Major: International Business – Economics
(2012 – 2015)
For those who haven’t known me for a while, my journey started at Foreign Trade University. To be extremely honest with everyone who is reading this, I did not like the school at first. That sounds weird, doesn’t it? Because even until this time, FTU is still believed to be one of the hottest universities throughout the entire country that people have long proudly called it Harvard Vietnam. And getting into the school is more of a privilege rather than an effort’s payback or reward.
Well, not going to lie, I almost failed the exam to FTU, despite the hard work, dedication, devotion, tears, and health. No worries, I survived and got into the school last minute, otherwise you wouldn’t see that picture on the side with me in the so-familiar FTU uniform and a big smile on my face! However, the moment I began my very first semester here, I had the hard-core feelings that I wouldn’t belong to this place. Not because of the students who were over achievers that I would blame for easily causing peer pressure on other kids. Not because of the lecturers who were so eminent that they expected every student should have been as (half) talented as they were. Not because of the education environment nor the campus vibe. Also not because I chose the wrong major to pursue (which I once believed I did). It was just hard to describe how it made me truly feel about the school and about the entire time I went here. All I knew was that was FTU did not create the sense of belonging, and not a single morning I went to class had I not questioned myself whether I was doing the right thing in the right place. I would call my early 20s spent at FTU the most dubious time in my life as I was totally lost without having anyone direct me to the right path in a long while. I struggled so much to understand myself, and to discover what I was really passionate about, and what would be the true purpose of my life.
Not until my late 20s and not until I went through so much and learn so many lessons did I realize that the questions that I had always been asking at that time could not be answered as soon as I was in my early 20s. It took a long journey for me to travel, with each milestone marked at a certain period of time, to be completely and thoroughly clear about my true self, my own value, and my life goals. And apparently the 3-year time at FTU was not enough for that much experience I was meant to go through.
But if there is one thing I have to admit, that is regardless of the youth disparity, any tough moments, hard time, self doubt, and questions about my ability that were happening all at once at FTU, the school and my experience here set a solid foundation for me to go further in my life and to places where I step-by-step achieve self-growth, self-improvement, maturity, and other successes, in my both career and personal life.
Here’s the repetitive and boring part of the story I think you might be interested in:
- Gained in-depth knowledge from economics, marketing, finance, supply chain, accounting, and some other general business courses such as Micro Economics, Macro Economics, Principle in Marketing, International Marketing, Corporate Finance, Banking System, Intellectual Property Rights, Trade Policy, International Commercial Transaction (INCOTERMS), Insurance, Vietnam’s Tax System (2005), Managerial Accounting, etc. Developed major soft skills such as Presentation and Team work.
- Transferred to Niagara University in January 2016.
- For the record, I never graduated from Foreign Trade University.
