Updates (August 25, 2024)

Things I noticed at my age now after school and work and then living life.

• I can startle younger adults as I am not the general Vietnamese/Asian low stereotype. I studied and worked quite a bit at 40 years old now and have experiences to rise above stereotypes out in society from every perspective.
• The only thing that will grow you is holding up in your room studying programming I think. The amount of structure, layers and complexity is almost infinite to learn in programming. And when you add your own creativity and personality to it then so many things are possible.
• There is almost absolutely nothing to do out in society because outside is “high school” with it’s biases and stereotypes. You don’t really grow. Well you can meet people smarter and more knowledgeable than you when you just go shopping in the supermarkets if you go out looking for “smarts”. There are also other people mature and smart shopping too. Generally really old people and people who “are active/proactive” show you, you. They show you how smart and how little you are in the “passage of time”. When you get old, old, old like me, you are just learning and growing. Old people connect with you and you guys are just learning and growing, philosophizing in life instead of just having leisure and fun activities like when you were young adults. Really old people are just persons. That is what they project. They are just a person. That is what you get and aim for when you get old and mature. No fancy adjectives really.
• Doing programming is probably the only thing that is high and worthwhile instead of working a 9-5 job “to escape”. Many immigrants spend their entire lives studying for their graduate degrees and have a family really late so they are the top 1% in terms of skills and life skills. That will prepare them for life (wife, family, career, retirement, longevity). I guess I have to do programming to get the high skill and get the preparedness for a family of my own one day. It might take me 2-3 years until I have the skills to do commercial things with ease. Or maybe find a company that will give me entry-work to grow??? I think you must go 120% all in and be smart to have a life here in Canada without any setbacks really. I am seeing that now if you want a thrilling life.

I know where I belong in society.

I think I should just get a job and whatever??? Let see what happens next year.

People who never went to professional schools earning their PhD or some professional career, how do they think and live? I wonder if I was a doctor what would I think? Do they have the same tribulations of life as everyone else?

I heard from one immigrant doctor who retrained as a family doctor, going all out doing 8 years of retraining was worth it because he now has money to retire after working for 10 years here in Canada and never worries about finances. But he was a doctor first in his native country.

I guess doctors are happy their way. Maybe the grandiose human experience and education is what they have.

Anyways it is people on my wavelength that make me happy.

The interesting thing about being my current state is that I am learning about life while only 50-60% interested in programming now (I used to be only 40% interested in programming 4 years ago). Maybe thinking about life in this current state is helping me grow and subsequently feel good and maybe “feel special”?

There are other Vietnamese my age who have not settled down and just worked a stable job and had a family. OverseasVietnamese.com is a place where Vietnamese try out new things. Most already have some experience in a first career and are trying something else.

The most important thing I realized is that you can grow in your perspective and more if you socialize with Vietnamese from your age group like in https://www.overseasvietnamese.com/. Life isn’t just the Western experience just only in the West.

It is important to do what you like and work on yourself and your core beliefs, I did and got recognition. Where I came from and where I grew up was valuable in all the things I accomplished like making software and being published in some big name publications.

My focus is the singular pursuit of trying something new in coding. It is like creating better structure and processing for a particular subject area right now. For example, like using JSON and processing that for other uses. Making things more efficient so I can save time to use the output in other products.

I am getting sick, fat and tired working. Doing my hobbies and personal goals gives me life. I guess that is what happens when you go to work. I needed work to learn how to manage work and life together.

I am realizing more and more now, life needs to go in the direction of refining a fine skill after all the ruckus.