A little more about me

I’ve loved building web apps since the early days of the dial-up internet in Vietnam, around 1997. It would be an exaggeration to call what I built back then “web apps,” though—most of it was created using FrontPage and felt more like working with Word documents than real programming.

In 2002, while I was in medical school, I built the first discussion forum for medical students in Vietnam using PHP and MySQL. Even then, saying that I “built” it is still a bit of an exaggeration. What I actually did was download an open-source forum and customize it to fit our needs. Most of my work involved copying and pasting code from online tutorials to make the forum behave the way I wanted. Still, that experience became my first real exposure to server-side programming and databases.

In 2013, I moved to the U.S. and returned to school to study computer science. My passion for web development never faded. I taught myself JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, and later learned TypeScript, React, Next.js, Tailwind, and other technologies to build personal projects.

I graduated in 2020, but the pandemic hit, and I wasn’t able to find a job in tech. To make a living, I turned to day trading and investing in the stock market. During that time, my English—especially my communication skills—declined due to lack of practice. Realizing this, I began reading, writing, and actively practicing speaking English again to rebuild those skills.

In 2024, I landed a job as an AI data trainer, where I help improve AI models by providing high-quality data and detailed feedback. This role allows me to work remotely, continue pursuing my passion for web development, and keep sharpening my English skills in my free time.

Recently, I decided to learn AWS so I can deploy my own web apps and services to the cloud. My goal is to become more self-sufficient on the backend and not feel dependent on others to bring my ideas to life.