I started learning English. I was studying it day and night: on the subway, on the bus, during my breaks at work, on my days off and even Christmas and New Year's. There wasn’t a day that I didn't study. My schedule was extremely tough. Sometimes I only had one day off per week, working 12 hours a day, but I knew why I was doing it.

The funny thing is that some people didn’t have any faith in me (I guess, there are always people like that around you). They told me I was wasting my time and there’s no way I would succeed. But I kept going forward despite their efforts to make fun of me.

I had changed several teachers before I found one, I enjoyed working with. He was a professor at a very prestigious university in my city. He taught me a lot of things and I am still I'm still very grateful to him. We shared the same views on corruption and other economic problems in our country. He even told me once that he had won the Green Card lottery, but decided not to go to the States (I wonder if he has ever regretted that decision). I truly believe that there must be some kind of connection or bond between a teacher and a student, otherwise you won’t enjoy the process. And just to be completely honest with you guys, he cost me a fortune, but it was all worth it. In addition, it was 2011 and there weren’t any smartphones (at least I didn’t have one) nor a lot of YouTubers explaining every single rule of English (grammar and usage). Those were tough times, what I can say? But you do what you have to do.

I had been studying English for a year before I considered going for an job interview. I asked my teacher if I should do it. He said that it was up to me and he had no right to tell me whether to do it or not. Plus, we found out that the company I was trying to apply to, was holding interviews every 3-4 months, and no matter what happened it would be a good experience for me. So, I decided to take a chance. "Now or never" I told myself. But deep-deep inside I knew that I wasn’t quite ready yet...

To be continued…