Relentless
A Boy, a Well, and the Long Road from Eritrea to Dentistry
A story about what happens when a boy refuses to stop.
From a village without electricity or running water, across an ocean, through the halls of engineering and dentistry.
Relentless begins in a small Eritrean village and winds through decades of sacrifice, reinvention, and hard-won achievement. It is a story of leaving everything familiar, of learning a new language and a new country, and of trading one career for another in pursuit of a deeper calling.
From a two-mile walk for water to a dental chair in Texas.
A village, a well
A stone house with no electricity or plumbing. Water carried from a well two miles away, and a six-mile walk to school.
The visa lottery
Selected in the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery, he leaves for America and learns a new language.
Electrical engineer
An engineering degree from Arizona State University, then work as a product engineer at Motorola.
Doctor of Dental Surgery
He starts over, earning his DDS from the University of Washington School of Dentistry.
Trusted Dental Care
He opens his own practice in Wylie, Texas, in October 2018.
FAGD
Earns Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry.
FICD
Inducted as a Fellow of the International College of Dentists, by invitation only.
Author
Relentless is published, and the story is told in his own words.
Engineer. Dentist. Husband and father. Now, author.
Dr. Fesaha Gebrehiwot grew up in a small village in Eritrea, where electricity and running water were luxuries few could imagine. He came to America with little more than ambition and an unshakeable belief in the power of education.
He built a career as an electrical engineer at Motorola, then made the rare and difficult decision to start over. He enrolled in dental school and went on to found Trusted Dental Care in Wylie, Texas.
A story that spans continents, disciplines, and decades.
Dr. Gebrehiwot speaks with universities, dental and medical communities, immigrant and entrepreneurial audiences, and anyone who needs to hear that it is never too late to begin again.
"Local dentist living the American dream."
Years before the memoir, the local paper told a short version of the story. Relentless tells the whole thing.
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