Quit daydreaming and DO SOMETHING!

I guess by now I could officially claim daydreaming to be a hobby of mine. I have many goals I'd like to accomplish in the future, and daydreaming is usually my way of planning and motivating myself all at the same time. My parents never really believed me to be much of a business person, so I never dreamed of even majoring in anything business related. Nevertheless, here I am, in a business school, working towards my marketing degree and hoping to graduate on time (fingers crossed). Many of my hobbies after this new turn of direction became more business related, however, these also go hand-in-hand  with personal goals i'd like to accomplish.

For example, owning my own business. My grandmother supported five children through her many small businesses selling miscellaneous items, from food and medicine, to "potions" and used clothing. My parents supported three children through the money they made owning both a successful paint shop and a jewelry store. My sister started selling homemade brownies at the age of thirteen in her school in Ecuador and has now pursued a more corporate take in business, recently finishing her master degree in marketing. I guess it's the influence my family has had on me that has led me to wanting the things I want today. I never thought of owning my own business until I realized it wasn't impossible. I have never sold anything in my life, but who said I wouldn't be any good at it if I did? Actually, my father did. He once said I didn't have what it takes to be a successful business woman, good salesmanship, a motivation to earn money, a strong drive for success like greed. However, this new possibility of owning a business suddenly seemed like a better way of applying one of my life passions: helping other people.

I always thought in order to help other people, I had to become a teacher. My grandmother was a teacher and my mother is a teacher as well. However, they both always me discouraged me to become one due to the unfair pay teachers receive in both Ecuador and the U.S. Everything always came down to one thing: money. If there was enough money, people would receive better health care. If there was enough money, all kids would receive a proper education. If there was enough money, I would be able to follow the career I really wanted. Sadly, there's never enough money to do any of those things for most of us. Having lived in a third world country, I've witnessed too many people suffer in poverty due to another person's greed. This doesn't mean I'm dissing money or anything. However, can greed be used towards a better cause?

I looked up the definition of greed and an antonym appeared to be generosity. Now, couldn't greed be used for generosity? I guess that's what people call social corporate responsibility nowadays. My goal is to provide orphan children in third world countries (starting with my home country) a place to get educated and learn the necessary skills to succeed in the world. I've heard of a man who worked as a taxi driver in New York who bought a big house in his home country and began to open his doors to orphan children everywhere. When the number of children grew substantially, he would go back to the U.S and work until he had enough money to bring back to the "orphanage". He provided them with food, shelter, beds, and even education from teachers who volunteered their help. My vision is along the same guidelines, except more stable and reliable through donations and funding of large companies that are committed to helping this cause. It would ease the financial worries of keeping up the place (in comparison to funding it all through my personal income the entire time) and would allow me to devote more time to the lower level operations of the organization and actual orphanage.

Many children are abandoned because their parents are unable to care for them financially. I met two of these kids when I was thirteen on a family vacation back in Salinas, Ecuador. My family would usually bring along old clothes or things we no longer used or needed and donated them in our home country. This time, I had brought some old barbie dolls, a few teddy bears, and old happy meal toys I was too old to play with. I was sitting in front of my house with my father when suddenly he calls over two random kids playing around the local dump, a little boy and his older sister, over to us to give them the gifts. When they came over, I handed a doll to the girl and a few toys to the little brother. We all started talking and we asked them to tell all their friends that I had more toys to give out. Out of curiosity, I asked the girl where they lived. The little boy shrugged and she said they used to live a few towns away. That's when my dad headed to the house to grab the bag of toys and gave it all to them and told them to take it to their other friends. My father later explained to me their real situation, orphaned kids just looking to survive.

There is a point to my long story. There are three things I long to achieve:
1) To be acknowledged by my family for all the potential and ambition that I have.
2) To help others help themselves: not as charity but as the support they need to show the world THEIR potential and THEIR ambition.
3) To show the world that a business person doesn't have to be soul-less to succeed. That the trickle-down effect is not the only benefit the poor retrieve from the workings of capitalism. To be proof that ambition and hunger for money doesn't have to translate to another person's misery and misfortune.