“𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲”, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱.

It was indeed Christmas. I had had my language school for two years and, in partnership with the Faculty of Letters, my school was offering English and German courses, exams and international certifications.

A German recruiting company had approached us to test some of their candidates. Gladly, we accepted. However, before the results were sent to the students, a representative of the recruiting company visited me at my school to … wish me Happy Holidays and give me a present …

… 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲. “𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲”, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱. 𝗢𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲, 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁.

A year before, I had had another similar experience. The husband of a doctor wanting to practice in Germany came to my school to ask me (quite directly actually) how much the certificate cost. He was so upset when I turned him down. He even shouted at me : “𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗜’𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀.”

Probably, he’s still searching to this day :))

The moral is : Don’t lower your standards for any reason. Even if it takes you longer to accomplish those dreams. You will definitely get there.

𝗔𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵.

But integrity is not only refusing to be bribed. Soon I’ll tell you another story about why you shouldn’t make promises you cannot keep…

“𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒑 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕.” ― Jeffrey G. Duarte

Have you had any similar experiences? How did you react?