Abdi Jabar Dayib: success by way of DePaul
For years, 18-year-old Abdi Jabar Dayib has seen his future in his mind:
“I’ve always had this dream of owning my own company,” Abdi Jabar said.
He sees himself finishing a day’s work and going to the window of his upper-story office. He looks down at the headlights of cars weaving through the curving streets below him.
“It’s a beautiful city,” he said. “And I’m thinking to myself, ‘I made it.’”
The opportunity for making the dream come true has come through a $26,000 scholarship to DePaul University in Chicago, where Abdi Jabar lived eight of the nine years since he and his family immigrated to the United States. The Dayib family arrived last year in Emporia, when his father accepted a job here with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
Abdi Jabar was born in Somalia and moved as a child with his family to India, where they lived for six years before coming to the U.S. to live in Chicago.
“I currently speak two and a half languages,” Abdi Jabar said in English that bears only the slightest trace of an accent. “I speak Somali and English and half Spanish. I just finished my final in Spanish II.”
In Chicago, his test scores were high enough to qualify him to be part of the first class accepted at the Chicago Math and Science Academy, which he started in the eighth grade. He said he would have been in the first graduating class had the Dayibs stayed in Chicago.
He will return to Chicago for the fall semester at DePaul, which he chose because that university offered him the largest scholarship of all that were available to him.
“They were the ones that offered me the most money,” he said. “It is a concern. ... It’s what will get me the best job.”
If that option had not been available, he would not have hesitated to take out a student loan to attend a university that would provide the best opportunity for success.
“I would rather have debt and have a good job” that would simplify repaying student loans, he said.
He feels confident that he has the skills and drive it takes to graduate and rise to the top in business.
“I will be majoring in business — preferably entrepreneurship or international business,” he said. “I’ve always been good at buying and selling, negotiating.”
The latter skill came from years of practice.
“It comes with having a younger brother,” he explained; “learning how to give and take in order to get what you want.”
In the back of his mind, he carries thoughts of alternative but related careers, perhaps running an investment firm or managing athletes and performers.
Abdi Jabar said he is disgusted by the actions of greedy investors and bankers who took advantage of clients and lost appalling amounts of money.
“There’s people that just abuse other people, (like) Bernie Madoff,” he said. “I think if you trick people, it comes back to you.”
He sees opportunities for success in the stock market, without having to cheat people.
“There’s unlimited wealth in the stock market anyway, you just have to know how to get it,” he said.
Robert Rivas: A start in the U.S. Army
There’ll be no fun in the sun this summer for 17-year-old Robert Rivas, who will graduate on Sunday from Emporia High School.
This year, Robert will have 10 days of freedom from classes before he heads to Kansas City on May 27 to be sworn in and board an airplane to Fort Knox, Ky. There, in a distinctly adult world, he will begin training as a cavalry scout in the U.S. Army.
Losing summer vacation freedom doesn’t bother him a bit.
“I’ll be starting my life and stuff,” Robert said. “I will admit I can’t wait to get there, but I am a little nervous.”
Robert said he has had his eye military service since he was a child, playing war using broomsticks as weapons and rolled-up socks as hand grenades.
He has an overriding interest in history of world wars and the books and movies about them. Robert also has a deep loyalty for his country.
“I want to defend the United States,” he said.
As a young adult, he recognized that enlisting would give him an opportunity to serve his country and, at the same time, attend college classes at no cost.
The Army offered him $1,000 a month for early enlistment and staying in school to graduate — and he wishes he had enlisted even earlier in the school year to draw more monthly payments — plus another $8,000 when he begins his military service. The bonus is that he will have up to $60,000 for his college education.
Robert went to Kansas City for aptitude tests earlier this year to see what Army job would better use his talents and abilities. He was shown videos of the jobs he expressed interest in and decided that cavalry scout would be the best fit.
In that job, he will travel ahead of the regular troops to track down the enemy and provide the coordinates of their location to the troops behind him.
If the situation appears to be too dangerous, Robert said his sergeant told him a special operations sniper will accompany him to provide weapons cover on the mission.
“And that way, you don’t have to worry,” he said.
There will be times he will travel in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled armored vehicle that Robert termed one of the Army’s fastest. It also has the benefit of being able to carry a number of people, in case rescues are necessary.
Robert is eager to get started.
“I know it’s a good way to start off my life from high school,” he said. “Money, I won’t have to worry much because I’ll be covered.”
He checked out several branches of service before settling on the Army.
“I went from the Army to the Navy. I went from the Navy to the Air Force. I went from the Air Force back to the Army,” he said. “I didn’t want to do the Marines.”
Robert’s stepfather, Kenny Pursiful, recommended he go with the Army.
“My stepdad was in the Army,” he said. “He told me it was good for him. It makes you a different person.”
Pursiful’s opinion weighed heavily in Robert’s choice; he has deep respect for his stepfather and for his mother.
“My mom, she’s always been there, like a 100 percent supporter,” he explained. “My stepdad is good to mom and treats the family well.”
Robert is the oldest in a family of four boys and one girl, and he would not be surprised if she, too, chooses a military career after high school.
He has made an eight-year commitment to the Army and, as he completes college courses as he serves, he hopes eventually to become a military police officer. That, he said, would prepare him for a career in law enforcement when he is discharged from service. However, the Army as a career is also something he would consider. That’s not something he has to decide now. He’ll weigh the options and make that decision when the time is right.
“I think that you should always set a high goal that would be hard to reach,” Robert said, “so that when you start getting to your goal you know that you’re succeeding, that once you reach that goal and accomplish it, you know you worked hard for it.
“Anything you put your mind to, you can do it. All the hard work will pay off. Nothing’s easy.”