LinkedIn suggested I shared what I wanted to be when I was 15. But, honestly, I didn’t know then what I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I was only 15, how could I?
My life consisted of going to school, coming back home and then going to my English classes. I was almost fluent in English by then, as I had been studying since I was 8. I had way too much homework and school projects to worry about, there was no time to plan my life or my career.
But when I was 15, I took my first trip abroad and on my own. Well, not exactly on my own, but I was in a group of teenagers I had never met before. I went to California to study English for a month. It was a homestay program and I didn’t really connect with the family I was staying with. I learnt to deal with it. I made friends with a girl my age whose parents were friends of my host family and they invited me to stay at their place. Problem solved.
I had to learn to deal with money. My parents couldn’t send more money over to me and what I had needed to last the whole month. I managed to do it and even managed to bring presents to people when I came back. Another lesson learnt.
My English improved tremendously. I made the most of the time I spent there and made sure I was really learning and picking up the idioms, expressions and even the accent. I realized I was the only person responsible for my own success. My parents paid for my course, but that was it. Only I could make the experience worthwhile. I learnt to be committed.
I came back and never spoke to anyone I met during that trip ever again. I learned not to get too attached, as nobody owes me anything, including friendship. I learnt only I am responsible for my own happiness.
When I was 15, I grew up. By the time I was 16 I already had a job – bilingual telephone operator at a big bank in Brazil, all thanks to my excellent level of English. At 17 I had started a college course at a prestigious school and I paid for it with my own salary. I never finished that course. I was too young to know what I wanted to be for the rest of my life even at 17. But the lessons I learnt when I was 15 have made me who I am today. And, you know what? I am damn proud of who I am today.
