In high school, I was told that I would not be leaving the United Arab Emirates for university if I did not get a scholarship. You can imagine how my application process went after that. While I did study the hardest I could and receive the best grades I could, I had little faith that any university would give me a scholarship considering the number of outstanding students there are out there. Due to this, I applied to five random universities that demanded as little as possible (relatively speaking), did no research on them what so ever, and convinced myself that I would be attending a university at home.
Somehow, to my astonishment, I not only received the desired scholarship, but I was also invited to join a learning community that would allow me to research with a professor. While Purdue was not my first choice (it was IU), and while I did not know anything about Purdue’s liberal arts program or about Purdue for that matter, it gave me the most opportunities, so that’s where I went.
Before coming I was, of course, constantly lectured by my family. “Don’t do your laundry at night” and “Don’t forget to eat well” were things I heard almost daily the week before my departure. The one thing that truly stuck in my mind was some advice my father gave me. I’m not about to get emotional and quote him word for word as I really don’t recall what he said word for word, but I remember him emphasizing that while it may not seem so, the opportunity to study in another country and in a very good university is rare, and that I should acknowledge and take advantage of that in every way I possibly can. It was one of the few things they said that week that I took to heart.
I arrived at Purdue, barely even able to tell someone two words about my major, but I kept my mind as open to the new as I could. As the time passed, I came to love it and even added another major and a minor. One day, out of luck, someone recommended me to the ambassador program we have at Purdue that helps acquaint possible new coming students to the university. While I was not eager to speak in front of an unknown audience, I felt there was something to gain from such an offer, so I joined without question. I never had a real job before coming to the United States, so for a semester I worked at the dining halls (it was not fun), and while it was not the best experience I've had, I believe it was one of the reasons why I was offered a position working for L'Oreal this past summer. I finally, temporarily, end my list of random experiences with the Career Development internship which I am currently, extremely happy to be a part of.
My whole point is not to tell you about the things I've done, or how they've influenced me as a person. What I want to be taken from all of this is that to be something big, you have to start small, and I feel my experiences have given me a glimpse of that. Whether what comes your way is relevant or absolutely irrelevant to what you want, give it a try, because there’s always something to gain, and one day you may take a skill learned from each experience and use that to achieve your absolute dream job.
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