CHATTY CHAT!

TRANSCRIPT

Quick updates! Today I graduate. Yes, officially graduate. ParteiiiiI. Am I too excited? Actually, I'm not really that excited. I mean I'm excited but nervous as well. I'm gonna venture into a whole ew journey by myself without teachers or anybody guiding me. And I'm not ready for becoming a working adult. Scary. I hope I'll be okay, I'll be all right. Just stay positive. I want to say congratulations to the class of 2021. You guys all did a great job in the last four years and made it through. Proud of you guys and proud of myself.

Four years is not too long but not too short. There were a lot of things happening. I don’t know if you guys regret anything. But now I'm looking back, I regret not doing a few things. And in today's episode, the story today is all about my biggest university regret. And if you are a university student or about to be university student, I hope you're not doing the same thing as I did.

So, the thing I regret the most is that I didn’t open myself to make friends sooner and didn’t really focus on studying at the beginning of my first year.

Before I go any further, let ... let me paint an overall picture of university first. Studying at university is totally a different experience to that in high school. You are treated as an adult which means you are gonna be fully responsible for your studying, your own education. No one is going to do this for you but you. No one is going to remind you when the midterms or the finals take place. There are no pop-up tests during the course, no calling parents if you skip classes, and no parent-teacher meeting, therefore you may feel under less or even no pressure.

All of these things are ideal conditions for my laziness to grow, and along with my thinking at that time "Let's take a rest. I worked so hard in high school”, I allowed my self to relax and I gradually became a lazier version of myself. I didn't take school seriously. I didn’t care much about what I studied and what was going on at school. And now looking back I just wish that I didn't think that way.

Moreover, my first-year university experience was very boring. Because there was no one that I really knew at university. I walked around completely on my own. Every time I went to classes, I didn't have a sense of belonging. I did not really have the enthusiasm for the classes. I mean I wasn't really socially outcast. I did talk to people but I just didn't want to initiate a friendship. I thought I was going to be okay, I was going to be all right. Because I just spent a few hours at school each day, there was no need to make friends at all. I don't know what the heck was happening to me at that time. That's the most stupid thing, craziest thing that I have ever thought in my whole life. I made the wrong move. And that's why I think my first years were wasted.  

That resulted in my GPAs at the end of the first four semesters were not good. And it was not until the third year that I started to change and become a better version of myself thanks to people that I've met. My third year at university is the most amazing year that has ever happened to me. Ever. I started to open myself and make friends. And then, I met a group of friends who are like-minded and very supportive not only with school challenges but also life challenges as well. They give a feeling like I'm a part of a big family because they always listen to my stories and never judge. They respect my difference and my own opinions. I was always looking forward to school because I knew they would be there. We would sit down and had a laugh. Actually, I saw them in the first years because we all studied English for Teaching. But as I said, I didn't want to make friends at that time so ... But I'm glad finally I've made something right. Now I'm friend with them. I'm very happy about that.

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THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

TRANSCRIPT

I've been getting a lot of  support since my first episode was published. I didn't really expect that and I am so happy.  That’s really a great motivation to keep going with this podcast. After last Tuesday, I started to think about naming this season. Finally, I’ve made up my mind to call it “Season 1. The Lockdown Chat" based on the current situation right now. Talking about the lockdown, it hasn't been lifted yet. I'm going to get swabbed in the next few days and maybe get vaccinated soon! So everyone, please stay at home and stay safe. Do whatever the Ministry of Health tells you to do.

But anyway, let's get right to today's episode which is all about whether you should get a part-time job while at uni or not. I know the national university entrance exam is coming soon. And you, high school seniors are so worried and yet, excited at the same time because you think you are going to have more freedom. Some of you may move out. Some may go to other cities to study. Some may study abroad and live far away from your family. And the most exciting part y’all waiting for is that you’re officially able to get a part-time job. You can earn your own money and afford whatever you want without asking your parents. But hey, having a part-time job means more than money. I'll tell you why. But first let me tell you my own experience with part time jobs.

I started to get a part time job very soon right after I finished my high school. The reason was simply because I wanted to have income and at the same time I also had that thought  “Why not go out, see people and do something new to see what's cut out for me”? So I jumped around a little bit and tried a lot of different jobs.

The first part-time job I got was a leaflet distributor. But I quitted it just after one day. Because I couldn't stand staying out the whole day, waiting for people to pass by and hand them a leaflet just to see them throw it away. Later, I joined a band and we played music in a local cafe every Saturday night. After around two months, the band broke up. And I was broke because I didn't get any  jobs until the middle of my first semester at university.  I got another part-time job as a waitress in a cafe right and in an eatery later. But I also quitted just after 2 or 3 months. I had to work long hours and the money I got was little and I didn't have any interest in doing the jobs at all. However, I didn't regret it because I think I've understood and learnt a lot of things. I understand how hard it is to earn money. I learnt how to be calm when getting complaints from customers. I learnt how to be punctual and responsible for what I'm doing. So yeah, I have never regretted it. But that's not it.

By the beginning of the second semester, a friend told me about her job, which is a teacher's assistant at an English Center. For those who are curious, it's VUS - Vietnam USA Societies.  She told me the environment was good and the salary was okay. But I didn't think that much because up to that point, I had quite many jobs and I knew what it was like to have a part-time job while you are inexperienced, so I didn't expect much. But you know what. Somehow, I've been working part-time here for around 3 years.

P.S: Hey guys, I'm so sorry for not putting up the whole transcript here because there is word limit. I'll try to find some ways to solve this. Thank you for your support!! Love ya!

Follow me on IG: @laf.huynhf_

TRANSCRIPT

Hey guys! Welcome to the first episode of CHATTY CHAT.

First of all, I want to say thanks all for being here and listening to my podcast. If you do not know me, my name is HUYNH. I'm a 22 year-old Vietnamese girl, and I'm currently in my last year at university and about to graduate next month.

I don’t know how you’re feeling about graduation. But to me, it sounds a little bit intimidating. I feel really nervous and scared. But it's not the worst. Right now what's really worse is in HCMC Vietnam where I live, the whole city has been locked down for almost one month. I have been staying at home for the whole time. It was kinda boring at first. But I’m adapting to it.

But anyway,  if you're still listening, you may be wondering why I don't speak Vietnamese which is my first language, which is easier for me to say things, which is the language that everybody around me speaks.

Well, you will find out soon because today's episode is all about the story of why I decided to do a podcast and why I do it in English.

Well, how to start? I am the kind of person who loves experiencing different things. And I realize that the more I experience, the better I can understand myself about what I can and cannot do or what I’m good at and what I’m not. And also, I don’t want myself at some point in the future looking back and regretting things just because I don’t do it even though I’m able to. So that’s why I want to start this podcast, which has been on my bucket list for so long, as soon as possible.

The idea of this podcast is all about sharing.

The first thing I want to share is my own stories during 16 years of school. I struggled a lot during that time. Like the first two years at university, it was really horrible. I was lonely, and had no one to talk to and didn’t really fit in. Finally, I figured out why that happened and I got over it. And I know that I’m not the only one in the world who is in this situation. So that’s why I really want to share such stories of mine and how I handled the problems . And hopefully my stories can be a piece of advice which can help you guys overcome if you are experiencing the same thing.

And the second thing I really really want to share is about my journey of studying English. I started to study English when I was 8 and English is also my major at uni. To be more precise, my major is English Language for Teaching, which basically means that I’m going to be a teacher after graduating. But here in this podcast, I’m not teaching about things like grammar, common idioms and useful expressions. No. I’m not teaching anything. I simply just want to be here and  share my stories and events that happened along my journey. It took me a lot of time and effort, failures and tears to make it to this level. I know it sounds funny, but yes that's what happened. If you want to know why, stay tuned for the upcoming episodes. Good bye and see ya.