Awakenings

Alfred and his wife Shirin today

His name is Alfred Kamali. He migrated to the United States from Iran in 1975 at the age of sixteen without any of his parents or siblings. He was young, inexperienced, and could not speak a word of English. Deciding to move to America was a very difficult and challenging decision to make but a simple one nevertheless. It was the decision he had to make in the United States that would be so complicated.

Alfred began life in America in San Francisco, California. He attended high school there and took classes to learn how to speak English at the same time. To improve his English, Alfred would hang around with Americans instead of Persians. He was the type of person who would always accept a challenge if it would help him improve. Alfred managed to finish high school on time while learning how to speak English. After high school, Alfred earned an associates degree. He then began to attend San Jose State University to earn his bachelors degree. However, after one semester he decided to move to New York. He felt California was not the right place for him and thought the people were “unnatural and inhumane.” In addition, he had no family or friends from Iran living in San Francisco and therefore had no reason to stay there. At the time, New York was booming with job opportunities, and there were other immigrants from Iran already settled in New York. Moving to New York was difficult but an easy and simple decision to make.

Alfred began to attend Baruch College in New York City to complete his education. Alfred had a rigorous schedule at Baruch. He would attend class from eight to ten, work from ten to five in the trading floor of an antique carpet business, and then have more class from five to seven. By the time his day was over, he was exhausted. He took on many responsibilities at an early age did not have a minute to waste. He would even run through a cemetery to get to school on time. Nothing would stop him from earning his degree. Alfred had big dreams and a proper education was the first step. His big dream was to earn an MBA and become a “big shot” investment banker on Wall Street and he was on track. He was majoring in Finance and Economics, and had a 3.85 GPA. He was very interested in what he was learning and was already thinking about how to achieve success in the future. What could possibly go wrong?

With only one more semester left until the completion of his bachelor’s degree, Alfred had a major decision to make. It was 1980 and a revolution had occurred in Iran. Jews were in a great danger and many began to flee including Alfred’s parents and siblings. The United States was the right place to move to. There was much opportunity and many Persians were migrating there. With Alfred’s family moving to the United States, Alfred had to decide between leaving school and his education to work to support his family or staying in school and letting his family find their own methods of survival in America. Leaving school would be very difficult for Alfred. Alfred had a vision and a path to reaching his goals and achieving success. His dream required a solid education and time to build his career. On the other hand, his family meant everything to him and they needed his help greatly. At the age of twenty-one without anyone’s help or advice, Alfred had to make a major decision in his life. He decided to sacrifice his big dream for his family. In Alfred’s mind, family always came first. Alfred quickly dropped his studies and began working full time in preparation for his family’s arrival. He felt, “It would be a very difficult decision for most, but an easy and automatic one for me.”

Deciding to leave to school and begin working would just be the beginning of his difficulties. At the age of only twenty-one without a complete college education, Alfred had to create a business able to support himself and his family. He began his own carpet business as a traveling salesperson. He had to take the subway to each client and sell his merchandise. It turns out Alfred was great at what he did. In a matter of months, he bought a car for $7,300 and an apartment ready for his family. His family arrived in 1981 and they joined Alfred in his business. In 1983, Alfred and his father decided to work separately. Alfred would sell jewelry while his father began a business in the garment industry. Alfred saw potential in his father’s business and after six months, Alfred joined with his father and increased sales by thirty to forty percent. At age twenty-five, Alfred bought two homes and had one million dollars in inventory. He was young and rich. Life was great. It seems Alfred had made the right decisions after all. He was doing something he loves and was succeeding. It is as if he traded one dream for another.

Although Alfred realizes now how much a solid and complete education would have benefited him, he has no serious regrets. Alfred has lived a challenging life filled with big decisions.. From his move to the United States to beginning his own business, Alfred never took the easy path. He chose to take responsibility for his family at a very early age and he always put his family above everything else.

“Nothing is more important than family,” he says.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 7:24 pm and is filed under