A Job That Changed Me Forever

“I just wanted a job. I never expected to find a purpose.”

That’s how 34-year-old Hamza Tariq begins his story. A decade ago, he was a college dropout from Karachi, Pakistan, with no clear direction. Today, he leads a nonprofit that has helped over 3,000 underprivileged children access education and mentorship. His journey, filled with failure, chance, and unexpected opportunity, is a testament to how one job can alter the entire trajectory of a life.

I met Hamza in a small community center in Lahore, where children crowded around him like moths to a warm flame. The energy he radiates is magnetic—but it wasn’t always this way. In our conversation, Hamza shared the winding path that brought him here, and how one unexpected role changed everything.

Drifting Without Direction

“I was always the underachiever,” Hamza says with a sheepish grin. “You know, the kid who passed exams but never impressed anyone.”

After completing two years of business school, he dropped out. Not because he lacked intelligence—Hamza is articulate and sharp—but because he couldn’t see the point. “I didn’t feel connected to anything. The lectures were empty to me. I wasn’t rebellious. I was just... lost.”

His family was disappointed but supportive. They hoped a job might ground him. Hamza cycled through several: data entry, customer service, even waiting tables. None stuck.

“I wasn’t passionate. I wasn’t proud. I was just surviving.”

The Accidental Opportunity

In 2015, a friend told Hamza about a part-time job at a local shelter as an assistant administrator. “They needed someone to manage paperwork, inventory, and assist the education coordinator. It paid poorly. But I had no other offers, so I took it.”

Hamza assumed the job would be dull. “I thought I’d just shuffle papers and go home.”

But what he walked into was a world that changed him.

The Moment Everything Shifted

“One afternoon, the teacher was out sick, and the kids were just sitting there, bored. I thought, what the hell—I'll read them a story.”

Hamza pulled out a tattered copy of The Lion and the Mouse from the shelves and read it aloud.

“Their eyes lit up. They weren’t just listening—they were inside the story.”

He continued the next day, and the next. Soon, reading became a regular activity. But it didn’t stop there. Children started confiding in him, asking questions about the world, about themselves.

“I started seeing them not as students or numbers, but as full people. Each one with a hunger—for knowledge, attention, affection. And I wanted to be someone they could count on.”

That desire—to be dependable—was new for Hamza.

“It was the first time I felt needed.”

From Assistant to Advocate

Over the next year, Hamza’s role evolved. Though he was hired for administration, he gradually began mentoring the kids, helping them with homework, and organizing small workshops. “I didn’t wait for permission. I just did what felt right.”

The director noticed.

In 2016, when the education coordinator resigned, Hamza was offered the position—full-time.

“I cried that night. Not because of the title, but because someone finally saw me as capable.”

With his new role came new responsibilities—and new ideas.

“I wanted to change how these kids learned. Less lectures, more stories. Less discipline, more trust. I wanted to teach them how to think, not just how to memorize.”

Learning While Leading

But Hamza knew he needed to grow, too. He began reading voraciously—on education, psychology, and leadership. He watched TED Talks at night and enrolled in free online courses.

“I didn’t have a degree, but I had drive.”

In 2017, he introduced a mentorship program within the shelter, pairing older students with younger ones. It fostered responsibility and bonding.

The results were evident: higher attendance, improved test scores, and—most importantly—more joy.

Parents began thanking Hamza personally. Some asked if he could help their other children who didn’t live in the shelter.

“I realized then: this is bigger than me.”

Building Something Greater

In 2018, Hamza launched Udaan—a nonprofit focused on educational mentorship for underprivileged children across Pakistan.

“I had no money, no staff. Just an idea.”

He started with weekend sessions in local parks and mosques. Volunteers trickled in. Word spread. Small donors chipped in. The first year was chaotic but beautiful.

Today, Udaan runs in four cities with over 120 volunteers. They provide tutoring, life skills workshops, career guidance, and emotional support.

Hamza doesn’t like being called a hero. “I’m just someone who answered a call. That call came from a room full of kids who needed someone to care.”

Reflections on Transformation

When I ask Hamza what he thinks truly transformed him, he doesn’t hesitate.

“Listening.”

He explains: “I didn’t go into that shelter thinking I’d teach. But once I started listening—to the kids, to my own instincts—I found clarity.”

He believes everyone is one experience away from discovering their purpose. But it takes openness. Vulnerability.

“You have to let life surprise you. That’s when magic happens.”

Advice for Others Feeling Lost

I asked Hamza what he’d say to someone in their twenties feeling the way he once did—disconnected, uncertain, drifting.

“Don’t wait for passion to arrive like lightning. Start somewhere. Anywhere. Even the smallest job can open a door you never saw coming.”

He adds, “Be curious. Ask questions. Serve others. That’s how you find yourself.”

The Legacy of a Single Job

Hamza doesn’t measure success by money or accolades. “I measure it by the stories the kids tell. When one of them says, ‘I want to be a teacher like you’—that’s everything.”

He’s planning to open Pakistan’s first fully student-led learning center by 2026. His team is growing, and so is his dream.

But Hamza always circles back to that first moment—the day he read a story to a group of forgotten children.

“That was the beginning. That job didn’t just change me. It saved me.”