The Roads I Didn't Take

I do not often write about my life. I am a fairly ordinary person, and much of my life has felt like a chain of failures, uncertain decisions, and attempts to stand up again.

In high school, I loved swimming. I could stay in the water for hours and swim tens of kilometres. At the pool, I was often the last person to leave. I was selected to compete, and I was also invited to consider a path in the navy. I refused both opportunities, although I still cannot fully explain why.

After that, I felt lost. I liked machines, robots, drawing, books, and games. When I was about ten, I spent time playing GTA San Andreas and studying game mods. Later I chose art, and that became another place where I stumbled. I did not have a perfect career plan.

Eventually, technology became a direction. Perhaps I needed a reason to keep living and working. I kept wondering where Vietnam would be in ten or twenty years, and whether I could help someone through technology. When I saw what software and AI could make possible, that desire grew.

For students preparing to enter university, I want to say this: people who went before us are mirrors, even when they failed. Their failures can show us what to avoid; their courage can show us what to try. Few people choose perfectly the first time. What matters is what we learn and how we travel the road.

Try. Choose. Make mistakes. Stand up. I do not know how many times I have fallen, and I am sure there will be many more. That is not a heroic sentence. It is simply the truth.

Follow your dream if it is truly yours. Believe in it before asking everyone else to believe in it. But understand that entrepreneurship and a meaningful path are harsh in the real sense. Do not chase a dream only because it sounds inspiring. Choose it, work for it, and accept the cost.