Good morning
fellow toast masters and distinguished guests. My name is TM Ebi Ofrey M.D,
MBA. I am both a medical doctor and a business man sort of a superman /Clark
Kent dual personality. More of a doctor in Bayelsa and more of a
business/management consultant in Port-Harcourt though with my new business
venture - Visiting Physicians Services I am trying to merge both.
It is with great
pleasure that I stand before you this morning to deliver my ice-breaker
speech. On the surface the ice breaker
speech as they say is the simplest of the speeches you give as a toastmaster
because it just pertains to what has happened in your life. This sentiment is
deceptive in the sense that it alludes to the fact that your life can be
summarized in 6 minutes. Up till date I haven’t found any man that can easily
do that not to mention women as we all know for the female species that would
be close to impossible.
After
researching on the best way to go about making the best use of my 6 minutes
which is already less by two minutes right now I arrived at the conclusion that
in reality my life can be summarized in to the adage – WHAT DOES NOT KILL YOU
MAKES YOU STRONGER.
From as far back
as I can remember I have always been quite shy. My mum fondly tells the story
of how on my one year old birthday while we were in the United States my uncle
and his wife threw me a big birthday party. And true to form in the middle of
the birthday party while all the children were having fun I took some toys and
went behind the house sat down on my own and was playing by myself. It was not
till they wanted to cut the cake that they searched the entire house only to
find me very content on my own. Today
she wonders in amazement when she sees me socializing as she cannot connect
this person to the shy little boy she knew.
However this
change was not of its own accord. An incident in medical school in my fifth
year jolted me to the reality that success only comes to the bold and outgoing
because in medical school we usually had oral exams which could make the
difference between a fail and a pass. In my paediatrics oral exams because of
my shyness and inability to speak properly in public I made a mess of the
entire process stuttering through my presentations with bouts of silence in-between.
Suffice to say I failed that year and had to repeat the year. I thought it was
the end of the world. How would I fit in to the set below me? How much more
humiliating could it be? But after a hard talk with myself I decided this would
only make me stronger. Over the next year I made sure I participated in all
presentations, I sat in front of every class so I would be the first person
that was asked questions; I also stood in front in every ward round making myself
vulnerable to what we termed percussion – which meant receive a barrage of
questions from the consultant during the round. Naturally I had to do a lot of
reading and it paid of beautifully as that year I scored the highest marks in
my exams and also scoring the highest mark in all courses even in my final
year. That was the beginning of my life as a high achiever and I have not
looked back since then also continuing to be the best student in my Masters in
Business Administration Set.
What does not kill you makes you stronger.
If I am asked
what I can say is my biggest strength, I would say even without thinking about
it that my biggest strength is the fact that no matter the situation I face I
never ever ever seem fazed or disoriented or confused. Let me tell you why –
Many people
think it is because of my medical training but they cannot be farther from the
truth. Many do not know this but for years my wife was fighting a battle with
chronic kidney disease. For those that do not know what it is – This is when
both kidneys totally shut down leading to an inability to produce urine and as such
the waste products in the body accumulates.
For her to be able to perform this otherwise natural act she needed to
be connected to a machine for 3-4hrs thrice a week. Each session costing N30,
000 leading to a sum of N120, 000 per week (drugs inclusive). That is why when
I see those pleas for kidney patients on TV I know exactly how they feel. This
went on for three years many times with me not having an idea of where I would
get the money for the next dialysis. That
is when the statement there is a solution to every problem was burnt into my
mind and remains there till today.
Fortunately
after three years of dialysis, one chest surgery, a trip to India and finally a
kidney transplant 4 years ago. I came to the conclusion that If I can go
through that successfully and come out on the other side successfully without
being bankrupt and wrecked. Then no problem is worth my concern.
Again it showed me that what does not kill you makes
you stronger.
These are two
events that had a huge impact on the person I am today and is a glimpse into whom
and why I am the way I am today.
If this is not
breaking the ice with regards who I am then I do not know what is.
Thank you.
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