CHANGE

Good evening fellow Toastmasters and guests. Tonight I will talk about change.  No, not the kind of change that’s in your pocket.  I joined Toastmasters to make a change in my life.  I wanted to become a better public speaker and to see if it can get easier with more practice.   I work for a City as a Director of Information Technology.  My role as a department director is to provide leadership and direction on all things technology.  I usually present to the council board reports on various technologies and why the city should pursue those technologies.  There are many reasons for my nervousness about public speaking.    Like many people, it’s an inherent fear.  In addition to that fear and just not liking it, I have the challenge of having to explain complex technologies to non-technical folks.

So here I am tonight seeking to make this change in my life.  For the most part, I pursue change and sometimes relish and enjoy it.  A lifetime of major changes has meant making big changes easier for me.  I mentioned that my line of work requires that I not only learn complicated technologies every few months and then convince everyone that changing systems out will be better for them.  For me, learning new technologies is a lot of fun, but for many, computers and technology makes them nervous and they don’t want to change the way they do things.

I have worked in the technology field for over 20 years.  Although I graduated with a degree in business, accounting and finance, when I began to work in that field I was more drawn to technology and automating the business I was working in.  I learned technology on my own and made a transition to begin a different career.  That career change served me well and I have never looked back.    

One of the big changes in my life came at age 13 when my family immigrated to the United States.  It was a complete culture shock.  I am originally from Iraq.  Many of you know Iraq because we’ve been at war with that county for a decade now.

My Dad was a very smart man.  He knew there were political shifts in Iraq and that his health was failing so he made the decision to bring us to the United States.  In 1976, prior to Saddam Hussein coming to power, my Dad had just returned from visiting his brother and sister in the US when he announced that we would be going on vacation to Greece.  He’d gone to the US because he had suffered a heart attack at age 42 and was putting his life in order.  He sent my Mom, 2 older sisters, myself and my younger brother off and said he would join us in Greece in a week or so.  I was a naïve 13 year old; it was my first vacation outside Iraq when we arrived in Athens, Greece.  That’s when I learned that we are not going back.  You see, my family is Christian Assyrians and Christians were/are a minority in Iraq.  If you follow the news you hear about Churches being blown up and Assyrians being kidnapped for ransom.

A week later, my father arrived in Athens and there was a lot of relief for the family.  He had managed to get us out of Iraq safely, sell our home and had our immigration paperwork done so we arrived in the US after a month or so stay in Greece.  In Iraq, if the government knew we were leaving the country or that we were selling our home, we would all be arrested and likely killed.  I feel blessed that he made that change possible for our family.

So besides the career, school, and country changes, I adapt to languages and cultures fairly easily.  I was only in Greece for a month and a half but I already picked up speaking some Greek. When I got to the U.S., I adapted quickly to the changes of being in a new country and learning a new language.  I learned to speak English within a couple of months thanks to watching cartoons and the batman series.

While I was preparing this speech, I did some math.  Considering that I started school at First grade skipping Kindergarten, I had attended 7 schools by High School and mind you I graduated high school at 16.  I attended 6 colleges and universities before I “found myself” and graduated from CSUF.  I have lived in 3 states, CA, IL and NY and have had 16 homes in the various countries and states.  That’s a lot of moving and a lot of change.

The changes I have shared are just a few examples with so many more that I have experienced.  And I make it sound like I am at ease with making change.  It’s true to some degree.  But while I adapt quickly to big change, I hold on and resist small change.  You see the world comes to a complete STOP if someone moves my books or knickknack or rearranges furniture at home.  Now that’s just too much change even for me! 

Thank you very much!