I Couldn't Get Job Even At Fast Food So I Opened My Company Instead
Hi guys! I bet all of you have been rejected, maybe you've heard something like, “Sorry, but you’re not good enough.” I know that this can be really discouraging. And I know that a lot of people have felt miserable when hearing “no” as an answer. But I don’t want you to be like them. That’s why I’m telling my story. To help you believe that there’s nothing in the world that can prevent you from being successful, except for yourselves.
My life began many years ago in China. I was the second born of three children. Back then, the whole country was going through tough times and my family was no exception. My mom and dad were storytellers through music and also earned their living by teaching other people to play national musical instruments. This definitely didn’t have us rolling in money; we were not even considered to be part of the middle class, you know. But, that’s life.
Then, due to some complicated political things, the situation in my home country changed. A tiny town where I used to collect crickets and play with them as a hobby, started hosting lots of tourists from around the globe. I was totally amazed by the diversity of people from different cultures and from different countries, and I thought that someday I’d want to travel just like them and see the world. But there was one big problem (well, except for the money issue, of course). Those tourists spoke English, and I didn’t. I don’t know why exactly, but back then, being a small child, I was sure that knowing this language would open a whole bunch of opportunities for me. There was no English at my school, and, obviously, my family couldn’t afford to hire a tutor. But I found a way to study it myself - I began listening to the BBC and the Voice of America from 8 P.M. to 9 P.M. on a daily basis. I enjoyed the sounds the show presenters made and tried to imitate them.
But at the same time, I couldn’t master my English without actually practicing speaking it, you know. There was nobody nearby who I could speak English with and this made things a little bit hard. But anyone who has set a goal, will definitely find a way to reach it. There was a hotel full of international tourists that was, like, 40 minutes from our home if you're riding a bike. And I went, I mean, every day despite any weather conditions, I took my bike and went there. And I offered my services as a guide to tell those tourists about the town and the country and everything. I really enjoyed that experience and I did this for free for a bunch of years.
By the way, at school I never was successful. It was so hard for me to study, that I even managed to fail the final test in primary school two times in a row, and happened to do the exact same thing in middle school. I doubt that I was the dumbest among the others; I think I just didn’t have a proper goal. But my obsession with learning English really inspired me.
When I turned 16, and I was still doing my free tour guide job, I met one nice family from Australia, who was traveling through China. I was lucky to be able to help them explore the country and I soon became really good friends with their son David. So, when the whole family left, I continued writing to David who was already back in Australia. We became pen pals. I might say that he became a sort of tutor for me: whenever I wrote to him, he sent me my letters back, having corrected all the mistakes I made. No doubt, this was really helpful for my English practice.
By the way, this was not the only thing that I’m still grateful to this family for. One day I received a letter – where they were inviting me to visit them there, in Australia. Oh my god! I was ready to jump over the moon! I was so happy. I couldn’t believe that this was finally happening to me and that I was actually about to go that far away and finally make my dream of traveling come true.
But hey, we’re still far from the happy ending of this story! Remember, I started with the "rejections" issue? Well, I applied 7 times for an Australian visa before they allowed me to finally go there. Of course, every time I’d get a “no” answer, this made me sad, but I kept struggling and trying and it was all worth it.
I spent a whole month in Newcastle and this changed my life. Before I left China, I was taught that China was the richest, happiest, country in the world. So when I arrived in Australia, I thought, oh, my God, everything is different from what I was told. And since then, I started to think differently.
文本并非一一对应，且不完整，仅供参考阅读
LearnAndRecord
2015年2月8日
2019年10月24日
第1720天
每天持续行动学外语