few weeks later, I got a job in Samsung customer service. I worked there for a few months, but I was having trouble in language because of a lack of education and left that job. A best friend of mine and I planned to open a cell-phone business in the capital city Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. We started looking online for shops and found a lot of shops to sell. We bought four cell-phone shops and took our first step towards our mission.
Next, I ordered some imported cell-phone repairing tools from China. That was an experience which went bad. We both spent a lot of money and much time on that business to grow it and take it to a higher stage. We were doing well and trusted each other more than best friends. In fact, we took our business to the last stage of success. However, one day, the day when I learned a big lesson which I couldn’t forget, he kicked me out of our business. He cheated on me and took control of our business. I couldn’t buy those shops on my name because of not having citizenship, so I bought those shops on my friend’s name because he was born there and having a nationality. I couldn’t believe that he has done this to me and got that greedy just because of money.
It was a big shock for me as I lost everything. My dad advised me many times, “Do not trust anybody at all even if he is a best friend of yours.” I didn’t hear my dad, not even once, which was another lesson for me. My dad told me people change over time and always leave another behind. He told me that they don’t leave even one chance to cheat on people. I was having some questions in my mind. Why did I trust him a lot? Did I really have to trust him? After all, I forgave him because it was my first experience and the best lesson ever of my life that changed me totally. I didn’t even want to stay in the same place because it reminds me of my friend which isn’t really a true friend. I asked myself, should I call him an enemy?
To sum up, I decided to move to the United States, moving to the United States was one of the toughest decisions for my family and me, but it turned it to the best decision. This time, I am paying my all attention to my studies which I left because of work. Every occasion, no matter how insignificant it may appear, provides us with an opportunity to learn something, if we can keep our mind open for learning. This incident made me realize the importance of education in our lives.
