2025 Wrapped

Looking back at 2025 (and the recent winter break), the biggest lesson I have learned is: “If there is a will, there is a way.”
This has been a truly special year for me—one filled with profound change, a lot of first time, growth, reflection, and learning, not only from school, but also from myself, from people around me, and from the environment I stepped into.

1. Achieving an “Impossible” Dream: Studying Abroad

I fulfilled what once felt like an unrealistic dream to me and my family—successfully studying abroad. It was a long journey of working to save money, learning English, taking the IELTS exam, searching for schools and programs, preparing countless documents from personal essays to recommendation letters, and going through the U.S. student visa process during a time of strict interview controls. Looking back, it was exhausting—but absolutely worth it.

2. Selling My First House & Chasing My Dream with “Negative Hands”

I sold my first house and set off to pursue my dream with what I call “negative hands.”
Yes, not empty-handed—but in debt, i made a student loan to pursuit my dreams. This became a powerful motivation for me: I knew I had to work five, six, even ten times harder than the average person to achieve what I want. A close client once told me that the formula for ages 21–26 is simply to be bold, take risks, and do everything that is good for your own growth. So I decided to go all in and see how far determination could take me.

3. Academic Breakthroughs Against the Odds

I earned a 4.0 GPA in my first semester of my master’s program in the U.S., received a 33% tuition scholarship, passed one FINRA license (SIE) , and more certifications are on the way.

Coming from a background without international schooling or formal English training, with an IELTS score of 6.5, the first one to two weeks of my master’s program were overwhelming. I struggled to understand lectures due to unfamiliar accents, new vocabulary, and entirely new concepts.
Was it hard? Yes
Have I ever cried or felt pressure? Yes

But I am resilient. I studied days and nights until I truly understood. Thankfully, my generation has Professor ChatGPT, thousand of courses on Youtube—which always available to answer everything from complex questions to the most basic ones and UConn’s faculty are very supportive and dedicated. Once I understood, everything became easier. My goals evolved along the way: from simply passing the first semester to achieving a 4.0 GPA to earning merit scholarships for incoming semesters. And I did it.

4. Traveling Across the U.S. — Six States in Five Months

Within five months, I visited to 6 U.S. states, all through opportunities generously sponsored. I call it fate—some might call it luck or even miracles.

  • Boston, Massachusetts gave me beautiful friendships and the chance to meet exceptional Vietnamese people in the U.S.—students from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UPenn, professionals at Amazon and McKinsey, and entrepreneurs with decades of experience. Beyond professional learning, these encounters strengthened my belief that Vietnamese people are incredibly capable and talented, no less impressive than Western peers who may have had earlier starts or greater material advantages.
  • Huntington, California exposed me to the entrepreneurial mindset, startup business models, and the growth journey of Vietnamese-founded companies in the U.S.—from international students working part-time jobs to business owners with over 1,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding USD 100 million.
    Most importantly, I received immense love and care from my clients, the relationship initially were just banking clients with a banker, but now they treat me like their own daughter. I am deeply grateful. This experience reaffirmed the values I have always believed in: kindness and giving without expecting anything in return—everything else will unfold naturally.
  • The US Open in New York allowed me to watch matches by Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, and Aryna Sabalenka. Yet the moment that moved me most was watching wheelchair tennis. I cried watching the athletes—despite physical disabilities, they trained relentlessly, maneuvered their wheelchairs at incredible speeds, and returned powerful shots. Even as a fully able-bodied tennis learner, I sometimes struggle to keep up—so watching them made me realize: what is truly impossible for humans?

5. A Beautiful Relationship — Begun and Ended

I began and also ended a beautiful relationship. Once again, I chose the harder path—the one that doesn’t promise short-term ease at the cost of long-term happiness.

6. Building My Personal Blog Website

I bought my domain and spent a whole week to build and design my own blog website. With a spirit of sharing, I hope my experiences, lessons, and journey can offer even a small amount of motivation or inspiration to younger people like myself. Even if it helps just one person, that is success to me.

I am grateful to myself for stepping outside my comfort zone—to explore, observe, and learn from things I had never seen before. I am deeply grateful to my parents for believing me and being my strongest motivation.

Today, January 12, 2026, marks exactly five months since I set foot in the United States. There are still many ideas and plans for 2026, 2027, and 2028. I know there are a lot of challenges ahead—but definitely that I will achieve every single one of my goals.

Happy 2026!

Wearing the UConn jersey is something I am truly proud of.
The opportunity to visit NYSE through Uconn Experiential Learning
Proud to be a part of Uconn at Downtown Stamford Parade 2025
Professor Margie Kiesel, my favorite professor who inspired me to think about what I should do after retirement to contribute to future generations.
I make sure to show up at all of the school’s events and workshops to practice my English, meet new people—seniors, mentors, and peers—and learn from them, especially to understand and adapt to American small talk and networking culture.
Honestly, during the first few weeks, I didn’t understand much at all. I had graduated from university four to five years ago, so a lot of the knowledge had faded. Everything felt new again—from formulas and models to abbreviations, and even concepts I had learned back in college, but this time in a completely different language. But don’t worry—if you keep learning, you will eventually understand. If you don’t understand today, keep studying and you’ll understand tomorrow. If tomorrow still isn’t clear, keep going, and the day after tomorrow, it will click. If self-study isn’t enough, find someone who understands it and ask them to teach you, to explain it, to help you learn.
Keep going like that, and you’ll be able to do anything.
Vietnam never has snow so this was my first winter, my first snowfall. The sight of an entire neighborhood covered in white which was so cold, yet so beautiful. I made my ugly snowman!!
My managers, and also my mentors—those who taught me so much from my very first, tentative steps into the banking world.
I have been fortunate to always encounter wonderful leaders and teachers throughout my journey—from school, to real estate, to banking. Thanks to them, I have become who I am today.
A farewell with the MB Nam Sai Gon Mortgage team—cherishing the kindness, support, and memories from everyone.
A farewell with my branch – MBBank Sai Gon South. They gave me a commemorative gift before my flight, with my managers jokingly reminding me to study hard and “run the MB branch in the U.S.” 😆
The moment everyone saw me off at the airport—my family, friends, and colleagues—traveling long distances just to say goodbye. I still remember all the well wishes and the love everyone gave me. It has become a powerful source of motivation for me to keep pushing forward.