Surviving a gas-station robbery drove Ali to pursue graduate study and emigrate.

Evidence

Ali had been working at the Long Island gas station when he was shot one day in a botched robbery. He wasn’t seriously injured, but the incident frightened him. He resolved to finish his studies toward a master’s degree in public health and seriously considered moving to Chile for good. First he sent his family without him. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 734