Chuyên mục: Life Diary

Time flies so fast. It’s already coming to the end of summer, and I’m starting my fourth and final year at UBC soon. I think I have becoming a little bit more mature this year. The insecurities buried in my heart are still there, but I start to become more confident, more opening, and more forgiving to myself. Damn, I even know how to treat myself well with some luxury now.

This past year, I truly experienced what people call marketing, networking and “working” for the first time in my life. I had the opportunity to hear and learn from industry experts, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and consumers. Somehow I learned how to fake my anti-social side to meet and work with a variety of people. I learned to step out of my comfort zone. Although I’m still not as outgoing as I want, I know that I improved quite a lot, and it made me really happy. I wouldn’t dare to talk that much with other people when I was in high school.

I guess I found my passion. Marketing, that is it. I love the sweet combination between creativity, psychology, and analytics in marketing. Marketing deals with everything in a business – product, place, price and promotion. Marketing is an art, as you have to use both your instincts and critical thinking when making decisions. There is no formula for marketing, and that’s what makes it so charming and sexy. In marketing, creativity is pushed beyond limit. I’m amazed at how people using technology and visuals to deliver their messages. Check out the Art,Copy and Code project by Google to see the new movement in marketing in case you are interested. I don’t think I’m a very creative person, but I believe that if I learn hard enough then maybe someday I can also produce awesome ideas like those people. Sometimes I’m torn about what direction in marketing I should pursue. I know I’m way better at technical stuff, such as doing market research and analyzing, but I aspire to work with marketing plans in an agency environment as well. Well, hopefully I will find out soon. I’m looking forward to my two marketing classes in fourth year. One is about integrated communications, and one is marketing applications. For those two classes, I will be able to work with real companies, real clients. So excited, I can’t wait for the class to start.

A little update about what I’m doing recently. I just watched the Sea of Monsters movie. This movie is way better than The Lightning Thief movie. However, it still ruined the book and was so damn boring, just like the first movie did. I’m just so mad that I don’t want to talk about it any more. What else? Well, I’m doing some research on the cosmetics industry recently to see if there is any opportunity to launch a business. I learned so much about cosmetics in these two weeks, despite the fact that I don’t wear cosmetics myself. The more I learned about it, the more I realized how people are ignorant of dangerous ingredients and products. And I hate misleading labelling so much. I cannot stand those companies who lied to consumers about the ingredients in their products. “All natural”, “organic”,… all bullshit. And I wish Vietnamese people would stop being so foreign-oriented. Support Vietnamese business please!!! Some Vietnamese products are just as wonderful, don’t let commercials fool you. 

Vậy là một năm nữa lại trôi qua. 2012 có thể nói là một năm thuận lợi và may mắn với mình, mặc dù vẫn còn đó những ước mong không đạt được. 2012, mình cảm thấy trưởng thành hơn, mạnh dạn hơn, cuộc sống xã hội có màu sắc hơn. 2012, mình lo lắng nhiều hơn và cũng bất an hơn. Rốt cuộc thì, mình vẫn chưa tìm ra con đường của mình, đam mê của mình. 2013, mình tiếp tục đi tìm, và hy vọng may mắn sẽ tới.

Ngoài lề: Tính sẽ viết review cho The Hobbit trong dịp nghỉ đông, cuối cùng lại bị cuốn vào bộ phim truyền hình Numb3rs. Phim rất hay, đề nghị ai cũng nên coi 😀

So…………………………………………….

It’s been 3 weeks after school started and I already feel so exhausted. It’s not that I have lots of homework to hand in. I don’t have to hand in anything, but the amount of readings and new information I have to absorb each day is astoundingly heavy. I need time to slowly digest all that, but school leaves me no time. Projects, events, workshops, volunteering, all of them make me feel dizzy. Not to mention the bus. It takes me 45 minutes to get to school, and another 10 minutes to Sauder building.

I have brand management class for year 3, which is helpful and tough at the same time. This class was previously restricted to year 4 student. So in the time coming, I have to actually go out and interview a bunch of consumers, and then start to analyse data.  My professor is awesome indeed, he’s the best professor I’ve ever seen so far. Super smart and direct, if what you say is bullshit, he calls it bullshit. The things he teaches are real world. I feel so lucky and blessed to have him, but kind nervous too. I don’t know if I can do well in his class, and I still hope I can get a Dean’s Honour.

And for Marketing Research, hallelujah, we now can contact a real client. Super excited for this class.

The more I learn about marketing, the more I am attracted to it and the more I feel stupid. So right now I’m trying to catch up with all the technology, social media, products and brand names out there. I was never a  shopping savvy, but I’m trying to become one. Seriously, this is so tough. I just want to go back to my comfort zone, but that will not help my career. I’m really torn, doing what I like or doing what I’m good at, always a big question.

I wish I had time to do all the things I like. I planned to join a dance club this year but had to abandon it in the end. I also want to learn skiing, mountain climbing, skating, etc. I want to go clubbing and partying. So many things to want T___T Hopefully next year.