Terminal Four! ✈️

Someday I'll share on my international student experience because it was a life-altering season. I wish I got more helpful advice on the do's and dont's of studying and working abroad, because Lord knows I made my fair share of terrible mistakes. 🥴🙅‍♀️

The migrant/international student experience is amazing and unique but it is often admired and sometimes coveted without understanding the challenges and hardships that follow. So if I could guide aspiring migrants and international students to useful authentic information and advice on how to make the most of this life-changing experience, I would lead them to Nilesh Makwana's book, Terminal 4: An Entrepreneur's Journey From Bicycle to Business Class. This is the sort of book I'd have loved to read earlier in my journey but nevertheless here we are!

Nilesh's migrant, international student and entrepreneur journey authentically reflects the triumphs and challenges of this experience. His book provides great tricks, tips and advice on how to be persistent, bounce back from your mistakes and failures and forge your way towards success and the life of your dreams, wherever you are in the world.

Fun Fact: Nilesh lives in my city so it was exciting to envision some of the locations he wrote about it in his book😁, anyway, I finished reading it so here are a few nuggets that stood out to me:

1) Be persistent, it's an admirable trait especially in the professional world. If you want something, go after it even if the answer is NO the first few times. Persistence pays off.

2) When you can, travel and expose yourself to different cultures and experiences. The people you meet along the way may just be the references, business connections or friends you need for significant life moments.

3) Always find a way to serve or give back to your community, not only is it great for mental health and networking, but it's in serving and giving back that you sometimes discover your life purpose and open doors to bigger and better opportunities.

4) Stay true to your values. The unpopular truth about migrating is that sometimes the pressure to want to fit into society can push you to adjust, compromise or completely forsake your values. You can still have fun without conceding to the pressure, i.e. you don’t have to drink alcohol to have fun, you can have H2O on the rocks and still be the life of the party!🕺 (You'll have to read the book to understand this reference!😂)

5) Homesickness is inevitable, find a way to combat it by indulging in experiences that help replicate home away home i.e. staying connected with family, eating familiar foods, wearing sentimental clothing or jewellery pieces etc.

6) It may take more than a few business ideas to find the idea that really pops off but if your goal is to create a legacy than to collect trophies/awards, then build a business that aims to create a positive social impact.

7) You're never too old to learn, you might be the oldest in the class but don't let that stop you!

8) Always find your way to the dance floor and if there isn't one, create one!💃

There's a lot more nuggets but I'll leave it here, if you enjoyed this post, I'm sure you'll enjoy the book even more so grab yourself a copy!

Catch you in the next post!

Chich