Recapping my 2024

In 2023, I got a lot of stress while leading an AI team. Nearly every quater, board of directors asksed me who to fire to cut costs. I did not feel comfortable with that and did not want to make any decisions. And for the whole year, I just wanted to make sure my team stayed long enough before Lunar New Year, then everyone got their year-end bonus. I felt depressed and found writing as a meditation method. Writing thing down help me to clear my mind and plan better. When I reread my writing from last year, I can clearly see my growth and progress. And here is what I worked on in 2024.

Writing

Three people inspired me to start writing: Jordan Peterson, Paul Graham, and Huyen Chip. Jordan Peterson emphasizes that writing is the best way to pratice critical thinking. In daily life, you need to convince people with words, and regular writing pratice sharpens this skill. Paul Graham showed me that writing can be straightforward and natural. His perspective that not all readers are native English speaker resonated with me - you don't need complex word to express powerful ideas. Lastly, Huyen Chip, who's also from a small town in Vietnam like me. She openly shares how her writing brought her many opportunities, even though she sometimes doubts herself. Her story showed me that anyone can start writing and make an impact.

While I didn't write as frequently as planned last year, I'm proud that I started. It's now become a natural habit that helps me organize my thoughts better. I saw this clearly during my scholarship applications. At first, I just listed my achievements and used ChatGPT to turn them into motivation letters. After getting many rejections, I tried something different - I sat down and really thought about my story and what I wanted for my future. And yes, it success to give me a scholarship.

Quitting my job and studying abroad

Last year, I realized corporate life wasn't for me anymore. Work had become a blur of meetings and presentations rather than building cool things. I wanted to create and innovate, not spend my days in endless discussions. Through writing, I gained clarity about what I really wanted to do next.

I decided to follow my dream of studying in Europe. Everything moved quickly - within three months, I had my scholarship and all the paperwork ready. Though the scholarship amount is modest, it gave me the push for this new adventure. Now I'm doing my Master's in Grenoble, a beautiful city surrounded by the Alps. Every month, I go hiking with friends in these amazing mountains.

Learning to build

While preparing for France, I spent a lot of time reading Paul Graham's essays and watching YCombinator's startup school videos. His ideas got me excited about building my own products. Today, it's easier than ever to build something yourself, especially with AI assistant like Cursor.

While studying IELTS, I discovered a love for the language learning application. This led me to create a side project: an English-learning app called DictationDaily.com, using NextJS. Even without frontend experience, I completed it within two months.

After moving to France, I quickly realized how hard it is to get a job without knowing French. Despite having six years of experience in AI in Vietnam, I faced many rejections from France companies. Out of twenty job applications, I only got three interview invitations. I knew I needed to stand out and show my strong desire to work in France.

So, I created another app, this time to help people learn French. I called it TofuAI, and it uses the GPT API. This app lets users practice conversations with virtual characters in specific contexts, like ordering a pizza or asking for prices. I built it within one week, and it was good enough to help me land a job related to LLMs.

Whenever undergraduate students ask me how to stand out in the tech market, I always tell them to build side projects. Start small and choose something fun is enough. It’s also one of the best ways to learn. Plus, side projects make a great impression on interviewers. And who knows, your side project might even grow into a business one day. Think about Google’s founders. They just wanted to make a better search engine. I’m sure they never imagined their idea would grow into the giant company it is today.

Summary

2024 has been a relaxing and lucky year for me, with only a few challenges. Before I went to France, my father reminded me that what I achieved today is far more than what my parents ever had. Everything I’ve got is thanks to the incredible support of my family, teachers, and friends.