Prompt 5: Tell us about a thing you try to unlearn.
There are bumps on every road; some are meant to make us fall; some are meant to show us
that the path we choose may not lead to our desired destination. I once walked a path which I
believed would lead me to "success,” a destination filled with awards, certificates, and ranks.
However, my experiences coming to the city as a Central Highland girl helped me unlearn
that it is not these so-called material accomplishments, but tenacity and devotion that will
lead me to true, meaningful success.
I was born in a struggling rural community, where everyone exhausted themselves in the
fields to make ends meet. In a place of hardship, my dreams (and my peers’) were hindered
by financial constraints despite our hard work. Thus, I indulged myself in winning
fellowships and awards, which I believed would help me escape from this penurious region. I
was enthralled to receive my first success, the second prize in a province-wide math
competition. As I accumulated more and more accomplishments, that sense of pride
augmented and further reiterated my belief that material success would transform my life in
unimaginable ways.
This credence even accompanied me when I left my hometown and moved to the big city, Ho
Chi Minh city. I continued grinding to get into the hyper-selective Le Hong Phong high
school, only to find that I had to work even harder, plunging myself into endless competitions
and activities to prevent falling behind the city kids. However, as time passed, I felt nothing
but emptiness and exhaustion: I was so "greedy" to earn achievements that I lost my spirit
and was left with an empty shell of no results and no self-fulfilment.
The bottom of my downfall was when I failed two competitions simultaneously, in the first
round: the Olympic 30/4 qualification and the SV-Startup competition. Shocked by what
seemed to be the biggest fiasco of my life, I felt depressingly ill for a week, during which
time I sought salvation in podcasts on Google and long hours of meditation. The tranquillity
from these cathartic methods allowed me to self-reflect: "Has my obsession with material
success truly helped me gain the life I wanted?" Previously, I had solely thrived on the belief
that material success is the be-all and end-all, not realizing that this was a camouflage for my
insecurities and desperation for life without prosperity, so much to the point that I had
depleted my own mental and physical prowess. The epiphany sparked a sense of change in
me: instead of striving to hoard piles of achievements, I focused my time and energy on
activities that I felt a connection to, through which I created true, though minor, impact, not
only on the community but also on myself. I discovered my passion for helping others
through education and entrepreneurship through serving as the Head of Media in Silver
Lining and The Bizillions, two projects focusing on education empowerment for the
underprivileged. Through these experiences, I relearned to nurture my desire not through
aggression, but through connecting to and appreciating the work that I do with the intention
of helping myself and others grow.
My journey of unlearning gave birth to my new intention: to strive for authentic, meaningful
success through supporting others, especially those from underprivileged regions like myself,
