Updates (July 24, 2025)

July 24, 2025 admin

Things that I noticed …

I am old. 41 years old in Canadian years. It is odd when you see younger people and inexperienced people comment on a Vietnamese born in Canada who was brought up in East GTA (Ajax and Oshawa). For the most part, everyone lived different lives and are at different stages of growth.

It is 50 years after the Vietnam War and Vietnam has become a country that is developing now. Because of world geo politics and basically racism, Vietnam is what it is. Most Vietnamese want Vietnam to fully develop but that is still a long ways away and is determined by many factors … There are countries wanting to help Vietnam develop.

There is a lot of 2nd generation Vietnamese who are 20-40s looking for their voice even after kids and family of their own. I found my voice finally (I think) because I made connections to other Vietnamese like me here in Canada. I found Vietnamese born in Canada smarter than me and more experienced and more accomplished in life than me to share the ‘Vietnamese-Canadian’ experience of openness and healthy steady safe growth beyond Western culture and beyond Vietnamese from Vietnam culture. That is the ticket. For example, Tammy Nguyen has family working in IT. She knows this space. So with her support I went along and took the long road of ‘external growth’ in IT for a life of IT work to help define me. You don’t need to work in IT. You don’t need to do anything really. But a life of technicality is the foundation. Countries that are developed don’t really soul search or are trying to find their voice. They are trying many ways to innovate. Their countries adopt Western thinking. They have systems in place to allow their people to do research and development fully. Some of their people even try to deflate and live a simpler lives relocating to areas that have less stress. They have that option to live in their homeland where it is stressful and maybe homogenous or decide to go elsewhere.

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The thing is coding and computing this long is that it become humane at the end.

When you are young, you look for that technology and crave that advance stuff.

But with the people that support me over the last 5 years, it is just growth and living broader.

Nothing really surprises Tammy. I do my thing and it is basically just OK cool.

You surprise people who are still learning and in that growth phase.

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Everyone not this far into IT and coding doesn’t realize the depth in 2 areas:

Being a programmer is cool and good and all. Somewhat a bit nerdy and uncool too.
Takes decades to code (for me it did). People commenting and trying to reason with programmers don’t understand the zone out feelings and decades it takes to code. Some projects takes a lifetime of living (literally decades) to create and that is based on the individual’s perspective and growth and life challenges from birth.

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Also I realized when reflecting back at school in 2023, everyone has a legit reason to do what they want I think. Everyone is unique and has an ego. But in Canada and the West, sometimes you have to just work and learn and the ego is suppressed.

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To get out of that phase of finding your voice that many Vietnamese born in the West have is to do what I have done I think.

I had a dream in grade 6 to code software tools
I failed at it because it took too much work at grade 7 and I had no friends and no guidance in the field
Changed gears and forced myself to study stable healthcare professional jobs
Failed at doing stable healthcare professional jobs because I did not know how to live. I did not live for myself first to set an example for others.
Finally tried to do my dreams in computer at 33 years old
Was pushed by mentors to code and do what I like every single day (Allan and Ben pushed me to live Western)
Lived strong, confident and free ‘building’. Built software. Man is supposed to build. That is what makes men.
Connected with Vietnamese born in Canada so I felt not alone at 37 years old.
Grew with them for years.
Realized there is a Vietnamese born in Canada experience that is different from everyone else finally today after growing. Today is July 24, 2025.
Realizing the Vietnamese born in Canada experience required smarter, more supportive people who takes the good and bad of every perspective and just lives here in safe Canada … grow, live and whatever … You got to do stuff with what you are given to feel and have value still. Live so broad that nothing really bothers you … Keep broadening that circle. It is the Vietnamese born in Canada ‘women’ that show this. Tammy Nguyen showed this to me.

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Coding your way and for yourself gets to the point where learning and living is non-linear which is great for health and growth and keeping busy.

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