Here are the stories of three individuals who travelled unique paths and became best version of themselves despite several setbacks and life altering events. They shared their journey with Rcoz with the hope that these experiences will inspire us to adapt, persist and succeed during adverse times. Let’s dwell into the details!
First story is about Dr. Kebebew, who was all set to become a chemical engineer, became an internationally acclaimed surgeon, educator, and a scientist. The journey was not easy! Dr. Kebebew, who grew up in Ethiopia learned to be very responsible at an early age when his mother and siblings had to migrate to US. He listened to his heart and switched his career when two major life events happened and since then is striving to help medical community and patients by doing extensive clinical trials on endocrinal cancer. He is also known for his kindness for taking care of patients who are not successful with regular interventional care.
Second story features Garima, who stopped working for two years to overcome a mysterious viral infection that affected her brain. With an engineering background, Garima was successfully working with several tech companies but this health issue forced her to take a complete career stop and to really look into what is authentic and important in life. She transitioned from ‘worrying life threatening illness’ and ‘experiencing side effects of medication’ phases to finding an alternate therapy that would solve the problem permanently without losing hope. Now, she is back to work and created a successful startup that does cloud planning for companies such as IBM, Cisco and Chevron to name a few.
Last story is about Mr. Nipun, the founder of Service Space. Service Space builds websites for non-profit companies and is a non-profit based out of Berkeley. Nitin, majored in computer science, started it in Silicon Valley during dot com boom while his peers entered high paying tech jobs. He recognized happiness is in giving than in accumulating, listened to his heart and decided to start the non-profit. Hard part was negotiating and convincing his parents and well-wishers on this decision while they posed questions such as “Why don’t you do it on the side while you are working in tech?” “Why don’t you wait until you are retired” etc., Now, in Nitin’s words, “ people at Service Space does a whole bunch of other projects but at the core of it is a volunteer ecosystem” and “Volunteers are not only serving to help others and create an external impact but they are also undergoing internal transformation”
Be it a ‘successful career shift ‘or ‘overcoming a health setback’ or a ‘choosing a non-grassy path as main profession’ story, each story is relatable and provides affirmation that anyone, irrespective of their cultural, educational and career backgrounds, can set new paths and be an inspiration to others in some way. Share your thoughts or upload your stories to spread the warmness!