Chapter 5 What I Got Myself Into

• To avoid getting caught and ridiculed, I am one of those students who are actually standing by the doorway on the back most part of the room who was not able to take a seat since most are now occupied by non-engineering students. They should have had this more organized with tickets or probably passes exclusively for Engineering students alone, or they should have had a bigger room for this event since we have a VVIP guest speaker.
• "Mr. Kieran Tiziano-Vetrelli!!" The dean finally and proudly screams out the name that everyone has been wanting and dying to hear as the front doors finally open into two. A thunderous applause echo follows as it fills throughout the entire place as women start to squeal in excitement.
• God, I wish I could explain how these women are all so giddy and overexcited.
• To be honest, this was a very extraordinary opportunity that Mr. Tiziano-Vetrelli had given to our campus, knowing his power, high status, incredible amount of fame, and insane wealth. We’re very much privileged that the owner of the globally successful bioengineering company called TIZELLI Pharmaceuticals, and TIZELLI Electronics which is his new and innovative electronics company, personally came to our university to give a talk. Basically, he has been named as one of the richest billionaires in the world who also manages the flourishing TIZELLI Funds Management Corporation which provides his philanthropic action and contributions towards art and cultural activities.
• A very tall, long-legged, and a striding man who is walking with his dark brown shiny leather shoes that probably costs a lot of millions of dollars finally enters the room ridiculously calmly but with such an insane amount of control in the way he looks and the way he carries himself. It’s like he is in complete command of this entire room while he is exuding with a such inexplicable aura that I have never seen in a guy before.
• Old. I thought to myself as it is the first thing that popped inside my head as soon as I glued my eyes on his face.
• He looks mature with his scruffy medium stubble beard but God this guy is incredibly tall and muscularly lean. It seems that he works out a lot base on the tightness around his biceps underneath those layered clothes. He is wearing his light gray suit that seems perfectly ironed, a white shirt that shines bright like a pearl, a light blue tie, and man, he looks like he smells that crazily rich perfumes that wealthy men can only buy and wear.
• He stands on the podium; unagitated with that darkly strict look on his face as if he was going to scold every one of us while his coldly ferocious eyes are scanning the crowd. His gaze reaches the backmost part of the room where most of us were all standing as the audience, as embarrassing as it may seem for a man like Kieran who thinks that this room is not enough for most Engineering students that were around.
• "Good morning." His voice is amusingly warm like hot melted caramel and incredibly deep, which is in great contrast with his exceedingly impassive expression. "I apologize for arriving late than scheduled but today’s just extra busy. I will not keep my speech long unlike others for the students to have lunch on time and I have packed meetings later in the day."
• Women in the front row scream words like "It is okay we are not hungry", "Take all the time that you need", "We can look at you for a whole day" and so many other flirtatious expressions that I do not even want to hear and I am sure he did not even like to hear base from how expressionless he seemed like. I glued my eyes on Mr. Tiziano-Vetrelli who looks severely disinterested in the attention that he is getting from the women as he disregarded them shrewdly. It is as if he used to it.
• "Twenty-one years ago…" He starts to narrate and as if the entire flock of women seemed like little kids listening to a story-telling. "We are actually going to go years back before my father handed me over the pharmaceutical company. I was eleven when my grandfather had sparked my interest in electrical engineering, he paved way for me to excel in it which is why I decided to build my own empire."
• Listening to his words, diction and tone of voice, you know well he is a very well-educated man.
• "I sat where you exactly sat today, roughly eleven years prior." He continues. "I graduated with a major degree in Pharmacy and I double majored in Biotechnology the same year. But I really have this great passion for becoming like my grandfather, so I pursued my dream and triple majored in Electrical Engineering."
• "Wow." A voice escapes my lips as I admire his intelligence.
• "I have accomplished some extraordinary things. I have helped develop a highly effective treatment for cancer – designing custom electronics for true 3D radiotherapy. I have helped further our understanding of the physical universe by developing state of art data acquisition systems for high-energy physics experiments." He continues to boast and I know he has the right to but I just find it being too overconfident of himself.
• Like yeah, we know you’re the big guy alright.
• He glances at the silent crowd who’s looking back at him intently, as he continues his speech, "I am sure that you know all of that. But I didn’t come here to discuss about my life. Because the truth is, if someone told me eleven years ago – that I would have such a career and such an impact – I would not have believed anyone. So today, I am going to share with you three things that I wish someone had shared with me back in the day– three things that I have learned to be true."
• Everyone in the room was incredibly quiet and attentive while each student seemed to have poked a great interest in this charming but expressionless man. Damn, the power and influence that this man has are out of this world. I mean look at these people’s eyes and attention all darted and glued on him.
• "The first is to learn from your success." He states as everyone is looking back and forth at each other in confusion. "There is a belief that failure is somehow good – somehow advantageous. Failure builds character. Fail early or fail often. That’s not wrong, but also dangerous. You always think that failing is okay. It is not." His words sounded like an absolute rule.
• "Everyone wants to succeed but have you ever asked yourself the question, what do I learn from success? Simple, it’s how to succeed." The way he chooses his words sounds like he is really a man who’s accomplished everything and damn, he has had accomplished tons. He continues, "That is much more infinitely priceless and precious. How many people do you know who started with you, but aren’t sitting next to you today because they failed and you haven’t? That is a perfect example of the success you should celebrate today."
• Wow, this man and his choice of words are truly remarkable.
• "How often did you have a roommate who would moan and whine at the one or two or more times during the semester that they actually had to work, long hours knowing that as an Engineer this was your daily reality?" The entire room is incredibly silent as his words continue to wow every single one of us that are here. "That is significant. As a matter of fact, you now know one thing for sure, that with talent and determination and hard work, you can achieve what few others can."
• There is a pause as he stares at the crowd in front of him.
• "You succeeded." That short and simple sentence made everyone to howl and cheer on. The room was filled with livened up students who want to achieve more in the next upcoming years. He is indeed an inspiration to everyone in here. "In the future," Everyone went quiet right away as he adds, "taking on truly and remarkably the hardest things, you know like things that seem way too impossible to take, you will not be in uncharted waters. On the contrary, you will build more success. Stacking it up one over the other. When there is success, there is always failure and that is something you should all remember. But something that you should not move on from. And that is the key."
• A smile spreads on my face as my eyes are eagerly staring at him while his words of encouragement truly encourage me on thriving for success, "Success breeds success. It is not a question of whether you will achieve more success. The questions are supposed to be what it will look like, how it will feel like, and how it will change you as a human."
• His eyes scanned the entire room and landed back on the students that were standing in the backmost part of the room. It is kind of annoying how his eyes make me feel nervous just standing here amongst the students who he sparked interest in becoming the better versions of ourselves right now.
• My breathing hitched as soon as I felt that his eyes, his freaking eyes, most definitely met mine and he was actually looking back at me. For a second it seemed that he was looking at me and I could not debate to what I actually saw. He seemed disinterested before he looks away and caused an insane amount of shiver down my spine because I know our eyes freaking met but then in the back of my head a voice tells me that he would never, have a single ounce of care, to anyone in this room.
• Suddenly, my phone vibrates as I am holding it in my hand and I knew instantly that it was a notification. I tilted it a little so I can see the screen and it was an email. I hurriedly unlocked my phone with excitement and overwhelming fear of failing but as soon as I opened it the first words got me shocked as it says: Congratulations! You’ve passed the second step. You may now proceed in having the medical examination that os scheduled for tomorrow morning. See here for the time and location.
• "Everyone should look forward to--"
• My mouth gapes wide open as a squeal follows from it, "Yes!" I gasped and froze in shock as soon as I realized where I was still. Everything around me was silent and I was too scared to even pulled my head up because I just screamed in the middle of Mr. Tiziano-Vetrelli’s speech.
• I collected up the courage to pull my head up and as soon as I did, God I regretted what I have just embarrassingly done. This was one of those moments where I godly wish that the grim reaper would take me alive. I am just utterly humiliated by what I have caused because everyone’s eyes were on me.
• Even Mr. Tiziano-Vetrelli’s.
• Well, shit.