The CEO I Wanted to Be, The Teacher I Became
- karismakaleidoscop
- Nov 28, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 8
The question I get asked more often than none is, how did you go from wanting to be a CEO to becoming a teacher who specialises in teaching people who are neurodiverse? The answer is long and I guess not that simple, but if you are able to wait it out you will probably get the answer.
I think I will have to take you back to July 2003 when I graduated high school. I literally had no confidence in myself and I had no idea what I wanted to do. Everything that I had wanted to become just did not workout. I wanted to be a professional volleyball player, but an injury took me out and that became a lost dream. I love animals and believed strongly in animals rights, so I thought maybe a vet? Well, I did not get the grades for it, so that dream vanished. How about a film producer? Yep, that was on my list. I applied to the New York Film Academy, got a place at their branch in the UK and boom my mom fell sick and I had to put that dream aside to care for her. I was a nobody with a nobody dream, and that feeling sucked big time. I was just going with the flow in hopes that something fell into my lap, but nothing did. Should I do my A levels to bump my grades up to become a vet? Should I just redo my Year 12 exams so that I can get the grades I needed to become a vet or something in the medical field? Nothing, absolutely nothing made sense. And no advice seemed to be giving me a eureka moment. I was lost, literally and physically.
As I continued to care for my mother, I found out that I had been selected for Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (National Service) and I was stationed in Langkawi. Was this my opportunity? But my mom had just gotten out of hospital a few months ago, would it be the right time to leave her? And that is when my mom said the words I needed to hear, "If you feel the need to go, go. Do not let anyone stop you, not even me. I will take care of myself." And with those words I took the bold move to go, not knowing where Langkawi was on the map of Malaysia nor a word of Malay, despite all my relatives saying it was a horrible idea for me to go and how they knew people who could get me out of it, I went. I went with whatever bravery I had in my heart, got on the bus with 100s of other kids, and did it. I came out stronger, braver and had more confidence in myself. With that I applied to every college that I could think of. I took rejection with a smile and acceptance with caution as I still needed to decide what I was going to do.
Flash forward to me getting into college and deciding on doing a double Bachelor of Science majoring in Business and minoring Information Technology. I picked these subjects because my mom and dad were in the business profession and I loved computers so it seemed like the best choice to make at the time. But, that fear of my experience in high school lingered. I pushed through my fear and found myself in my first set of 101 papers.
College was where I excelled. And that was due to an amazing Professor named Dr. Salleh. (Dr. Salleh, if you are reading this I owe you a coffee and a meal, because I would not be where I am today if it were not for you). He heard my story on the first day of class when he asked us to share our high school experiences and after class he called me over and asked me one question, "How do you study for an exam?" "Well, I write notes, then try to memorise everything." He continued to ask, "How do you memorise everything?" I remember thinking his questions were rather weird but replied, "I just sit and repeat it a few times and write it down a couple more times till I think I know it." Then he said the million dollar statement that changed my studying pattern and indirectly my life, "I do not think that is the best way for you to learn. Try doing something else, maybe colours or draw pictures and see if that helps." So I took home Dr. Salleh's notes and I made my little pictures using colours and drew little stickman cartoons for information I found difficult to comprehend. And guess what, I aced every paper that term. Something I had never done before. Although, my college education ended with me getting a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and the dream of becoming a CEO of a multinational company. When I went out into the real world and tried jobs within the job scope of my degrees. It just did not work out. I was not motivated to do the job nor I felt like I had any purpose. It was day in and day out, dreading every morning, and wishing I was somewhere else when I was at work. This seriously could not be the way people do things. I looked at my mom who loved being a teacher and my dad who loved meeting new people at his business. Why was I so unhappy? Once again I was gutted. Work life was just not working out, and I was left feeling the same way I did back in 2003. So, I put everything aside and took a few months to think of what my next line of action was.
While I took a break to figure my life out and my life's purpose once again, I know total eye roll, I tutored on the side and found that I was really good at teaching people, especially those who learnt differently. I never thought I would be good at teaching since school and studies was the last place I would have associated myself with, but my students enjoyed my lessons and were benefitting from me sharing my learning experiences. I did not get it at first, but the more the students I tutored told me that I should become a teacher at their school, the more I felt the need to venture into it or at least try to see what being a teacher was all about. It was in 2009, when my mother found an advert in the newspaper about a course dealing with neurodiverse students did I realise that this was my calling. I felt this sudden spark that I had not felt in a long time, the one that I had always felt when I was on a volleyball court about to do my first serve for a game. That rush and surge in energy just before a match was about to begin. And I jumped on the wagon without looking back.
Since, I struggled in school myself, I knew that I would be able to understand students who were struggling too. And I somehow knew I had hit the nail on the wall. Working with children or adults who had the same experiences I did, being able to give them the confidence that I wish someone had given me. That was my spark and my calling. I wanted to make sure that no student felt the way I did in school. That students had a place or person where they could feel safe with, who they could share openly with and we would work with their strengths to fill in the gaps that was preventing them being who they thrive to be. And one thing led to another. I did the the course, joined a center that dealt with students who had learning difficulties and then joined an international school. And now here I am with 16 years of teaching experience sharing my insane journey through a blog with all of you. What are the odds eh?
So, I guess another question that is on some people's mind is...did I choose the right path and am I happy with the choice I made? The answer is absolutely. I would not give this up for the world. And I have to thank my students for that. Throughout my 16 years they have thought me so much. And I truly feel that I am a better person because of them. Each one of my students who I have taught or who has interacted with me when I am sitting in the school's library has played a crucial role in my development. I feel that they are the little sparks that keep me moving forward, and I would not change it for a thing.
I guess to conclude this, I can say that my life has not been easy. I faced tones of challenges along the way. But growing up in St. Martin/ Maarten, and having my father's influence of his childhood in the Middle East and my mother's influence of her childhood in Malaysia allowed me to become the person I am today. Through my years of teaching I have learnt that identity is layered, colourful and consistently evolving and thus, there is no single journey that one can take. We flow and grow as we go through life on the various paths it takes us. As my father likes to say "without the hard knocks of life we won't go very far, so take the hard knocks and make them your hard rock and move forward." So with that I leave you with the thought that if this carefree island girl who was lost so many times along the way, found her lighthouse, so can anyone. The key is not to give up on yourself and do not let the input of others bring you down. You are worth the detours and the pitstops. So enjoy the journey that we call life! Till my next blog, stay safe, take care. Much love and respect. CHEERS!
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