Book Review: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

chillibreeze writer — Anwesha Bhattacharya

‘Leaving Microsoft To Change The World’ is the odyssey of John Wood, Marketing Director at Microsoft Australia, to spread education among the children of the world.

It all started when John, blessed with every material reward one can (or can’t) dream of achieving at age 35, spent a few moments in retrospection, to realize to his utter dismay that the pressures of his work had ripped his life of all the little pleasures. The realization prompted a trekking trip to the Himalayas. In Nepal, where he was lodging, he came across a devoted Nepali teacher who pointed out to him the sad conditions of a school in Nepal. Moved, John decided to replenish the empty library of the school. Help from his parents and friends made this event not only easy, but supremely satisfying. The end of this little project marked the beginning of a new life for John. He had found his calling.

After strenuous emotional turmoil, John went ahead with the idea of leaving his job, his plush apartment, his hometown, the love of his life and every luxury he had been used to in order to establish ‘Room To Read’, an organization devoted to the cause of providing the gift of education to hundreds of children in Third World countries.

Room To Read grew at a super-fast pace, spreading from Nepal to Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India and other countries. John spent his days in a whirlwind of flights to every corner of the world, fund-raising events, phone calls and e-mails. He was helped by his network of friends, donors, volunteers, employees and lessons learnt at Microsoft to achieve his dream. And finally, before he knew it, Room To Read had donated more than 1.2 million books, established more than 2600 libraries and 200 schools and sent 1700 girls to school on scholarship, ultimately touching the lives of 875,000 children with education.

This is an emotional, touching, inspiring and absorbing saga of an entrepreneur who became one of the very few persons on earth to discover his true self and to get access to the best moments in life that justify living.

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—About our writer:

Anwesha says, "I am a simple girl in love with life and nourishing big dreams. I am a voracious reader and passionate about writing."

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