From Zero to 0: My 4.5-Year Journey at HCMUT
Hey everyone! It's been a while since I last posted anything on my personal page, hasn't it?
Well, I've officially graduated for over a week now. I had planned to write something before the graduation ceremony, but it wasn't until today that I finally had the time to sit down and reflect on the journey.
To be honest, I could sum up my 4.5 years at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT) in four words: “From zero to 0.” Why? Stick around until the end of this post to find out.
When I first stepped into HCMUT, my programming background was pretty much ZERO. The only programming language I “knew” at the time was Turbo Pascal, which I'd learned back in 11th grade. Ironically, I'd been exposed to computers since first grade, mostly to... play games.
Coming from a small-town high school, I arrived at HCMUT feeling completely overwhelmed. All around me were students armed with skills that seemed incredibly advanced to me back then: programming Arduino, running
sudo chmod 777, solving quadratic equations with Python... And then there were conversations about Greek mythology, Norse mythology, constellations, and all sorts of other stuff. Meanwhile, mathematical mapping problems had me thinking, WTF, who am I, and where am I?Those absolute legends have all gone on to achieve amazing things by now. Seriously impressive!
Thankfully, with help from friends and a piece of advice from a senior that stuck with me—“If you want to get good at something, treat it as your own”—I gradually began to develop my own approach to learning.
Indeed, to commit to and excel in any environment, field of study, or individual subject, you have to genuinely consider it “your own.” To me, that means recognizing two things: the possibility of being involved with it for the long term, and the fact that you are ultimately responsible for yourself.
At the time, I told myself: If you don't take this subject seriously, you'll be unable to do your job three years from now, and you'll be the one who has to deal with the consequences.
For other subjects where I couldn't envision a future connection, I might only show up twice during the entire semester: once for the midterm and once for the final. And, of course, the grades were pretty miserable. =)))
When it came to major-specific courses, I made it through with plenty of help from my fellow comrades in arms. We competed for course registration slots together, took extra courses during summer semesters, skipped classes together, sneaked into other classes, marked attendance for one another, prepared for exams, and pulled all-nighters to meet deadlines from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Thanks to the work experience I'd accumulated since my second year, I gradually developed an “easy game” mentality. I became confident that I could handle any tech stack and adapt to any situation—“Any stack, any beat. I'll play along!”
But eventually, I came to a humbling realization: I was incredibly ignorant, and I didn't even know it.
That happened when I revisited fundamental problems and dug deeper into more specialized topics in my field. The more I explored, the more I realized just how vast the knowledge out there really was. A university curriculum can only cover a fraction of it.
I'm genuinely grateful that I had the opportunity to realize this early, before it was too late.
After spending nearly a year working on my thesis during the pandemic, including some intense final sprints when my team and I slept barely four hours a night, I finally completed all 143 credits in my undergraduate program following my thesis defense in mid-May of the previous year.
During this journey, I was fortunate enough to meet a professor who was both deeply dedicated and exceptionally capable. Beyond his technical expertise, what I learned from him was humility, optimism, and positive energy.
Once, while reading a research paper, I asked him a rather silly question: If this hash function was already so secure, why did the algorithms hash things two or three times in succession?
His answer?
“Just to be safe!” :)))
He then pointed out that it was just like us repeatedly pressing
Ctrl + S. One press is enough to save a file, yet we still press it two or three times anyway. =))From him, I learned to recognize that everyone around us has their own value and something interesting we can learn from. I also learned to stay optimistic and trust that, wherever we end up, things will somehow work out.
If I'd simply continued along the usual path, I could have started preparing for exams and submitted my outstanding language certificate to graduate “on time” in November of the previous year.
But then I stopped and asked myself: Wait a minute... “Why do I have to graduate on time, and what does graduating on time even mean?”
After all, I'd spent nearly three years constantly running between work and study, not to mention the twelve years of school before university, during which I'd always pushed myself to the limit.
I decided to postpone graduation so I could dedicate my energy, mindset, and time to investing in myself and exploring the world around me, giving myself the best possible preparation for what lay ahead.
I focused more on my current job and my health. I spent more time with my family and reconnected with relationships I'd neglected. At the same time, I explored fields that interested me, from technology and psychology to finance. I also went on trips to discover new places, gain new experiences, and hold on a little longer to what people call student life.
As for how I managed to maintain my student status, I re-registered for a course I'd already completed but failed to withdraw from in time. That meant I had to close my HCMUT chapter with a big fat zero on my transcript—though, of course, it had absolutely no impact on my GPA. =)))
In return, I found the answers I needed for myself and kept enjoying various student benefits, including unlimited Google Drive storage, GitHub Pro, a Spotify discount, $200 in DigitalOcean credits, $200 in Microsoft Azure credits, free domains and SSL certificates, and more.
Sounds like a worthwhile trade-off, doesn't it? :)))
After everything, I finally felt ready to graduate.
Honestly, before the ceremony, several friends and colleagues had told me they couldn't make it because they were busy or had caught COVID. I'd already prepared myself for the possibility that not many people would show up.
But to my surprise, quite a lot of people actually made it, making the ceremony far more complete and memorable than I'd expected.
I'd like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone—my family, professors, seniors, juniors, friends, and colleagues—who accompanied and supported me throughout my university years and my 18 years of growing up and studying in Tan Chau. Thank you also to everyone who took the time to attend the ceremony and celebrate this milestone with me.
To me, ending my HCMUT journey with a zero also represents a kind of balance. It reminds me that I'm not someone special, that what I know is only a tiny fraction of what there is to learn, and that graduation is merely another milestone—a starting point for continuing to learn and improve my professional skills in the years ahead.
Beyond the foundational knowledge it gave me, the greatest things HCMUT has taught me are open-minded thinking and the ability to learn independently. It has also given me opportunities to connect with professors and friends who can accompany me on the journey ahead.
Finally, I believe that every effort will eventually pay off. HCMUT will always be ready to let us graduate in our fifth year, sixth year, or even later.
Among the people in my network, I've seen quite a few seniors and friends who haven't graduated yet but have already achieved meaningful success in their careers or are simply living happy, laid-back lives of their own. At the very least, they've developed solid ways of thinking and built a strong foundation of knowledge, allowing them to hold on to the ambitions they had when they first stepped into HCMUT in their freshman year.
Just move at your own pace. Take your time. Good things lie ahead!
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Saigon, May 3, 2023