CHAPTER TWO
CHILDHOOD & TEENAGER
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life”
Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)
Tony was born in a tiny inland city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, called Guaira, the eldest son of Mr. Ulysses Lima, a farmer, and Mrs. Amelia Lima, a housewife. He also had a sister and a brother, Sandra and Richard. Tony lived on the farm owned by Mr. Lima’s father until he was 13 years old; he always had to walk long distance to school, first to the farmer’s school and later to the city school, where he had to ride a bicycle for 3 miles, and take a bus into the city.
The farm he lived on had no running water, no electricity, in fact, no modern amenities whatsoever. Yet his mother would always motivate him to be a great entrepreneur. Mrs. Lima’s greatest dream was to see Tony became a great doctor. As for Mr. Ulysses, he wanted his son to become an agronomist.
Ulysses went bankrupt in 1973 and they were forced to move to the city of Jaguariuna. Mrs. Lima, orphaned at three was raised by her aunt with the help of this caring woman, became partner of the flower shop her aunt owned.
Tony saw his world change overnight. It was like paradise having electricity and running water. And the best TV! It was like a dream for him and a huge boost for his ego!
Despite his prior hardship at school he had always had good grades, being one of the best students in his class. Now, having all the comfort anybody could desire, he never made school on time. He would leave school early, and by his first year of high school it seemed certain he would fail. He had bad grades, was missing classes, and made the wrong friendships.
Mr. Lima had always encouraged Tony to go to a specialized agricultural high school. It was a boarding high school financially maintained by local governments in other cities. But there was no way Tony would give up all of the comforts he’d grown accustomed to. No way!
But in the middle of this crisis, about to fail at school and having to face his father with this news, he felt forced to make the greatest decision in his life. He decided to accept his father’s offer because that way he would have to start his first year of high school over again, and having failed at the local school then wouldn’t have seemed so bad.
Backpack on his shoulder and feet on the road, off he went, trying to find an agriculture school that would accept him, at that late time of the year. He tried several schools near Jaguariuna, but no luck. The only school where he was able to find an opening was in the city of Garca, State of Sao Paulo, about 300 miles from his hometown.
March, 1976 he arrived at the agriculture school of Garca, and the first thing they showed him was his quarters which he would share among 5 other students. There were lots of strange people, no locks on the front door, which seemed to have been kicked in by someone, and bunk beds with damaged mattresses.
This type of free public school had all kinds of people, especially low class students from the north of Brazil.
On his first day he faced his first challenge. One of his mates from his apartment approached him to tell him that one of the guys had one kg of marijuana and he wanted to notify the principal about this fact. He did not know what to do, but agreed with his mate and both went to speak with the principal.
The following day, the principal searched in every apartment and luckily they found the drugs and expelled the student. Nobody ever found out who had been the snitcher. (Imagine if this person would have been a member of a gang? Tony and his mate could have been killed over this!)
At the end of the first semester (winter vacation in Brazil) he was feeling he had had enough and told his parents his intention to return home; this was not a place for him. The food came with fried mosquitoes and the spaghetti was served with worm- holes. He had to work like a dog, and on your birthday they celebrate by throwing you in a waterhole of green scummy water. Happy birthday to you! No way, he gave up! He would not stay a minute longer in that dump!
But somehow destiny had already been written. Professor Gines, for whom Tony felt a profound admiration, for also being an entrepreneur, decided to dedicate his last class explaining to everyone the benefits of the agriculture school, and how important it would be for them.
The clever professor knew that after every winter vacation, 50% of the students would not return. The professor articulated all of the advantages in such a way that he convinced Tony to stay in school.
So, in the second semester Tony returned with all the enthusiasm of this world. Not only had he decided to stay but also he had asked for the principal’s permission to let him study by nights at another high school in the city that specialized in Chemistry. And he got the permission.
He really loved the Chemistry classes; they were his passion as well as Science. He also enjoyed Catholic Church youth groups and made lots of friends, especially girl friends.
He also made friends with this senior student at the boarding school named Marcio, a tiny skinny guy just like Tony, and everyone had such respect for him, and Tony really admired him for that. Marcio taught him the power of the word; most of his colleagues used to resolve matters fist fighting with each other, and Tony learned very soon the power of words, which can hit people much harder than a punch in the face!
He became one of the best students in both schools, and maintained high grades.
About this time he also became the manager of the chicken shed in the agriculture school, which meant not having to work so hard anymore. Of course he had earned the admiration of all teachers but unfortunately the envy and jealousy of the students. So it was until his second year of high school that good times were rolling.
The next step was to enter the university. But in Brazil one has to attend an additional private school (prep school) to pass on the university test (vestibular). He took some vocational tests and everything pointed at him becoming an electronic engineer. So he decided to go to the best universities in Brazil. He talked his parents into paying for the most expensive private school education thus enabling him to pass the test. He changed to a high school in the city of Mirassol where he attended a private school at night in the city of Sao Jose do Rio Preto (10 miles away).
At the end of the year he applied to all the best universities in Brazil to take the tests (Mackenzie, Maua, USP, Fuvest and others). He was surprised at the number of candidates for each university; there were at least 30 people per opening. 30 to 1!
Time passed and the results of the tests came. It was no, no, no, no, and no pass!
The same answer everywhere! Until one of his last options, the University of Jaguariuna; on the third call, his name finally appeared, he was the happiest man on this earth; the responsibility of using his parents’ money was so deep that he did not want to disappoint them and himself as well.
Since the University of Jaguarina was in his parents’ town he lived with them again. It was difficult for him to adapt to that situation one more time, having lived alone (dream of every teenager) for the last three years. Although he was no longer a kid one is always a kid for parents.
All the time he had been away from home Tony had followed from a distance, the challenge his father faced to recover from bankruptcy. He hated to see his father angry, especially with his mother. Sometimes when he had a chance to visit them, he would choose not to only to avoid seeing the tension between them.
This experience lad Tony to make a pact: He would achieve financial success at any cost, even if he had to sell his own soul to the Devil! His steely determination was unmatched. To him all the problems were because of a lack of money and he resolved to make a lot of money and bury financial problems forever.
So he decided to stay with his parents and make the best of it. He would try to go to the university and work at the same time. Following the advice of one of his teachers from the agriculture school, Tony bought a car, in spite of not having a dime in his pocket. He financed the purchase with a personal loan from the bank. And another dream came true.
Having his first car, even though only an old 1973 VW Bug, was a big accomplishment for him at the time.
He graduated as an agriculture technician and got a job as sales representative at a farmer’s supplier company. However, he wasn’t doing well at his work; he was a failure as a salesman. And to make matters worse, the university routine was so different from the high school.
He tried a second job, now selling automobiles at a local Fiat dealer. Fiat had just arrived to Brazil. Fiat’s procedure was something like this; the dealer hired the sales person but offered no training, believing that selling was something you were born to, and sent them out to sell cars. Of course Tony ended up at the Sales Manager’s office.
The man was blunt. “Tony, I will give you some advice: You can do anything in your life, except to sell something!”
This insult piqued his pride and rather than discouraging him, had just the opposite effect.
These were interesting times in Tony’s life. Among his friends in Jaguariuna, he was the only one who had a car. One day they were sitting at a bar and some of his friends wanted to go to a dance club, in a nearby city 30 miles away. “It is a hot party,” they said.
Tony tried to decline but his friends insisted and so they went. When they arrived he found that his pals had no money for admission, so he ended up paying.
They were worn out and sleepy as they drove home about 4 a.m. . Approaching Jaguariuna, he remembered having read in a newspaper that a new entrance road had just been opened the previous week. He decided to take the new road because it would be a short cut. He remembered having driven few miles further that night when suddenly a pile of rocks appeared in the middle of the street. He slammed on the brakes as hard as he could, but there was not enough time. He hit the rocks, smashing his windshield and his nose!
He ended up at the local hospital. And here is the interesting part. He used to feel rejected at the University; he felt he had no friends. But that day, although his nose was bigger than his face and he looked like the ugliest guy on earth, to his surprise, the entire class of the University had came to visit him. It was a very unexpected show of support and friendship and it touched him.. Tony felt great. Even a new girlfriend decided to stay with him.
That accident gave Tony something that was missing in his life up until then. Self– confidence!
But things began to deteriorate. By the end of 1979 his life was a disaster. He was not able to keep up with the University; he couldn’t keep a job and if it hadn’t been for his parents’ help he couldn’t have made the payments on his car.