4 months since graduation; 2 months since starting my internship.

How has life been?

If life in high school was like surviving in Jumanji (here's the trailor, if you haven't watched it), life now feels like Alice in Wonderland.

Like how my colleague always says,

"Nothing's normal about our company... 🥲"

On my 3rd day of interning, I brought my Oculus Quest 2 to the office by my manager's request.

It was 9:20 AM, when he and our salespeople were about to go pitch our new VR tour service to a real estate agency. He asked me 10 minutes before if I could prepare a VR demo with this link: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=kaxoRfXCZNC&brand=0.

I set up the demo, he tried it, and said, "OK Heedong – you're coming with us."

My first thought: "Oh wow, my first sales meeting!"

A few seconds later: (Looking down) "NO WAY I'M WEARING A T-SHIRT AND SHORTS TO THIS MEETING 💀"

But the next time I opened my eyes, I was already in the car... heading to the agency.

At the meeting, I got the chance to sit right next to my manager and watch him pitch to the marketing director of the agency.

It felt VERY surreal.

Even more surreal was the fact that I gave her (the marketing director) the VR demo I had made just half an hour ago.

And by the way– this was only the 3rd day of my internship. And it was only the first of many "insaneee" events to come.

In the following weeks, I was brought to a meeting with Vinmec, and then, a very fancy networking event where I even won a lucky draw prize. One man asked me how old I was, and I said "18", then he laughed and said that I was the same age as his son who just finished submitting his college application.

Truly wild.

I also got to attend my first expo which was held by Vietbuild. It was eye-opening to see so many companies show off their products: door locks, fan LED displays, scratch-proof tiles, etc. But at the same time, staying there from 9AM to 6PM (for 3 days) was so draining that I was always knocked out as soon as I got home.

During my time there, though, I got to see how my colleagues talked to potential customers and learned that there was more than one way to sell a product. Unlike the 30-60 minute presentation we usually give to clients, here it was more about having meaningful conversations and handing out business cards and brochures hoping that people will remember us in the future.

These meetings, events, and expos opened me to a whole new professional world, but they were also merely toppings on cake. My real job was done at the office.

As a software intern, I got to work on many different projects, including a:

• web app for therapy content (think Netflix but with therapy videos)
• mobile app for managing large farms
• VR app for event planning
• virtual fitting room demo where you could fit clothes on a customizable avatar

I'm learning a lot from my senior developer, Milvio, who taught me how to create my first pull request, how to use ASP.NET and Bootstrap, and how to stay calm (or should I say "sane") when faced with a gazillion errors.

And with my manager, Gauthier, I've had weekly 1-on-1 coaching sessions where I learned all things related to running business, what it means to follow and lead, and how to grow spiritually as a Christian.

I also can't appreciate enough of Haylay (UI/UX Designer & Business Operations Specialist)'s humor, and the kindness, and generosity that Lien (Accountant & HR Officer), Nhung (Sales Manager), Diep (Client Manager), Linh (Marketing Executive), and Hung (former C# Developer) have shown me. I really feel that I'm growing so much personally and professionally through this company.

Getting a taste of this company's unique culture has made me realize the importance of "being in the right community".

At school, my job title was "Student"; my main objective excelling academically while maintaining good extracurricular status. My relationship with my teachers, however lovely and caring they were, were often reduced to a one-way "do-as-told" relationship. This was because it was their job to make me do well academically (which was different to what I wanted to do), and as their student, I was subject to their demands. Even friends – while all of them were nice, not all of them were productive to hang out with.

At work, though, my colleagues and I share the same goals and values: to make our business successful and grow together. The focus is always on people and the thing that ties us together is trust. We crack jokes, have lunch and dinner as a team, and encourage one another to exercise and stay healthy.

It's honestly the closest thing to a family that I've felt, especially in a professional setting. And this company has taught me that it's the memories with people that's to be cherished; money only there to help sustain it.

Getting to experience all these things as an 18-year-old has truly been a blessing. But this is just the beginning, and there's a lot for me to see and learn here. I pray that all will go well for us :)