Opportunities: Know When to Take Them
In October 2018, while studying in my favourite café in Rabat, I met someone I didn’t know would open up new doors for me. As I was working on some sociology-related project, a nice woman called Sarah spoke to me and asked about what I was doing. We talked about my studies, the fact that we both come from Québec (well, she is Moroccan and Canadian,– it’s a complicated story), and she told me about this foundation she works for. She shared that the foundation is always looking for interns, and we exchanged contact details.
A year later, while the London drama was happening, I realised that I would be moving back to Germany soon and would have to figure out what in the world I want to do this year. I think about Sarah, her proposition regarding interning at the foundation and decide to give it a try.
Although at the time I hadn’t really thought much of our meeting and saw it more as a “I met a really nice stranger and she works for this awesome company” meeting, one year later I was sitting in front of my laptop, contacting the Mayshad foundation.
Jumping ahead to today, February, where I am sitting in that very café, and where I just spoke to two American exchange students about doing an internship with us, I look back and realised that I have just learned a great lesson: sometimes you cross people on your path, and although at first, it doesn’t seem like much, it’s important to give this person your attention and to invest in the relationship. I wrote Sarah directly on LinkedIn a bit before coming to Morocco and connected with Nezha and Caroline, my bosses, which I am positive has contributed to the extent to which I feel at home in the office.
This post, although cheesy, aims at showing you the way the people you meet may change your life in the future. At our young age, it’s easy to see past such opportunities. You have to keep in mind that life does not give you things; it may put them on your path for you to see, but ultimately, it’s up to you to go ahead and get what you want.
