A lot has changed in my life between the start and end of the 2010s. Here are 20 things that defined a decade of mine:
1. Got 5 student exchange scholarships: JENESYS 2.0; ASEAN Youth Expo; Mekong Friendship Project; ASEAN-India Students Exchange Program; YLEAD.
2. 1st prize English Eloquence Contest; 1st prize in IC Master in DAV.
3. Founder of Model United Nations Club in DAV and joined 3 international MUN competitions.
4. Top 10 Miss DAV and top 50 Miss Vietnam students studying abroad.
5. 8.0 IELTS without entering any IELTS class.
6. Graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam with an Excellent Degree.
7. Completed my Master’s Degree at the University of Amsterdam, major Contemporary Asian Studies.
8. Learned 6 languages: Vietnamese, English, Dutch, Spanish, Tagalog and Chinese. Although I’m not fluent in all of them, I did take serious classes.
9. Traveled to 32 countries, nearly 100 cities in 3 continents.
10. Set foot on the Spratly Islands: 11 islands and 1 rig – only 10 students/year could participate in this program.
11. Flew an airplane in Boise, Idaho.
12. Experienced many kinds of traveling: solo trip; with family; with (best) friends; with strangers etc. Stayed in Couchsurfing; B&B; Hotel and Resort. It’s doesn’t matter where I go, it’s really who I travel with.
13. Published my own travel blog with some keywords always on top 5 Google.
14. Got a new roommate, a partner in crime, a mentor and a supporter.
15. Decided not to follow the diplomat career and seek other opportunities my way.
16. Completed 7 years of teaching English.
17. Being the CEO of an NGO – Salt Cancer Initiative – an organization supporting cancer patients in Vietnam. As such, I’ve had chances to share, learn and work with people with the same passion. SCI was in the Top 2 Community Projects in WeChoice Awards 2018 and achieved the National Volunteer Award 2019. Plus, countless social projects I’ve been through.
18. Launched my own start-up BonBon City Tour with my 16-year friend and the best teammates/bros and sis I could have. Served more than 4000 customers and got 98% 5-star feedback.
19. Lost 16kg (almost) without any intention…
20. Stay positive!
To sum up:
Words for life: coincident and spontaneous.
Words for work: be active and be responsible.
Attitude in life: Just keep swimming!
Thanks to all the learning curves along the journey, now I’m both a social worker and a woman entrepreneur. I always feel thankful for having family and friends who could accept my weakness, spend time listening to my silly stories, and answer questions from a messy-Mi in me.
2020 seems like a portent. It’s a cool looking number, a beautifully round number. Don’t be afraid to learn something new or try something different. Beat it and you will see how far you could go.
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