Standing at the edge to challenge the edge
A letter that I will never send…
Dear me-7-months-ago
Hey Linh, you must be very surprised when receiving this letter from me — a better version of you 7 months later.
I am sitting in our favorite coffee shop in Vietnam after coming back from an internship at EDGEof Tokyo — a gamechanger’s studio where all local and global talents can gather and create high impact projects. Everything is just like a dream. Very, very unreal. And sometimes I do not want to wake up at all.
Then, I remember of you, and of me.
At this time, you must already receive Mistletoe’s result. You would scream out loud and hug your sweetness roommate to share this fantastic news. I remember your excitement and your happiness. Believe it or not, all of your feelings are still in my heart as if we are one. I’m happy for you, Linh. Enjoy your moment. You had been in low self-esteem for too long. Learn to appreciate what you achieve, no matter how small the achievement. A big dream never happens overnight. Just to let you know, I’m proud of you more than anyone else. You deserved this result.
Learn to appreciate what you achieve, no matter how small the achievement.
However, Linh, after your excitement, please take your time to take care of your friends. The second semester at Minerva would be very stressful, not only academically but also professionally. Under peer-pressures, your friends would obsess about finding internships. Some of your friends would experience low self-esteem. They would be tired and even depressed. They would cry behind their smiles. Seven months ago, I could have sensed their signals. But I did not. My excitement blinded my eyes and my soul. I only knew what they had been through recently. 7 months later. Linh, you had a lot of good friends. They supported you when you felt down. I know that you were excited, but you would be even happier if your friends are happy, too. Be with your friends when they need you the most. Help them with their resume, cover letters, and interviews, even if you are not an expert. You are their friends, remember!
Before you go to Tokyo, you may wonder whether taking this internship is a right decision. Do you remember what our mom used to tell us? “Do things that make you excited but terrified at the same time.” And I can promise you, being an intern in EDGEof Tokyo is exactly that thing. Terrified sometimes, but excited all the times.
“Do things that make you excited but terrified at the same time.”
During the first week of your internship, there would be no time for you to slowly “adapt” to the company culture. You will immediately help execute one week of leadership training program from MIT for 140 leaders in Tokyo (Future Champions). I could promise you, this program is completely chaos. The program received thousands of dollars in investment, but there are not enough human resources to execute. You and Rod — your partner (he is also Minerva's student) will work every single day until midnight to make things perfect. You willlearn how to deal with chaos and how to get used to the work-pace in EDGEof.
And then, after the program, you will work more to help EDGEof building ecosystems for startups. You will interview hundreds of people to build profiles for every local and global talent coming to EDGEof’s studio. You have to come up with a strategy to help EDGEof leverage an innovative ecosystem in Tokyo and around the world. But you will learn tremendously, especially about Complex Systems. During my first year in Minerva, Complex System is always your favorite subject. You love chaos. And you love finding connections and formulation in complexity. However, only when you have to deal with complex systems, you will understand how big the gap between theory and implementation is. And you will know that you have to put more effort into your studying. Learning is never enough.
For eight weeks, you will feel exhaustipated. You come back home late every day, too tired to take a shower, to eat, and even to sleep. You work too hard that even your boss and your colleagues have to warn you: “Come back home and take a rest now, Linh. Stop working now. That is an order.” They are super sweet and nice! However, even with their “threatening,” you still could not stop yourself from working. Since everytime you want to give up, you remember of the pessimistic eyes of your Japanese friend when they talked about Japan’s future. Japan is on the edge of most of the dimensions. It is facing the tremendous shortage of entrepreneurship. That is a reason you choose to come to EDGEof, to challenge a convention. Believe it or not, I know about you even much more than you do. However, besides working, you still have your life and your friends. When I flash back to my memories this summer, I could only remember my work. I did not have a lot of memorable moments with my friends and with Tokyo. I did not enjoy Japan that much because I was always too busy with my work. It is regrettable, Linh, when you spent two months with Minerva students from across different classes but you did not have many memories with them. And sometimes, I do regret. So, in the future, when you start working in Tokyo, try to balance your work and your adventure. Take more times to explore Tokyo and make friends with local people. You have to give yourself more reasons to come back to Tokyo one day, other than your company. And enjoy every single moment here.
“You have to give yourself more reasons to come back to Tokyo one day, other than your company.”
Taking an internship at an early-stage startup in a country which is entirely different from your culture is just like walking through a storm. You will face a lot of confusion and even fear since Japanese people do not give you any definite structure or feedback. You may have to deal with struggles by yourself. And the work-pace in an early-stage startup can sometimes exhaust you. Until now, when I’m sitting and writing a letter to you and reflecting off my journey, I could not remember how I managed to go through “the storm.” But one thing is certain. My resilience and confidence have built up. When I come out of the storm, I have changed forever.
So do you.
Love
Linh Doan
____________________
This is a letter I will never send, because the past is the past. If I could choose again, I still go to Tokyo this summer, and become exactly who I am today.
