Every obstacle hides an opportunity (my journey from Haiti to Taiwan)
Image Source: “New Forest Roadblock” by Allan — Under Creative Commons license
Obstacle is most likely described as a situation in which there is no way you can solve a problem, or get yourself out of it. During this time, you might feel anger, pressure, sadness, all kind of bad feelings that cover you like a blanket. The more you are trying to get over it the more overwhelmed you will feel. How do you get rid of this blanket (obstacle)? Tough question…
Did you know that every obstacle is actually an opportunity to grow, to learn and to better know yourself? Not until you pass the most important exam in your life, will you discover your real ability or you wouldn’t get that hot body for summer without these 100 constant days of workout goal. Every obstacle is an opportunity for a potential solution.
Obstacle, that is where my story begins…
4 years ago, I had to face the biggest obstacle of my entire life. After graduating from High School at Collège Canado Haitien (one of the best High Schools in Haiti), it was the time for me to begin with my college life. At that time I was super excited because finally, my childhood dream of becoming a physician was about to become true, you could really see the smile on my face when someone tells me “What are you going to study in University?” and proudly I reply “A physician :)”.
In Haiti, the percentage of young people who want to become a physician is roughly 80%. Furthermore, the State University in Haiti which is divided into many faculties such as (Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, etc…) is considered as the best one and the study fee is $0 which means it is free, so everyone would want to ensure their place at one of their desired faculties. Can you guys guess how many people will apply for admission at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in which I wanted to get in? 1000, 2000… Wrong!!! It’s more than 7000 applicants. This number keeps increasing every year. What about the number of people who will be admitted? Only 165 out of 7000 applicants with 100 in medicine, 40 in pharmacy and 25 in medical technology.
Let’s get back to my story… Knowing the challenges I had for the admission, I started getting ready for the admission exam in my senior year in High school. I studied day and night, tried to understand the major and minor details in biology, chemistry, physic, math, etc. It was exactly one year of hard work… The day of the admission exam has come and proudly I gave my best to fulfill my childhood dream. One month later, I got the result and guess what? I FAILED…Honestly, that was one of the worst days and biggest obstacles in my entire life. Why? If you fail this exam or any exam in the State University’s faculties, you must wait for one year or a quick option is to get the admission in a private university. At that time, my parents could not afford the luxe to let me apply to a private university. I guess you can imagine what I felt at that time.
Let me recall the feelings that you might have while encountering an obstacle: ANGER, PRESSURE, SADNESS, those are the way I felt knowing that I will have to wait for next year to begin my journey of becoming a physician
Anger: I worked hard for the exam and spent a year of preparation
Pressure: my future is in danger and everyone (family and friends) counted on me
Sadness: seeing the efforts that my parents have made go away just in one day
As I said earlier, every obstacle is an opportunity for a potential solution, so after one month of deep reflection on this matter, I started thinking about opportunities. In High School, one of my dreams was to study abroad because not only will you experience another kind of education but also you will have the chance to discover a new culture, new language, etc. I started applying for scholarships to study abroad. I still remember the time when one of my cousins Dr. Maurice Junior Chery talked to me about Taiwan offering scholarships. Most of my friends were worried about if I really get Taiwan’s scholarship how am I going to make it since the official language of Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese, but my family was not because they have always trusted me. I was not worried at all; I was prepared again for another adventure. How could I forget Edner Jr Pierre-Pierre who has always been my advisor and mentor; Angelo Petit-Homme, my old friend :) who encouraged me during all the application process and my cousin Isnel Pierreval who has always been for me a great example of a hard worker.
One year after this obstacle, I got the scholarship for studying in Taiwan. You could not imagine the joy this brought to me and my family, I need to mention that none of these things would have been possible without GOD; I could not sleep until the day I landed in this Asian country. Once arrived in Taiwan, I spent one year to learn Mandarin Chinese which was one of the funniest years in my life. Now I know enough Chinese to write romantic poems, if you guys would like to read them just leave a comment below. I am studying computer science at National Chiao Tung University (3rd grade), now I have better dreams that I am looking forward to achieving.
This was my solution for this obstacle but for sure you will have different obstacles that will bring different solutions. The point is: always remember, every obstacle is an opportunity to a potential solution. Be happy when obstacles come because they do not come alone, they hide an opportunity behind.
Visit my blog at www.geekperimeter.com for more inspirational articles.
