I moved in with my aunt when I was 17 years old. I was fresh out of high school and was undecided as to what I wanted to do with my life. My aunt runs a travel agency, and I would occasionally go to work with her to help out. Before I moved in with my aunt, I was living by my father’s house with my cousins who let’s just say does not care much about higher education.

At first, all I cared about was working my own money so I can be independent and buy whatever I want and travel. I was not thinking about going to college or my future, all I wanted was to make money.

One day I was at the office working with my aunty and a college professor (Ms. Phillips) came in to book a tour with her family. My aunt had another client, so I offered to help them. While I was helping her, she starts questioning me about my career interest and my life goals. That was the first time someone really asked me about my life goals, and that is the moment I realized I never thought about what I wanted to do in the future.

She gave me her email address and told me to think about my goals and email it to her. It took me a month to email her because I really had to think about what I wanted to do with my life. She emailed me right away and helped me to develop an action plan to get started on my journey. By the end of that year I was enrolled in college in the Hospitality Management course (I developed a passion for the industry after working at my aunty travel agency).

That decision to start college is the best one I ever made. I am in my final semester completing my Bachelor’s Degree, and I am already the Operations Manager for one of the biggest hotel chains in the world (IHG). Professor Phillips is still my mentor to this day and meeting her has definitely changed my life.