Flavio Silva spent six years working as a janitor in the morning and then studying in the afternoon. In all that time, he barely got to rest, but it was worth it. «If you have your dream, don’t give up. You can work in any profession, just go for it,» he said.
In life, there will always be opportunities to achieve your dreams, but some will have it easier than others. There are also those who must look for their own opportunities with a lot of effort and dedication until they achieve their goals.
This is the case of Flavio Silva, a 39-year-old man who worked as a street sweeper in the municipality of Tibau do Sul, in Rio Grande, Brazil. However, while working at this job, he was constantly traveling to the city of Natal, 78 kilometers away, to study law at the same time.
Unsplash (foto referencial)
This is how the father of two children was able to spend six years working and studying to become the lawyer he is today. Something fundamental in his process is that he didn’t give up, despite the enormous difficulties, performing many small jobs before reaching his goal.
«I became an administrative assistant at Detran, went on to the Municipal Guard of Tangará and moved on to become a sweeper in Tibau do Sul. There, I made a plan, knowing that two school buses were coming to Natal. And what I needed was this: the bus to come to the university», he commented in conversation with G1.
For this, he had to get up daily at 5 am and start his day as a street sweeper at 6 am. After 6 hours of work outdoors, in the sun or rain, he would then leave for the university, a journey that took him almost two hours. There was little time to rest.
Flavio Silva
«There was a test on the first day. When the break came, I didn’t understand anything and I became desperate. That’s when I got together with some classmates and they told me the same thing, which I didn’t understand. Then I felt calm, but I was looking for a strategy on how to learn,» he recalled of those early days.
«There was a colleague who suggested that I join a study group, so I agreed right away,» he added.
Although it was hard, for Flavio, there was never the possibility of throwing in the towel. He knew that it wouldn’t be an easy road at all, but he also had in mind that it was a great opportunity to better himself and offer his family a better future. «That word doesn’t exist in my dictionary: give up,» he said.
That is why, when he was finally accepted to the Brazilian Bar Association, he couldn’t hold back his excitement. «When I saw the result, that I had passed the bar exam, I cried for forty minutes. I remembered all the sacrifice I went through,» he expressed.
Flavio Silva