This month’s professional spotlight is Abiel Zewolday who inspired us all with his recent graduation speech that focused on his family’s journey to the U.S. and the role immigrant’s play in this country’s success. Abiel is a recent graduate from University of Washington – Foster School of Business and will be joining Apple soon within their Finance Development Program. Read more about Abiel, his experiences, and his words of advice.

How did you come to decide that this was the right career path for you?

To give some context, in November I will be starting at Apple within their Finance Development Program which is a finance rotational. Having studied marketing and information systems, I never really intended on working in finance, but I always aspired to work at Apple. It was my dream.

I feel like the rotational is going to be a really good foundation for my career because every 3 months I will be rotating for 2 years into a different job and learning how the different parts of Apple operate from a finance perspective.

I’m a big advocate for rotation programs because you get to try different jobs and interact with people whose jobs may be of interest to you. I think rotation programs are a great way of learning about a company because you get to see it from so many different perspectives. Plus, you get to avoid joining one team and getting stuck within a role that you may not like.

What did you gain from your leadership experiences in college? How have those skills helped you post? 

Leadership experiences in college have given me the confidence to be in front of people and motivate them to collectively work together in achieving something. The beauty in developing these skills in college is that there isn’t much to lose. It’s basically a safe space for you learn how to be a leader without risking a lot.

Our people a lot of the time in corporate or institutions tend to take a step back and let others be leaders, but I really urge all of us to be in the forefront and to take upon leadership positions. Sometimes accents or other things will hold individuals back from taking a role but trust in your knowledge and ability and you can achieve it all.

You will learn basic skills like asking instead of telling someone to do something or putting in more of an effort to be a listener instead of a talker. For me one of the biggest things I’ve learned is challenging members of a group who are quieter to speak up because a lot of the times they have the brightest and best ideas.

The footage of you giving a speech at your graduation was very inspirational to many people. How and why did you decide to give that speech?

To begin, thank you! I think when given the opportunity to speak to so many people at once you feel the importance and burden of making it the most impactful that you can. Especially so with the current dialogue that this government is communicating regarding immigrants and people of color, I felt the responsibility to set the tone straight, and speak for those who don’t have the platform to do so.

In your speech you lifted up the role that your parents played in your success, how did your parents support your educational and career efforts?

I think one thing that we all have in common is the vast importance our parents place on getting and making the most out of an education. They grew up during a war and didn’t have the same opportunities we do. I think once you to start to understand this, you really begin to admire all of the sacrifices they make for us.

My parents, especially so my mom never once told me I couldn’t achieve something. This is extremely important. Having this ingrained in my head helped me look at any obstacle as a small bump in a road versus a complete road block.

Another thing I’m really grateful that my parents did is take me to Eritrea when I was growing up. Seeing how our people live and knowing that my cousins didn’t have the same opportunities and resources as I, motivated me from a young age to take advantage of everything in front of me.

At the same time, my parents, as well as most of ours, don’t really understand how the education system works, and I think this puts the pressure on us to figure things out on our own. It’s good because it forces us to take initiative, but it also holds us back because we ourselves don’t know about every opportunity out there.

Is there a philosophy that drives your career?

Mine is very simple. Try as many different things as possible, and don’t be hesitant to take upon an uncomfortable job or task. A lot of time, we try to stay within our comfort zone, but this won’t allow us to grow.

Every year I’ve done an internship, I’ve been very intentional in making sure no two internships were the same. One year I did marketing, the next IT, after that I did accounting, and most recently finance. Especially so in business, you will learn everything on the job. As long as you constantly ask questions, and are open to learning, you will have no difficulty killing a job.

What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?

I think my graduation speech was my greatest accomplishment. Not so much in the delivery of it, but more-so in how it has motivated and inspired our people. It has personally motivated me to work harder to uplift our people and to show them all of the amazing things that they can do.

What’s one piece of advice you would give someone looking to navigating through school?

School is a place for you figure out what you want to do. Our parents have the mindset that we need to know what we already want to do coming into it, but you don’t have to. Take advantage of the fact that most majors have introductory courses which allow you to take a glimpse of what that major is like.

At the end of the day, you are going to be in the classrooms not your parents. DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. If you want to be a writer, but your parents want you to be a doctor ask yourself this: Do I want to be the best writer, or a mediocre doctor? DON’T BE MEDIOCRE.

I always knew I wanted to do business, and because I had a passion for it, it was easy for me to stand out. Do something you can stand out in because you are so passionate or good at it. If both, even better.

Outside of all your hard work and efforts toward building your brand, what do you do for fun? Hobbies?

I’m really involved in my church and serve as a Deacon and Youth Leader there. Outside of that, I love traveling and try each year to get out of the country. I love cars and tech and enjoy hiking and being in the outdoors.

Abiel’s last remarks.