Ever since after high school, I have become aware of what I have become growing up and started to crave for personal development. I want change. I want to be a social butterfly. I want to be confident in myself and confident in the words that I speak. I want to be a leader, a motivator, an inspirational speaker, an astronomer. Just kidding. I got a C in Introduction to Astronomy. I took college as an opportunity for change. I ended up making a lot of friends; of which includes a few of my very best and closest friends that I can ever meet and will ever meet in my lifetime because they are just that dear to me. These friends are my drivers to success, but success can never be achieved with just drivers. The ultimate decision is on me to take action and implement for the success.
Three years ago, I failed to secure a job before I graduate. I was devastated and upset at myself for being a failure because I had high expectations for myself. I didn't want it to end like that. I took this time to look for an abroad opportunity and take an extra semester to pierce through the job market again before I come out of college. That senior year, I landed a summer internship program with The University of Hong Kong. It was the proudest moment in my life because I was chosen out of a pool of prestigious Ivy League and top ranked school students from all over the world to participate in a summer program hosted by one of the highly recognized universities in the world. In this program, I was also given the opportunity to intern with Lenovo, which was at the time #2 largest computer vendor in the world right behind Hewlett Packard (currently #1 during the time of blogging). I felt a sense of improvement and all my friends said they saw it too. I was more confident than before and socially better! I ended up landing a job three months out of college and I was really grateful about it and thankful for my ex-manager for giving me the opportunity.
Work was great while it lasted. A year ago after my company went into an acquisition and merging, it wasn't the same anymore. The management decided to get rid of majority of the American employees and outsourced them to India. The India team wasn't the brightest of them all which ended up causing our team a lot more time doing extra work just to fix things and make things right. As for myself, I felt my life have came to a stop. I wasn't learning anything new from my job and I was not improving myself in any way. It could be that I developed depression while living on my own. I didn't want to do anything but binge League of Legends hoping that the bad feelings would go away eventually on its own. I was unhappy and I wanted change, but I grew comfortable of my current state. I have friends, I have a source of income, I was living for free at home, and I have Dexter. But the bad feelings keep coming back the moment I log out of League of Legends. I thought maybe Anime Boston would be a good break, but this year was... Meh.
My friend Isabel came to live at my place for a while because she was working at the Providence office and didn't want to commute back and forth too much. I started talking about my situation to her and she recommended that I look into this working holiday visa as it might be a good alternative for me. I looked it up and still wasn't sure about leaving everything behind. I've went to Hong Kong on my own, but I had family members there but these countries that the US has working holiday visa with are completely foreign to me. Also, I'll be leaving Dexter behind... I just couldn't do it.
As time went on, I felt even worse. I needed change and I need it now. I decided what the heck, lets apply for the visa and think about it later. My originally decision was New Zealand, but I didn't have enough time to provide the medical documents, so I chose Australia as my second choice. This was June. I provided all my documents, got accepted for Work and Holiday visa for Australia at the beginning of July, and decided Yes! I'm going to do it!
I think travelling is the great opportunity that everyone should take if it's available to you. I have always traveled with my parents and I felt sheltered by them. They make sure you don't talk to strangers and come home safe. Traveling alone is different. You will meet so many new people, see so many things, experience many different cultures, and you will see the world differently. It's not about seeing the world, but meeting the people and develop a different point of view at things. I want personal growth and improvement. I'm sick of being me and I want to be a new person. I want to be a better person.
I passed in my two week notice on July 15, 2015. My manager was excited for me for taking the opportunity while I'm still young. He wanted to me to stay a bit longer, so I gave him another two weeks. My last day of work was on August 15 and I will be flying on the 27th. I have came a long way and I'm not sure if this is the best decision I've ever made in my life but damn does it feel good to make this decision.
Bon voyage, Henry.
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