Hoda Kardoush, born in Cairo, Egypt in 1948. She obtained her education at The Sacred Heart Academy, where she attained her high school diploma in 1966. She was awarded a basketball scholarship to the American University of Cairo, but she only attended the first semester. In March 1967, Michael, a Palestinian born in Nazareth, and Hoda got married in Cairo. After a week of their wedding, they left for Germany where Michael had been working for an engineering firm for the previous five years. Hoda, not quite 19 years old at the time, found it to be a challenging experience, especially dealing with homesickness. It was her first time leaving her family and her country for a totally new world.
In August of 1967, they immigrated to Canada, seeking the New World and the opportunities it offers. They believed that newcomers could be integrated into society more easily than in Europe. Since Hoda only had a high school diploma, it was necessary for her to advance her skills to be able to work and help Michael with their living expenses. Following advice from a relative, she enrolled in a secretarial school for 9 months, where she learned shorthand and various secretarial skills. After graduation, she took a job at the Bank of Montreal in the Foreign Exchange Department. Her trilingual ability in Arabic, French, and English was helpful, and her monthly salary was $300 Canadian Dollars.
In 1968, an American engineering company called Ralph M. Parsons in Los Angeles offered Michael a job. Shortly after, they were granted immigration visas to the United States and had to move again in search of promising opportunities. Upon their arrival in February 1969, Michael started his job at RMP, and Hoda began working at the prestigious CPA firm Price Waterhouse as a Junior secretary in the tax department. She reported to three tax managers and earned $400 per month. It was a learning process for her, and she did not initially grasp the magnitude of the position or the firm’s importance. Price Waterhouse was the official CPA firm that tabulated the votes for the Academy Awards, and her managers were responsible for handling the tax accounts of several Hollywood names such as Jack Benny, Alfred Hitchcock, and Tony Curtis. Part of her responsibilities included counting the votes for the Academy, although she was not aware of the importance and glamour of such a task until a few years later when she watched the Awards on TV. However, after working for one year at PW, she had to quit working since she was expecting their first son, Mark.