17 years old me, finishing high school, I was super excited to finally break out of the boredom of doing the same thing for 12 years straight. Throughout my life up to that point, I had not been a motivated person. My family is considered middle-class in Vietnam, I never have to worry about anything in life except from the homework. I had done “enough” work, and thanks to my luck and, I got pass with pretty good grades most of the time, but I never put my heart into my studies. Either it is the environment I grow up, where not much people focusing on study or just straight out my laziness. Even when I decided to go for studying in another country, my effort was minimum, find the easiest possible, paid money for a 3rd party company to handle every documents for me.
Stepped my first step in Finland, looking for any upcoming opportunities, deal with all the culture differences. But with the naive stereotype of Finland, which is an innovative and strong in technology, it would be easy for me to find a job here. I got the biggest slap in the face when the unemployment rate hit 9.4% in Finland.
But this post is not about complaining, excusing, or begging for help. It is here to tell me and whomever reading this to “Embrace challenges/difficulties”. What I did right (after lots of bad decisions) is to move away from home. It was the moment when I unconsciously broke out of my comfort zone.
Since then, I am more aware of having choices in life, and the way I chose is not in easy mode anymore. Some worth mentioning:
- Went for a WWF Youth Summit, my first ever NGO participation, without a single idea of what a sustainable diets and leadership is like.
- Made a switch from Software Development to Cybersecurity, I spent the first 2 years learning Software Development because of the demand and beginner friendly. Then everything changed when I did my first internship, the experience was bad enough, I had to make a career change…
- Went for exchange in Budapest, and studying at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, their courses are tough as it is pure engineering school. Courses are theory heavy, I was not used to this kind of study as I am studying Applied Sciences.
- Chose a thesis topic related to space, satellite and spacecraft in order to force myself to study this field.
What I earned from all those decisions and challenges cannot be bought with any amount of money.
Would I choose the same path if I knew what gonna happen? Yes, I was taught to take everything as a lesson. There is no such thing as a bad decision (unless you go against the law). Having this mentality kept my mood positive most of the time, of course, there are moments when you feel sad when things did not go as you plan. I failed 3 important interviews, they were the ticket to make me financial independence, it made me disappointed of myself for a while. But in the end, I know I was going on the right track, because myself 1 year ago wouldn’t be able to even land an interview.
Also, I wouldn’t be able to make this far without support from my family, friends, my dear love, and any stranger who has helped me. Thank you so much!
No person is the same and no journey is similar. Take your challenges, and enjoying where they bring you to.