My Perfect Path
My Perfect Path is a podcast about uncovering the defining moments that shape meaningful careers.
Hosted by Daniel Koo, each episode features candid conversations with leaders, creatives, entrepreneurs, and professionals from all walks of life. Whether you’re exploring new opportunities, navigating a transition, or simply curious about how others found their way, this podcast offers real stories, practical insights, and inspiration to help you carve your own unique path—wherever you are in your journey.
🎧 Listen in and discover that there’s no one-size-fits-all path to success—just the one that’s right for you.
My Perfect Path
3. Soleiman Dias From Brazil to Korea, Building Community Across Continents
My "Different" Path. Soleiman is the Director of Alumni & Int'l Relations at Chadwick International.
What motivates someone to leave the familiarity of their homeland to pursue a career thousands of miles away? In this episode, we're joined by Soleiman, a Brazilian-born educator whose journey from Brazil to South Korea is nothing short of extraordinary. Soleiman story is one of resilience and determination as he navigates the cultural and linguistic hurdles of his adopted country, ultimately becoming a pioneering figure in international education. From launching cultural immersion programs to becoming the first admissions director at Chadwick International, Soleiman shares his insights on adapting to new environments and his passion for seeing his alumni thrive on a global scale.
Growing up in a family that valued service, inclusivity, and innovation, Soleiman childhood was steeped in the principles that would later guide his career. We explore the significant moments that shaped his path, like organizing independent trips, and his bold decision to leave Brazil in search of new horizons. Solomon talks candidly about the influence of his parents, particularly his mother, whose passing left a profound impact on him. These formative experiences instilled in him the drive to continually challenge himself and seek growth, whether in Brazil, the US, or his long-term home in South Korea.
This episode is a testament to the power of perseverance and community. We delve into Solomon's academic journey, including the emotional highs and lows of completing a PhD in a foreign language. Despite intense challenges, Soleiman's dedication to education and leadership shines through as he builds supportive communities for fellow expatriates. His story serves as a powerful reminder to seize every moment and remain open to new possibilities, ensuring we never become too comfortable to grow. Join us as we uncover the wisdom and life lessons from a life lived with purpose and passion.
We have a word in Portuguese that there's no translation, but it's like when you are in a comfort zone, you have this sofa and you're just so relaxed that you'll never think about anything else and you stay in that sofa for the rest of your life. We call it acomodado.
Daniel Koo:It's like.
Soleiman Dias:It means you have zero growth in your life.
Daniel Koo:As comfortable and nice that sounds. I think that's true. When we stop growing and when we get too comfortable, we stop experiencing life. Welcome to my Perfect Path, a show about chasing dreams and developing careers. In today's episode, my Different Path, we take a look at Solomon's career.
Daniel Koo:He's the head of international relations and alumni relations at Chadwick International. That's an international K-12 school located in South Korea. Not only that, he founded multiple multicultural associations in Korea, but his story is unique in that he was born and raised in Brazil and somehow, after his education in the US, he ends up spending more than two decades in Korea, during which he gets a PhD in a Korean university, defending it in the US. He ends up spending more than two decades in Korea, during which he gets a PhD in a Korean university, defending it in the Korean language. Could you imagine going to the opposite side of the earth, learning a new language and becoming proficient enough to do a PhD? Many of us don't venture that far out. We like to stay in our comfort zones.
Daniel Koo:I would pay attention to the incredible journey Solomon experiences as he pushes himself to be different. Also, for some additional context, solomon is in the admissions team for the school I graduated from, I joined in the seventh grade and we've known each other since then. So Solomon and I are dear friends and have known each other for a while. What's more interesting is that when I was in elementary school, he taught English at the very same school. We only found out later, but that was an incredible coincidence, so I'm very excited to present his story to you. Hope you enjoy the episode. Solomon, welcome to my Perfect Path. I'm thrilled to have you here. Thank you, daniel. It's a pleasure to be here. It's great to meet you in Korea.
Soleiman Dias:Thank you, daniel, it's a pleasure to be here.
Daniel Koo:It's great to meet you in Korea. Right now we're located in Songdo, back in my high school actually, and Solomon is part of the admissions team at Chadwick International.
Soleiman Dias:Yeah, so since we started, I had the pleasure to be part of the Chadwick International history from its scratch.
Daniel Koo:Yeah, Solomon was there since the very beginning of when I went to this school. I came in as a seventh grader here and he's been there ever since. So we're very close and he's had a very interesting career. He came all the way from Brazil and ended up in Korea, which is polar opposites, as you love to put it. So I really am excited about what we're going to talk about today. Sure, Wonderful From a high level. What were some of the roles that you've had in the past?
Soleiman Dias:So as soon as I came to Korea I joined a foundation, an educational foundation. My master's was international education. So usually when you finish the program you are sent somewhere or you go somewhere for the practicum to practice what you learn, right. So ideally you would go to a place where you plan to stay for a few years so that you can continue growing in your career. But at the time universities planned to send me to China and at the time I was, I believe, not ready to go to China, but I had too many Korean friends and I was learning a little bit of the language and I really wanted to come to Korea anyway to visit them and the professional opportunity came.
Soleiman Dias:But anyway, just to say that my very first role was to start a program on cultural immersion program at a Korean foundation, and they had universities and they have elementary school. So that was my role and they have elementary school, so that was my role. And then, a few years after I was here, I started my PhD program and then was able to finish and then started teaching at university. And then Songdo International City, where I live currently for the last 15 years, was at the time being built. It's a man-made island where we are and I heard about the project so I joined the project from its beginning when the city was still being built and then they built an international school. So in the international school I was the first admissions director for the school for the first 10 years and my current role is alumni and international relations for the school.
Daniel Koo:I think that last role actually suits you the most. Do you feel the same?
Soleiman Dias:Absolutely, absolutely, in admissions. It's interesting because we have a chance to truly meet every single student that will be joining and their families, of course. But the school has this very unique mission to forming global leaders and I guess we're really invested in finding ways, strategies to fulfill that mission and that's why we have a very close relationship with the embassies in Seoul of those different countries. We have the United Nations office here, the Green Climate Fund, which is, you know, the newest organ within the United Nations group, and the headquarters actually are here.
Soleiman Dias:So this quiz is quite focused on growing the international relations and I'm, as you know very well, very passionate about it. I think the sky's the limit. There's so many different things. We can, through international relations, fulfill our mission and also provide our students with greater opportunities. And, of course, alumni provide our students with greater opportunities. And, of course, alumni it's just, I don't have my own children and seeing, you know, our 540 alumni out there doing incredible things, it's just like seeing those 540 children of mine that finished, graduated from here and are really giving their contribution to a better world. It is fascinating indeed.
Daniel Koo:Yeah, we'll also talk about how you started from Brazil and ended up in Korea, but we can kind of get to it a little bit later right now. Could you share with us why you chose the adjective different for the episode today?
Soleiman Dias:Yeah. So I think, since I was very little, I felt in a way, the call to be different, so it attracted me, the idea of being different. For example, I come from the northeast part of Brazil, which is a very traditional region. Brazil is divided in five regions, right, but that region is very unique in itself, has its own kind of customs and traditions. The food is different, the way we talk is different, so there are quite unique regional characteristics and people. For example, where I come from, usually they dance one kind of dance. They learn, let's say, you know, we have a similar system as here in Korea to go to after school academies. It's exactly the same. And in Brazil usually you know, you go for, let's say, english, right, for the English language academy, so you learn English.
Soleiman Dias:For me that was not the case. I wanted to learn Italian, german, esperanto. You know different languages, end up studying at least 10 languages. I wanted to be different. When everyone was going for swimming lessons, I wanted to do karate, you know, or something else, judo, or when everyone was really into at the beginning of computers and all that my thing was.
Soleiman Dias:My father is a writer, so going to the Academy of Literature with him and listening to the speeches that I did not understand, but I was like five years old, six years old, and I insisted, I fought, I guess, to be different. That is something that I I don't know if it's a lesson that applies to everyone, but I think being different, you find a lot of challenges, but also, at the same time, you feel different and you are proud to be different because you end up doing things that no one else is doing and you have things to share that people say wow, I never thought about Esperanto. What language is that Right? Does it even exist, right? So I guess being different leads to different conversations, to make new friends, attract some attention, and also part of education I think it's something that I enjoy is telling people new things, so that's why I'm always fascinated about news.
Soleiman Dias:I read three newspapers a day online, and when I'm at home, the only thing I watch is the news. Because I'm always fascinated about news, I read three newspapers a day online, and when I'm at home, the only thing I watch is the news, because I'm really want to know what's happening around the world, but also be able to share things with people when I meet them. So I guess it's the being different is something that I grew up with and it's still now something that I you know. When everyone is going, let's say, to Europe, no, I want to go to North Korea, I want to go to perhaps you know Uzbekistan or East Timor. Who wants to go to East Timor, right? So I mean, I just find it fascinating the idea of going somewhere different or doing something that no one else is doing.
Daniel Koo:Let's talk a little bit about your current role, then. Do you think the career that you have right now enables you to be different in every step? Do you think it things because you can't fail right and being mediocre.
Soleiman Dias:For me is the worst thing. So I could just do my job and that's it and go home after five o'clock, right, so that's when we go home here. I can't do that, I just cannot. I'm not. And being constant busy, I think I'm a bit too busy. So I'm not a model for someone who's so dedicated to do something. I think you have to find limits, and all that which I do, you know, that's why we've got weekends.
Soleiman Dias:But the beauty of my job is the ability to do new things, to create new programs. So I just shared a little bit about this new community garden program. I'm not supposed to do that because technically it's not international, but it became very international because of the network that we built, having our students presenting at international events about this incredible project of working in the garden of the city and with the city officials and all that. So, as I said, in whatever field we are in, we should absolutely think let's do very well what we need to do. But it becomes even more interesting what you do if you come up with something unique that adds on to the flavor of what you do every day. So, in my capacity, absolutely and of course I have to have a supportive system that allows me to do it.
Soleiman Dias:So, for example, we have agreements with the embassies. Well, we could just keep those study two agreements, but I'm thinking that's not enough. We should have 40, maybe 50. So my goal for next year is to add 10 more, which is the opposite of, let's say, for example, someone that works for the government, that you have your list of things you need to do and that's it, and if you do it well, it's fine, but you don't have to add anything. For me, it's always in my mind what can I add? What is a new thing that I can perhaps increment a little bit on what I've been doing for a long time?
Daniel Koo:Could you tell us a little bit more about what your role here is specifically as well, so what kind of tasks you have to do and what are you responsible for?
Soleiman Dias:Sure, it's a very unique position because it's alumni and international relations. There's no other school that I know of with that title, so I'm the director of alumni and international relations. That is quite unique because I have to deal with all the alumni related events, efforts, initiatives, keeping the database, maintaining the social media alive all sorts of things that we typically would do with alumni relations, which is quite unique to schools. It's usually universities do that very well, but it's still kind of new for schools.
Soleiman Dias:Here in Korea we're the only ones who are actually having an office of alumni relations, because other schools they do things, but someone else is fulfilling that role For international. That is the only school that I know of in the world that actually has something like that.
Daniel Koo:Right To provide some context. There are a couple of international schools in Korea and we are pretty much the only school that has alumni relations and it's kind of modeled after Chadwick School, which is back in Palos Verdes, right, yes, and the relations that we have are vastly different and very useful, and very helpful to each other.
Soleiman Dias:so that's kind of like a responsibility that you carry on, I guess, yes, yes, that's true.
Daniel Koo:So now that we know what you do, now we kind of want to go back to your early influences. Can you share a little bit about where you grew up and what your childhood was like, maybe a little bit of background on, like how you grew up and how your parents were and things like that, just briefly.
Soleiman Dias:Yeah, sure. So I come from a family of I would perhaps call educators, because my father, as I said, he's a writer, but he was a professor of Portuguese language and literature and part of the Academy of Literature. But he also has a degree in law. But I think education was always his passion and my mom was working for the Ministry of Education her whole life. And I have a sister who's also a principal coordinator at a school and a family. I guess that education was a priority. It's a big family of five of us.
Soleiman Dias:I have four siblings and I think we all found education as something that we needed to do and we, I guess, learned how to enjoy it in a way. So I think we are a product of where we come from and the environment that we grew up in. So the one that I grew up with really supported me, with limitations. For example, every time I wanted to do something completely out of the ordinary, my father and my mom would always say perhaps no. And even like going to the Academy of Literature meetings, my father was like why are you going? You don't need to go, please, don't no. But I insisted. Everything that I conquered. In a way, I believe I fought for those things because I truly believe they were giving me opportunities, perhaps to grow and be happy. So I think the background of that is that the environment helped me to grow in that aspect.
Daniel Koo:Yeah, perhaps you kind of jumped to my next question actually, but it seemed like you kind of grew up in a very supportive environment where you were encouraged to do different things and encouraged to do what you really want to achieve. Were there any particular experiences or individuals that you would say kind of influenced you at a young age? And enabled you to kind of push through.
Soleiman Dias:So actually it's not necessarily the family that would support me to do different things. The family that would support me to do different things. But once I started doing different things or traveling on my own for example, getting a job when I was 14, 15 and making money so that I would pay for my trips and buy the tickets and say, mom, I already bought the ticket so I should go, but they were all great trips with very good people and all very organized, but I planned everything and then they would support me. You know that kind of support. But I think if I have to answer both my mother and my father in different ways, they are very, very different. We always ask them. You know how did that work? Because we're so different, but I think they managed to find the good things about each other and give value to that.
Soleiman Dias:So you know, my mom passed away a few years ago and it was the hardest day of my life Having someone that I declared my love every single day for 20 something years through email when I had to leave my home country, through email, when I had to leave my home country, and then she left and you know, I guess her influence was really the focus on sacrificing things for the good of all and having you know there's no distinction between this or that kind of people.
Soleiman Dias:This concept of serving and opening the doors for other people that's from my mom, From my dad is, of course, the value of learning and reading and writing, and I still do.
Soleiman Dias:He published a newspaper and I write articles every month in Portuguese language and you know, I think that played a very important role in my life and someone who's so just and so honest and really educated the five children in that way. My father never hugged us, never kissed us, never. It was a very unique relationship, but it was so much love to the point that when I see my friends now with their children hugging and kissing, I feel sorry for the children because I never had it. And the love that I got from my dad, from my father, is so special and so strong until now that I need no hugs, I need no kisses, because in my mind those are artificial, they're not necessarily the way you express love. So I think there is an inspiration for me. I think I had very, I would say, inspirational parents that raised me the way they believed to be the right way.
Daniel Koo:Yeah, Well, first of all, I'm sorry for your loss and may she rest in peace. Yes, I do think that even that environment was a very different one I would say very unique and I'm sure that you know helped you become the person that you are right now. I do want to kind of shift gears a little bit and start talking about how you left Brazil and how you made that decision to do that. That must have been a very big jump for you, right? Like, how did you make that choice?
Soleiman Dias:Absolutely. And I think you know the first question kind of answers that question. Because when you want to be different, you also think differently, you act differently and you kind of feel that you don't fit in the norm. The norm is just not okay. You have to do something else. You have to innovate and create new things, right?
Soleiman Dias:So I always felt that Brazil, being the fifth largest country in the world, was too small. I had to leave that very small country which is gigantic, you know continental size, but for me was too small. I needed to learn languages, I needed to explore the world and learn new things. So since I was very little, I really wanted to go somewhere else and travel and, very interestingly that I never really explored much my own country. It's too big, right. So I have never been to the Amazon, never been to the waterfalls in the South, which are the two most famous places I don't know if I will ever visit. I have cousins in different places, but because I wanted to leave the country and learn a new, so I first went to the US and then the US. You know, things are quite easy in a way. You get used to things, right, you have access to everything, so everything kind of works in a way it made more sense to you.
Soleiman Dias:Yeah, exactly, you know I was coming from another reality, right? So everything was a bit too easy and I thought, okay, now time for Asia to come to the other extreme.
Daniel Koo:So it seems like you've had motivation or kind of an enthusiasm for being different that pushed you to, you know, leave the country, even to pursue something that you think would bring you success, or what were you trying to achieve there?
Soleiman Dias:I never gave up on growing. So I think that is something that if it's one thing that I learn in my life is there's always a space for growth and learning. So for me, as soon as I got to the US, I thought, okay, so maybe I will stay here until I feel that I learned at least something, and then now it's time to grow further, to go somewhere else. And I think, geographically you have to understand we are exactly the extreme. This is the farthest point to Brazil. So even China is closer, depending on how you look at the globe, but you know this is the farthest you can get.
Soleiman Dias:We're talking about 32 hours to go home and, as you know those of us here in Korea coming from any place outside Asia the retention here is very low. It's like two years max, and this is my 24th year. So it means probably I was born for this. I think I'm meant to be here. But I love challenges and I think that's the point in life. When you cannot find challenges anymore and everything is too easy, then life is boring and you need to find oh, let me go somewhere, Let me meet someone new, never met before. Let me go to a new restaurant today, because I know already what I like in that restaurant. Let me go somewhere else.
Daniel Koo:They do recommend. You know, even for jobs and careers like once you stop learning at your current job, you want to think about going to the next step and finding the next thing so that you constantly grow. I think what we can learn from here is that whenever we feel a little bit stagnant in our career, maybe that's a sign for you to step out of your comfort zone.
Soleiman Dias:And the question you asked me about. You know my current role in what I do, the space that I have to create new programs, new projects. That really makes me wake up in the morning and come to work so excited. Because the worst thing is and I know I understand the circumstances, the constraint financial needs you know we have to do what we have to do. We need a job and we go and work and we get stressed out and that's the end of the day you go home. But the beauty of waking up in the morning and going to work and do something you truly enjoy because you can create something new, it really gets everything more exciting and life becomes fascinating because you know today I have no idea what I can accomplish and I will come up with something new. So in any career, in anything like to wake up and go to work happy.
Soleiman Dias:I think it's such a privilege that not everyone may have and say, wow, this is great. I wake up and jump out of the bed and go to work.
Daniel Koo:Would you say there's a chance that there's another job out there that could be more fitting?
Soleiman Dias:to you.
Daniel Koo:It's just a question I just thought of on the spot.
Soleiman Dias:Yeah, it is a very interesting job and this job you know right now for the last 14, 15,.
Soleiman Dias:so 2009 was when I was hired, but anyway, different titles and all that, but I have this job pretty stable. In Portuguese we say we walk on eggshells, like meaning so carefully doing what we do every day, and that's exactly how I do every day, although it's a stable job that I think I've contributed to the institution and the growth of the city itself, being part of so many things we haven't talked about so many associations, so many groups, so many foundations and all that and leading so many different things. But I'm always walking on those eggshells, right, I'm always very careful. And, going back to your question, I still have somehow associated my name to some of those job search engines.
Soleiman Dias:So, I think if the door is open, there's a reason for that door to open and you should at least look carefully what's inside and check. So I think that's something that, although I have what I have, I'm never completely forget about all these different options out there, because I think we have to. There's always something new happening and being still connected to different people. I think makes a lot of sense, at least to me, to look at those doors that may open one day.
Soleiman Dias:We have a word in Portuguese that there's no translation, but it's like when you are in a comfort zone, you have the sofa and you're just so relaxed that you never think about anything else and you stay in that sofa for the rest of your life. We call acomodado.
Daniel Koo:It's like it means you have zero growth in your life, as comfortable and nice that sounds, I think that's true. When we stop growing and when we get too comfortable, we stop experiencing life. You know, I think that's something that we can really learn from here. Kind of going back on our timeline here so now you're in the States and you get your first bachelor's, and what was that in?
Soleiman Dias:So the undergrad, the first year, was general medicine, medical school. So the general courses you take to finish the course of medicine, to finish and become a doctor, become a physician, and then, of course, all the other internships and observationships and all sorts of things that you do after the program. So to make it short, I wanted to finish in four years, right, so I did in speech and hearing pathology. So very medical, very technical, especially the audiology portion of speech and hearing pathology. It is, you know, anatomy physiology, you know it's very specific pathology. It is, you know anatomy physiology, you know it's very specific. So I had to learn all that. But I really wanted to finish because I realized that I was not happy. So I had to intern a little bit in the hospital and I suffered more than my patients. I would go home and so depressed I felt, ah, this is so not for me, because I was teaching aside and I felt in the classroom it was where I really felt my place, this is where I belong.
Soleiman Dias:Then I realized that for my graduate school I would change completely and go into education and I did international education my master's. But I also wanted to do maybe something in politics. So international relations would be potentially something else. So I said, ok, so after master's my PhD will be focused on this. So that's what happened, anyway.
Soleiman Dias:So from something very medical, scientific, to education, you know, and international relations, more humanities, you know, political science. So my resume people read it and say, hmm, that's kind of strange. Right At the same time it opened to so many different opportunities, I guess, in life, because I've studied this and I worked in all those three different areas and I respect so much each field and I learned, of course, a lot, naturally because I had to study. But I think the main lesson that we get after we study so much for so many years is you still have a lot to learn. That's just the beginning, because the more you learn, the more you start asking questions and you know that's what happens in countries that are not democratic, right. So once you educate people, then they start asking questions.
Daniel Koo:We'll dive into the PhD portion a little bit later as well, but I kind of want to zero in on the decision-making process of how you decided to go into medical school and also deciding to switch out of it. I know you mentioned that you weren't happy about what you were doing and you actually had something else that you really wanted to do? What were the decision criteria before you went in and what did you feel like you didn't achieve that you thought you would achieve?
Soleiman Dias:Very good question. So if you were just watching a movie or playing a game or something that will probably be over in a few hours, then that's it, you do it. You're not thinking too much, you just do it. But it's life, it's learning, it's a work. It's a job, it's a study. So you spend years doing that at least you should to get some experience in whatever field that is, or studying, you know, and the grad takes four years, or when you go to a graduate school, two, four years, depending on you know. So it's years of your life. It's years of your life. It's not a game that you play for a few minutes.
Soleiman Dias:So you have to think in a long term. And for me, once I started learning more and more about medical field, let's say, I realized it's a very serious, very beautiful job, but will I be happy? So you have to connect what you do with fulfillment, with happiness, because life is way too short. It's one of my models, right? So I think you don't get to experience this twice. That's the way I think. At least. You have one life and it goes very fast, and you have only those years to do everything you can to be happy and make others happy. But I have to go through the experience to realize that. So maybe one year, two years in the program I realized this is not going to work. I'm not going to be happy.
Daniel Koo:So how did that differ from before? Like when you applied like what were you thinking that you would achieve?
Soleiman Dias:Of course, because it's beautiful. It's something that, oh, you know, I'm going to be a doctor. Oh, I'm going to do this I will wear a white gown and go to the hospital. It it's a beautification of what you may be doing and then you realize this is reality. It's not that beauty. The white guy will be covered in red.
Soleiman Dias:So it's not going to be white anymore when you go home and all the things you see right and you start realizing and it's so intense. So I think it's what my father always said when he was studying law and he finished the program In Brazil. It's the same thing. It's like about eight years. It's very long, just like medicine, and he realized that it was not for him, but he had to finish. So for me it was something like this and if I had done the whole program it would be eight years, but doing focus, programming, speech and hearing pathology would be just those four years and finish and do something else.
Soleiman Dias:So I realized, I guess in the middle and it's okay when we realize things in the middle of something, we're doing something and then kind of wake up and that wake up moment led me to think, okay, so I have to finish something so that I can move on and do something else. I can do other things aside, but still we live in a world. I would love to say that you don't need that diploma, you don't need to finish. Of course we have very successful people who have done incredible things and changed their fields without that diploma, but I think still the great majority of us normal people, we need to finish something and then move on and do something that we truly enjoy.
Soleiman Dias:So I think it happened to me that process of realizing that in the middle of something, and then I said, okay, I will finish this, because there's also the self need to be proud of yourself, but also make others proud of you. So you want to make others happy too your parents, your family, whoever you're dating so you want that to happen, right. So you said you start plenty things. It's always long-term projection where I want to be next, right.
Daniel Koo:I think what I'm learning from here is that you don't know if something is right for you until you try it Exactly, and it's plenty okay to be not happy with it and, if needed, to move on to a different one. And I think as long as you do it in a timely manner, you should be able to find something that you can be happy with later. So it seems like you already were teaching, so is that why you kind of delved into your next field?
Soleiman Dias:Yeah, Again, going back to what I said life is too short so we have to find things in life that makes you happy. So when I had to do a little bit of internship in the hospital and I was so unhappy but I was very excited that after that I would go and teach my classes and meet my students, so it's almost as if you are in the school but you know, have a vacation, right. So you have summer break and then you kind of survive through because you know you're going to do something fun, or you study the whole day but you project yourself doing something fun after you have to do what you have to do, because guess what you have to do? What you have to do it's not always going to be this beautiful beach, drinking coconut water and enjoying this breeze. No, life is life and you have to go through the challenges that life poses to all of us. So I don't believe in someone that does not have a problem. I think we all have issues, we all have challenges that you know we have to face and they make us grow and we move on.
Soleiman Dias:So I think there was always this thing in my mind because I was teaching right, so I was even. It was just a private. But I got a job when I was 16, 17, a real job getting paid illegally back then. But it a real job getting paid illegally back then. But it was a real job that I had to be on time at a school and teach. But I was so happy, I was like the happiest teacher ever and my students at one point because it was a language academy. They were older than me and I was younger than everybody else, but I was a teacher. I really enjoyed those moments so it really motivated me to kind of continue and do what I needed to do.
Daniel Koo:So I want to get into how you decided to go for a PhD instead of getting a job or something like that. That's perhaps more practical in a way. So what was the decision making criteria for you there?
Soleiman Dias:That's a very important question.
Daniel Koo:Your PhD was also in Korea. Right, it was in.
Soleiman Dias:Korea. So it was very, very challenging. You know, there are a few things that I think before you do you really need to be 130% sure that this is the right thing for you. It's for very few people because it takes so much. I felt so humiliated throughout my program when I had to present my dissertation, and all that Because, again, there will be always a professor that is not happy with and you work so hard, you studied so much and you wrote so much and you fully devotion to what you did and I, of course, I had a full-time job when I was doing my PhD, which is something else, but you have to be so strong just like getting married or having a child that this is for you you really want to do For me.
Soleiman Dias:I never asked much if I should do or not, because when you do a PhD, usually what you think is is it going to help me to grow in my career? Am I thinking of becoming a professor? You know the questions that you ask normally because you really it's beyond what anyone is expected to learn in life.
Soleiman Dias:But I always kind of knew that this was going to happen in my life, that this doctorate would happen, but then it did not influence my decision to do it, because it was not because of my job that I did it, Because I knew the day I got my diploma in 2013 from a Korean university, I had to take the Korean language test. It was so hard and I was so stressed out because of the process that you know one of the professors on the board. He humiliated me and if you're lucky to have only wonderful people that are very supportive, you're lucky to have only wonderful people that are very supportive. You were lucky to have that. I didn't. I had someone who was really difficult, Anyway. So when I came with a degree to my current job and I presented to HR and said this is it, I just wanted to let you know, and they said, yeah, congratulations, and that's it.
Daniel Koo:I felt they don't know what you went through Wow.
Soleiman Dias:They have no idea what I had to go through, but it will not add a penny to my paycheck and it won't change anything. So that kind of thing it has to be something that you are so determined to do because you want to fulfill, of course, the fulfillment of finishing and the very beautiful moment that you show the diploma to your parents. It was a very depressing moment because I was alone here in Korea when I got it. No one came to the ceremony and it was for me like it's okay, because it's for a greater good. Maybe it will be used somehow in the future. So it didn't change my profession, it didn't change my career, but I checked that box right, so I fulfilled that and that feeling is just. It's incomparable to any other. It's just like wow, I accomplished something.
Daniel Koo:It seems like perhaps getting a PhD was one of your life goals and you really wanted to achieve that. No matter what, and I really want to ask it seems like you had a hard time during PhD as well. How did that differ from what you experienced in your bachelor's and what made you stick with it this time right For your PhD? You were able to finish it. What was the different factor that kind of went into that?
Soleiman Dias:Very good question. I think what I could share is when you're presenting your dissertation, there's a group of professors that will comment and listen to your presentations and they will make some comments and you'll change a little bit of what. So in one of those meetings, this specific professor he came to me and he used a very strong language, cursing in front of me, and said what he said and I felt so depressed. Of course I started crying and I went to my advisor's room and I could not recover from that moment because it was so strong. And once you do something with so much care and so much passion and someone comes to you and says this is nothing, this doesn't have any value, of course you feel completely destroyed, right, and that's how I felt. And then my advisor came and he told me you know, I'm sorry, you feel this way, I feel it. You know. He was in the room when he heard it and he said you have all the reasons to give up, but you have no reasons to give up. You cannot give up and you have to understand because those of you who will listen to this podcast and one day will do a PhD and you'll have the time a full time PhD student. You are the luckiest person and do it, and it's amazing.
Soleiman Dias:But I had a full time job in a foreign country and all the bills to pay and everything, and I had zero scholarship. So I had to work hard and do what I needed to do. So I had this determination. I guess it's doubled. So I think that moment helped me to be honest and that's when you know we say a lot. Oh, failure helps you too. It actually does, because I had the reasons perhaps to say you know what? This is it. I tried but it's not working. I'm so tired and I don't have any money to continue this or what. This is too much for me, I will give up. But then it really let you know what I'm going to go back to that professor. He said you have to just think about hundreds of pages that you wrote. And he said you have to do all over again. You know what? I'll do it because I believe in that ultimate goal to get that diploma, fulfill that dream that I had since I was little and tell the world that you can make it no matter what, and you will be able to succeed despite of all the obstacles. So I think that led me to move on In the bachelor's was this idea okay, I'll finish and do something else.
Soleiman Dias:Right, with the PhD, I kind of started to realize it's not going to change my life, but just the idea that will potentially open so many other doors. And I have to say those three letters added to my name that I paid so much with my money, but also suffering or personal struggles added to my name. Every time I see it for all these years now, 11 years later, I feel, wow, how did that happen? I managed to move on with all those horrible moments throughout the program. So, anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I think once you failed, or somebody told you that you failed, it's the moment that you have to say you know what, okay, so I will make sure that I will move on and I will do it better next time. So I guess that's what happened in my case.
Daniel Koo:The insight I'm getting from this is that, I mean, I don't know if all PhDs would be like this, but I'm sure a lot of them will be right. There's a lot of professors, it's way worse than that.
Soleiman Dias:It's way worse than that. What I believe? If the statistics are still, it's about 60% that you actually complete the program.
Daniel Koo:Wow, that's surprisingly low, more than half give up In my program.
Soleiman Dias:Let's just give an example. You know we're about seven or eight people. One got a heart attack and actually passed away, Two got divorced, one got in very serious depression the mom had to come all the way from overseas to be with. So we had so many different cases in my own program so I experienced that. So probably it's more than 60% that could not finish. Very few people finished. So I was lucky to have a very supportive advisor who unfortunately didn't defend me on that moment but later on told me you have to move on, don't give up. In a way it kind of supported me to move on.
Daniel Koo:I guess it kind of ties in with the theme of growth, even though this time around I think it's a more painful kind of growth. Would you say there's any regrets there? Or would you say for you, it made you who you are right now.
Soleiman Dias:No, at the moment of course you don't realize that. So, looking back, I don't regret. I think at the time, of course that day, that month, that year was really hard. But I really don't. I think I was again very lucky to have supportive advisor and financially I could pay. I think I had the infrastructure to just keep going and not give up. But I think a feeling of regret in anything in life is probably one of the worst things. When you say, oh, I wasted my time, oh, why did I do this? It's so bad because you can't go back in time, you can't recover what's gone can't go back in time.
Daniel Koo:You can't recover what's gone. So after your PhD, I think a few of your major career highlights would be all the associations that you've created and the impact that associations have had in Korea. So I know a couple would be the Brazil-Korea Association, the Honorary Citizen Council, the Foreign Advisory Board just to name a few. I guess the question would be what pushed you to create those things? Because, unlike a PhD or a job, nothing really compels you to do it. It's not really something that is very common to create.
Daniel Koo:It's not something that you just do and it's not an idea that we typically have. So what gave you the idea and how did you push through and have that motivation to create something?
Soleiman Dias:Okay, so for those of you who don't know, you know this here in Korea it's a country that very few people stay for a very long time, so retention of expats in Korea it's one of the lowest in the world. So the average is less than two years. But I guess when I came here I said this is a long term thing. I'm not planning to leave soon. And I always felt kind of uncomfortable to be in a place, in a situation where things didn't exist or would not be. For example, you know, when I came here and I visited my embassy which is kind of rare as an expat or a foreigner to go and meet the diplomats I know it's not something very common, but I did so I went to the embassy and I met and I said, okay, so where's the Brazilians here? You know how many Brazilians and where are they? Do they have an association? They have a club, they have a Facebook page? I said no, we don't have anything like that. So I said, ok, wonderful, can I start something?
Daniel Koo:And of course, the ambassador was yeah, sure, thank you, because no one else, no one's going to stop you.
Soleiman Dias:No one else will think about or do it, because you have zero obligation in your life to do it. But I always felt I think organized institutions are very important. I just thought of people that went through what I had to go through when I first got here and I said maybe some ways to help those individuals. So that's how I started. Maybe it was one of the first things I did and again, of course, the World Cup was happening in 2002 and all this. So there was a very exciting moment for Brazilians to be here and I felt the need to organize the community. So that was the first one, and then all these other organizations that you mentioned came through, because I felt there is a need to help others, to get organized as a community and give my contribution.
Daniel Koo:Now, did you have any experience creating something like this before, or was it completely new?
Soleiman Dias:That's a good question. In the US, in my university back in Texas, we didn't have anything in the Latin American club or anything that was, you know, an organized group of us who were studying there. So I remember.
Soleiman Dias:I tried to get the Latin American club, but it was a very small college club, right. It was nothing like an association or something that was big and serious with adults and all that that end up being all these associations that you mentioned here. And then there's one association, for example, that you did not mention, which is the International School Council. That existed before and as soon as I joined, I felt I because okay, in life, you have all these options, right, and I truly understand.
Soleiman Dias:I think leadership is not for everyone. I think leadership is for, again, few people, but you can be wonderful supporters of the leaders, right, and still do Like. When we interview people, interview students, we always ask you know, what are your leadership experiences? Want to be a leader or what? And when they say, no, I don't want to be a leader, but I want to support the leader, that for me is an incredible answer, because you have your own strategies to be successful supporting the leaders. For me, I truly enjoy being the leader. I think I was born to do those things. So, with the International School Council as an example, it existed a long time 40 years but they needed some revamping, they needed a new kind of yeah.
Soleiman Dias:And I'm never satisfied with just being a member. I have to be the president.
Daniel Koo:So I have to initiate something.
Soleiman Dias:I have so many titles that they don't mean anything, but it indicates my level of commitment to those things. So the honorary citizenship is the same thing. I got the title. I could just go home and have and celebrate right with my friends. Well, I had to come up with the council of honorary citizens so that the city hall would be consulting and all that. So that kind of thing here in Songdo with the foreign advisory board, is the same thing.
Soleiman Dias:But you know, I think for anybody and it applies to anyone in anything, even if you don't have a job is what is the legacy you live in when you go and move on to another life. Have you done something interesting that maybe people? Oh, you know, let's do it and make sure that somebody else is going to carry on this flag. But for me it's always asking what are some of the things that maybe I have contributed that hopefully someone else will do it in the future, because I'm not going to be here forever. And that's another thing you have always to think of how we can train others to do some of the things that you started.
Daniel Koo:I want to go into what specific skills or talents have been crucial to your success in this field, like the current one that you have right now working at a school as alumni relations and perhaps admissions as well.
Soleiman Dias:Yeah, so since my job doesn't exist out there, I'm the only one with this title with this business card.
Soleiman Dias:So perhaps I'm not saying that I'm the best model for either one. I'm very passionate about both, but I learn every day a new thing about what I do. So my advice is always to be up to date to what is happening out there. So, for example, alumni relations, since the sky is the limit in international relations as well, you always have to look at what others do For international relations at a school. Since it doesn't exist, I have to create. So I kind of think I have the skills to be the creator of something. So it's a skill set that it's just. It is who I am so like to start a new thing completely out of nothing.
Soleiman Dias:For alumni relations, for example, you have already a tradition, a series of things that people have done very successfully in the past, and you can look at those things and say, okay, let's try to do a few of those initiatives and maybe improve and adapt, adjust. I don't believe that in anything, in any field, you can just copy and paste, and you always have to look at your own context and adjust and adapt and make it better. So the skill set that are needed is you've got to really be passionate about dealing with people right. You need to be somehow open to learn new things from all sorts of people right, to be really open-minded and that kind of thing. I think you have to be also ready to, I would say, carry boxes around, right, so very heavy boxes, because you have to move around, you have to be in charge of events and do that kind of thing.
Soleiman Dias:So I think it requires some physical energy that you need to put into what you do to fulfill your job, but also, in any job, be part of a larger group, a larger network of people that are doing the same job or similar, and you can learn from them and share. So that's why, you know, I love the concept of associations, because going to a conference or learning or sharing or presenting or just listening, it's a place where all these people are just trying to do what you do and they're working hard to come up with something that works and you finally meet them and share your thoughts and you're able to say you know what? I can maybe try that new thing, so that kind of thing. So I think for me it's always those three things, so always being up to date to things, open to change in a way and adjust depending on the circumstances, but also keep your network of professionals in, whatever field that is, but make sure that you are somehow connected, because you end up learning a lot and sharing with them.
Daniel Koo:Seems to me, you need to be kind of a natural extrovert as well. So my next question is do you believe that these skills are somewhat innate, or did you feel like you developed them over time?
Soleiman Dias:You have very tough questions. To be honest, I always thought that being a bit more outgoing and extrovert, you have more options. I think there's a difference between being extrovert and easygoing or kind of willing to learn, Because I have so many friends who are very, very shy and, of course, you know, here in Korea the tendency of most people is to be I come from the other extreme of culture, like too much open and we kiss everyone and hug everyone.
Soleiman Dias:So it's a bit too much, but this culture is very different and I learned a lot when I first got here. So I have so many very, very, very shy friends but they are incredible speakers and amazing experts in their field and when we meet in small group or you know one-to-one and I realized how amazing they are and so capable and wonderful professionals. So throughout time in my life here I think it taught me that you don't have to be that outgoing to be successful at all, but I think it helps.
Soleiman Dias:I think it really helps if you try. That's why the beauty of, for example, public speaking programs, theater, drama, that kind of thing because you learn how to communicate. That's why, you know, when I was very little I thought languages would really open so many doors and it really did. I have to say. Going to my very first international event, I was still in college and it was an international thing, and I saw all these people speaking Spanish and Italian and French and all that and I was like wow, and I would talk to my friends and they don't speak those languages and it was kind of the most fascinating thing because I could talk to them. But it takes an extra effort. So I don't necessarily associate being outgoing to success. I just think it helps to do a few things Like I believe yourself.
Soleiman Dias:Daniel, I think perhaps you're not the most extrovert, I'm not the loudest person in the room but the connections you make, everyone that meets you because I know from all different places people that had a chance to meet you they will say, wow, what an amazing person because of the things you did and do and things you share and your experiences and you play these things and you know a little bit about, you know everything about everything.
Daniel Koo:Thank you so much.
Soleiman Dias:Different things so again, you're not the loudest, but you don't have to be, because I guess it comes naturally with those interactions.
Daniel Koo:What advice would you give to someone looking to develop these skills? If let's say, if they didn't have them innately, but they still are interested in this alumni relations or international relations. What would you say to them?
Soleiman Dias:So international relations, because of course, it was my also focus of study, so I have the academia side and the practical side, right. So I think you really need to be, of course, open-minded but also passionate about the world. You know, it's like when you see the world right now it is what it is and so complicated. And international relations is perhaps an art, right. So we learn in international relations that diplomacy and dealing with the way people think you have to be an artist. So it requires this artistic mindset because you have to know how to talk.
Soleiman Dias:In all the conversations you have, you have to be extremely careful. I say when you are talking about the world, you have to be extremely careful because you may affect, you may harm someone's feelings, right. So you have to be careful because that might not be very appropriate. So you know, being politically correct for me at least, it means to be careful with the words you use, because it may affect someone's feelings. And if it's a conversation at a bar with a friend, it's one thing, but if you're talking to someone who has some responsibility, some power, some authority, you always have to be very careful. So I think that you really need this mindset of you want to build bridges, not destroy them. Yeah, that's how I see it.
Daniel Koo:Having experienced this career, to what group of people would you recommend this career? And to what group of people would you not recommend this career?
Soleiman Dias:recommend this career and to what group?
Daniel Koo:of people. Would you not recommend this?
Soleiman Dias:career it's easier to not recommend. So, for example, if you love anything scientific, you're not really into humanities. Definitely not, because it's all about humanity. It's all about human beings and the way they interact. So if you don't like that, definitely not for you. If you don't like communication or if the news are not relevant to you, definitely not, this is not for you. If you don't like communication or if the news are not relevant to you, definitely not. This is not a field For those of us who love getting to know what's happening out there and you hear something and you get very frustrated if you don't know what that person is talking about. So for those people who love getting to know what's happening beyond your walls and learning new things, enjoying communication and the world, traveling and exploring new horizons I guess that's the most passionate people I found in international relations are those piece of advice you would get to someone that is just starting out and maybe interested in like a role in a school or in admissions or in alumni relations or something like that.
Soleiman Dias:So I think you have to look at people that have gone through this, talk to them, learn from them and I guess that applies to any job, I guess but just to hear from them. And I have to say, as everybody knows, there's no perfect job, there's not such a thing. So you may find a good school, a good company, a good factory, very good paycheck and a horrible boss in a good location, but in a horrible working environment. You know you will never find the good company, good school, good boss, good money, good this, good that and everything is perfect. There's no perfection. So you have to always be ready.
Soleiman Dias:But if you're going to a place or entering a field, I think the most important thing is to find out from people that had that experience in that specific company in that specific city and find out how much they enjoyed. Of course, everyone will have a different experience, that's for sure. But you can learn things by talking to people and kind of getting to know for that specific context. You know if it would work or not for you based on that experience. Also, whatever job that is, or whatever school you're going to, or a country, that really hurts when I hear people saying that, oh, I'm going there just for, you know, two years and then I'll move on to somewhere else.
Soleiman Dias:I think that it's a very bad beginning of a place to work, because then you're not really fully committed. I know that things may change. I know that after a year you realize it's not for you. But unless it's an internship, if you're going to get a job at a place and you say, oh, it's just for a short time, then I'll do something else. I think that's wrong. I think you end up getting very frustrated because you should be there for a long term and you're more committed. You can enjoy more, but you have to do your homework right. You have to talk to people, study about that company, read as much as possible about who's leading it, get the feeling from people that already went through the experience and people may have a very positive, positive experience. Maybe not necessarily, but you heard those stories.
Daniel Koo:So summarize a little bit about what we talked about today. I think we went over your decisions on coming out of Brazil, making the decision to pivot during your bachelor's and deciding to do something totally different. Also, we went over your struggles during PhD and eventually overcoming it, and I think some things that I'm learning today is you really focus on growth and also being different at the same time, and I really enjoyed that, because you know we can't forget to be ourselves. One quote that I really resonate with is be yourself, because everyone else has already taken right, so there's only very unique version of you that only you can become. So today that's been very inspirational, so thank you so much for joining today. I think for someone who's looking to have this very unique role in the future, maybe this will be very helpful. So I really appreciate everything that you shared today.
Soleiman Dias:Yeah, I really appreciate too. I think in life we have very few opportunities to share things about life, and your questions were so precise, were so touching in most important aspects, and I believe that every single one was really well thought, well planned and led to the conclusion that you made. You know, I always remember my father, who talks a lot too. I talk a lot, as you can see, but my father talks even more because he's an intellectual philosopher and we always stop him because he can talk forever, but we always had to cut the mic because he talks too much.
Daniel Koo:So here at school.
Soleiman Dias:I have someone who does that for me, An assigned person that will tell me Sully, that's it, you have to stop. So I guess you didn't do that. Actually didn't do that. Actually the opposite, you provoke the questions.
Soleiman Dias:But I think if you have a chance to talk to someone, maybe not in a podcast format, but when you talk to someone, do as much as you can to enter that person's reality.
Soleiman Dias:It's a mutual thing, right? So it's not just a monologue because it's an interview, so I kind of have to answer the questions. But when you talk to someone that has perhaps a bit more of experience than you or a different experience, doesn't matter what that is you talk to someone that has perhaps a bit more of experience than you or a different experience, doesn't matter what that is try to give that person a chance to talk, because very few moments in life we actually get a chance to share things, and no matter what, no matter job, no matter as a college kid, in high school or what, you always have something to share. So give that chance and to conclude perhaps saying you know, the life is too short, the world is so vast, that's my motor in life and that every moment is so precious and I think we can really make it the most we can, by every single second.
Daniel Koo:Yeah, I really resonate with that. I think that's something that I'm set out to do with this podcast as well, you know, trying to search for those stories that people don't really get to share but can be very important to those key people that are listening. Yeah, absolutely, thank you so much.
Soleiman Dias:Thank you, it's been a pleasure, a wonderful conversation.
Daniel Koo:Appreciate it.
Soleiman Dias:Bye, bye-bye.
Daniel Koo:Bye, thank you.