SEASON II EPISODE 1: Meet the
19-Year-old
My name
is Raka Williams. I am 19-years-old. I live in a big city where I work as an
apprentice. I work in an engineering company. I have nothing to do with
engineering. However, circumstances got me here. I found myself in the sixth
big city in my country. If you ask me what I like and what I would like to do. I
would probably tell you that I am a bright person. A books person. I love reading
and I thought I will end up as a lawyer. But right now, none of that is
happening. I am working as an apprentice. I don’t think I like the idea of
doing things that I have no interest in. I thought by now, I would be in a real
University. Learning how to be a lawyer. Anyway, I am not frustrated. I will
take what is in front of me and see what I can achieve. I will be patient. And it
seems like things are opening up.
I just
landed an exciting opportunity in addition to being an apprentice. Information came
to me about an entrepreneurship program. I even don’t know what
entrepreneurship means. But I am open. In my previous life, I have never
thought myself as doing business or being involved in business in anyway. I got
enrolled in the program. My life is transforming gradually. I will no longer be
an apprentice. This program will make me business pro in real life. Entrepreneurship is about invention and using those inventions to make money. That
is not bad after all. Discovering things is interesting, especially if, those
things can solve problems and make real money. The program will help me gain
skills and knowledge that will help me run a business or even start my own
company in the future. I think this is really some interesting information for
a 19-year-old. As a person, I am curious and I’m liking what I am hearing.
I would
like to take one step at a time. I will start by taking classes in the
entrepreneurship program. And the program is going to cover the whole summer. I
am just excited that I have new things coming to my table. It seems, it is not
just the classes that will be interesting in this program. There will be food
too. And based on what I have heard, the food will be delicious. My life is
finally getting somewhere. And I have plenty of time and curiosity to take in
everything. It is a big city. And I am positive that I will find something to
do with my new skills in the city. Ever since I came to the big city, I have
kept an open mind. I would like to explore the city and at the same time, think
about my options and career. After all, the entrepreneurship program is not a
bad idea. Perhaps, this is the kind of empowerment I need to explore a city.
A general view of a city Credit/Helena Lopes
I just don’t live in a big city. I also work
in a big city. Me being an apprentice in an engineering company is a way of
connecting with the corporate world. Maybe, I can apply my new skills in the
company. Being an apprentice does not just involve observing. You also do
things. You learn by putting into practice what you observe. I have the energy
to do all these things. I have been placed in a very potential department. I believe
I can make a mark there. I work with the front desk. This means that I interact
with clients most of the time. If I apply my skills and help the company to increase
its revenue, the owners might take notice of me. I could curve out a career out
of this program. I am really excited right now. And my curiosity has doubled. I would
actually want to know what the entrepreneurship program will make me or do for
me.
I cannot
imagine I’m saying that or even thinking that way. A few months ago, I was furious.
I was not excited about the turn of events. My mind was on getting to the
University and study political science or law. I had nothing to do with working
in an engineering company or enrolling in an entrepreneurship program. But look
at me now. Things have changed. I am loving the twists and turns. They are kind
of exciting even if I don’t know what I am doing with myself. By the look of
things, the program seems thrilling. I sort of like the transformative nature
it was designed in. Growing up, I never liked business. The manner in which
business was described to me did not appear as a viable professional option. The
persons discussing this subject made it feel like, business was the last option
for failures. People that were not good with books.
I was
not that person. I was smart. I loved school and books loved me back. We really had
a strong relationship. My grades were good. I was always among the best top
five students throughout my junior years in school. My performance was that
good. I knew I will become one of the top professionals in the future. And lawyer
was my choice. I loved it. I wanted justice. I wanted to seek justice for the
victims and vulnerable in my community. Therefore, growing up, my mind was not
anywhere close to business. Yet, running a law firm is about business. In fact,
none of my classmates or even teachers thought that business would be a career for
any of us. We were cut out to be doctors, professors, lawyers, engineers, or
scientists among others. So you can imagine the surprise that I was enrolled in
an entrepreneurship program.
That I
was working as an apprentice when my classmates were enrolled in the
University. In the beginning, it was hard to process. I thought my life was
going out of script. I was losing track. And my life was going to be what I never
imagined myself becoming. But I kept an open mind. And the program and food
were epic. The program was designed to get the job done. I had never seen such well-structured
program before. The program was deliberately designed to solve something among
the learners. It surely cleaned my bad experiences with business growing up. I loved
the focused nature of the program. It was not teaching me just how to think and
do business but also my whole being as a person. The program changed my mind
about business. Finally, something tangible started happening. I have never
felt inspired and fired by a learning program. However, this program was
sparking something inside me.
A curious woman wondering who is finally speaking/Credit/ Andrea Piacquadio
All the toxicity that I
was fed as a child about business blew off. I was a new person. I fell in love with
what I was learning in the summer program. I could see how I would use the new skills.
I saw the problems that I could solve. I also saw how I was going to transform
the engineering company. For sure things were changing. My life had changed. I was
not the same person either. Something had changed in me. There was an awakening
that the program introduced. I was now seeing possibilities. The program helped
me to see the corporate world and its value to the people. What captured my
mind most in the program is the idea of entrepreneurs creating new things. And solving
problems at a profit. That was interesting. I wanted to know how to create
something new that will solve a problem for real people.
I don’t
think I had ever done something like that before. Solve problems that were
affecting real people. That is what captured my mind. And that is what also
cemented my position to ensure that I finished the whole program. I came every
day until the last lesson was taught. Guess what happened next? We took tests
in the course. I emerged top of the class. The program had a lot of people. People
who were actually running real businesses. I was an apprentice. But there were
people in that class who owned and ran their own businesses. But still came top
in a course I had never imagined taking. The impact of the program on me was
strong. I sort of internalized everything I was learning. Because it was not
just the transformation of mind and soul. Something else was happening in me. The
person that was supposed to become in life was gradually forming.
The program
had touched something in me. Something new was birthing in my life. I was not
just going to transform the engineering company I worked with but also my life.
I was not the same person that enrolled in an entrepreneurship program
unimpressed. I graduated a new person. I was discovering my purpose in life. And that was even more interesting. I had never imagined a different career
away from law. I had groomed myself since junior school to become an
indispensable lawyer. However, what I was learning as a result of undergoing a
life-changing training was telling me a different story. I was not going to be
a lawyer. It seems like lawyer was the first layer of my purpose that I could
see. But something I was meant to become was hidden behind this first layer. I was
going to become something I had never imagined.
I know
I loved reading books. Books were my hiding place as a child. However, I never
thought my love for reading was connected to my real purpose. A lot of things
were happening. I was thinking a lot and new ideas were coming to me. However,
several years later, I can now see the connection. What I thought was losing
track proved to be a blessing. My eyes were opened in the most empowering
manner. I found my identity. I found my purpose. This discovery made my life
incredibly interesting in a city. It was such a good thing for a 19-year-old to
discover her purpose. This meant that I could make an impact. I could help the
company clients I was meeting with every day. I cannot describe the feeling I had
during this moment. It was good feelings. Empowering feelings. I was more than
happy.
Before
the training for example, I could not see or did not know the business mistakes
that the engineering company was making. People that founded the company were
engineers. This means that there were a lot of business mistakes, which were happening
in the company. As an apprentice, I could see some things. But I was not in a
position to act because I even did not know how to turn those things around. However,
now as a trained entrepreneur, I could see a lot of things. And that is how I found
an opportunity to make real meaningful progress in the company. I could
actually, use my new skills to fix these problems. You have never seen an
excited 19 year-old. I wasn’t just in a happy place in my mind. I was super
happy as a person. I was eventually doing something that required my skills. That
thought was life-changing.
My life
was transitioning in the best way possible. I was not only using real skills to
solve real life problems but also finding my place in a big city. I was not
wasting time. I got to work. Every time I was left in the business, I could
find something to change. I did a lot of improvements in the company. The customer
care department became so good that business exploded. Clients finally felt
like someone was paying attention to their needs. And they kept coming. It was
great joy to see the impact of the training in real life. I loved the
experience. Clients loved the experience even more. Business became so good. Money
started trickling in. Sales revenue increased the whole time I worked with the
company. By the time I got enrolled in the University, the business owner had
bought property and was in the process of developing it.
For the two years I worked at the company from
the professional capacity, operations were smooth. Revenue remained steady and
clients increased. The reputation of the company grew. The company started
winning big engineering contracts. I loved the fact that I could keep the
company on track while at the same time, indulging in my childhood passion. My reading
culture sparked. Life was really good at this point. I was not only enjoying
reading but also my curiosity grew. The city was proving good to me. And I was
not going to pass an opportunity to crack some things. There were a lot of
things that I wanted to know. I was reading a lot. And this means that I had a
lot of knowledge at my disposal. I was definitely going to test whatever that
needed to be tested.
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