Going Entrepreneurial in Colombia II
Chapter 43 - 5 Years in Colombia - How I Reeducated Myself on the Streets of Laughter
February started and we were still in the middle of the theoretical thesis writing. Ambitious months had passed after returning back home to Sweden from Colombia, and we were spending long days with paperwork at the university. The work had progressed smoothly and the thesis was starting to take shape, but it was a huge theoretical project to pull together after the analysis of our data. We didn't make it for the first planned thesis defense opportunity in January and the next opportunity wasn't until the summer. We slowed down the pace.
Patrik wanted to go to a student conference in Finland for a week and I was suddenly left alone, and idle. It was cold in Stockholm, and dark, and windy. I longed to return back to Colombia, to continue with more in-depth fieldwork, to enjoy the warmth of the sunny climate and the smiling people, and, most of all, to return to my newfound love.
I felt a strong pull to continue the concrete fieldwork to build on our master’s thesis pioneering beginnings in the region. I knew now, finally, after years of seeking direction at and around the university, what I really wanted to do professionally after my studies. I wanted to continue the work my master's thesis had begun, but I had no idea of how or when I’d be able to get back.
Then, like a message from above, a credit card arrived in the mailbox. I think it was related to my university status, a loan shark sensing a fresh, up-and-coming, high-paid professional approaching the market. I didn’t care. I didn’t think two seconds. Before Patrik had returned from the conference in Finland, I had bought a plane ticket to Colombia.
The above is an excerpt from the upcoming book “5 Years in Colombia - How I Reeducated Myself on the Streets of Laughter”. It’s the first book in a 15-year memoir trilogy, highlighting the educational adventures from the author's final years as a disillusioned top student to becoming a young professional with a purpose far beyond what he could have imagined. For more information, please reach out to the author directly.
Author: Joni AlWindi
Published by: Joni AlWindi
Audio intro of the book is available at Spotify podcasts under “5yearsincolombia”
The complete thesis can be found here:
Private Schools in the Slums - Do they provide an effective primary educational service? - A case study of Aguablanca in Cali, Colombia
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