Book excerpt: Iranian village to a university professor in the United States of America in this memoir. As a boy, his unruly behavior was sedated by scholastic challenges as a remedy. At age twelve, he left home for junior high school in a provincial capital. At first, a lack of self-esteem led him to stumble, but he soon found the courage to tackle his subjects with vigor. He became more curious about the world around him and began to yearn for a new life despite his financial limitations. Against all odds, he became one of the top students in Iran and earned a scholarship to study medicine in Europe. Even though he was culturally and socially naïve by European standards, an Italian family in Rome helped him thrive. The author never shied away from the challenges of learning Italian, and the generosity of Italy and its people became part and parcel of his formative years. By the time he left for the United States of America, he knew he could accomplish whatever he imagined.