When I was ten, a flash flood tore through my coastal village in central Vietnam, destroying my family’s home and leaving behind waterlogged fields, collapsed schools, and days of hunger and fear. A nearby hydroelectric dam opened its floodgates all at once, without warning. Water surged into our village, sweeping away homes, school supplies, and livestock. Families scrambled to carry children and elderly relatives to rooftops. Some children fell ill with diarrhea due to stagnant floodwater and mold-infested living conditions, some even lost their sole family after the flood. Aid didn’t arrive for weeks because roads were submerged or destroyed. That flood wasn’t the worst we had faced—but what struck me was how preventable it felt. The dam operators gave no warning. There were no designated shelters, no evacuation routes, no maps. The same scenario repeated for the next 10 years of my life. What failed wasn’t just infrastructure—it was planning, communication, and the ability to anticipate impact. That early experience shaped my academic and career mission: to improve flood preparedness in vulnerable regions like central Vietnam through satellite-based modeling and early warning systems. We’ve already seen how transformative satellite data can be. In 2023, California was hit by atmospheric river storms, triggering over 700 landslides and displacing more than 34,000 people. Traditional flood management systems struggled—ground sensors failed, roads were impassable, and emergency teams lacked real-time visibility. NASA’s ARIA (Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis) project filled this gap using Sentinel-1 satellite’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to generate flood maps within hours. These maps helped FEMA and CAL FIRE locate breached levees, assess which towns remained underwater, navigate blocked roads and the shortest evacuation routes, and direct aid accordingly. Farmers used them to file crop insurance claims. NGOs used them to target food and water delivery. Satellite technology didn’t just supplement human resources—it made fast, coordinated response possible in ways that outdated systems could not. Now studying in the USA, I have determined to strengthen my expertise in remote sensing for flood risk management. I interned at the Minerva University's Sustainability Satellite Lab, where I supported government agencies in Buenos Aires and Japan with their flood management plans. I combined satellite-derived indicators—NDVI, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and percolation—and trained machine learning models to classify flood-prone zones across seasons. These models identified temporal and spatial patterns that traditional rainfall predictions often overlook. Agencies utilized this data to enhance the timing and targeting of seasonal flood alerts, helping to protect over 150,000 residents living in vulnerable lowland areas. In another project, I applied deep learning to classify land use from satellite imagery and utilized the Land Change Modeler to project how deforestation and crop expansion might reshape flood dynamics over the next 20 years. The analysis identified priority watersheds likely to lose over 30% of forest cover—areas expected to experience a 25–40% increase in runoff volume during peak storm seasons. This enabled regional planners to prioritize forest conservation and implement upstream land use controls to mitigate future downstream flooding. Ultimately, my goal is to develop community-based early warning systems that integrate seasonal land cover dynamics, real-time satellite imagery, and mobile-accessible evacuation maps tailored to each village's needs. I want to develop tools that not only detect floods—but help people act before disaster strikes. In flood-prone regions where delays cost lives, I believe satellite technology can close the gap between risk and response. And I want to be at the forefront of this innovation, one that can help break the cycle of poverty for vulnerable coastal communities around the world.

A flood has taken my parents from me - a typical flood that takes thousands of lives in my village every year. The loss was unbearable for a 14-year-old. It soon made me into a dark, depressed, and hopeless person. I felt nauseous frequently and a forever heaviness upon my back. Sometimes, I felt empty. However, sometimes, I even could not endure the repetitive sound of water dripping through the wall and the sticky feeling down my feet – the signature of our home that I had once gotten used to. I hated my seashore village. Why did it always lack everything that normal people would usually take for granted? As time passed, I entered high school and be a high achiever. However, learning was literally driven by the desperation to get out of that village and run away from the past. Still, there is a good side of knowing better: I learned about a just world where everyone has their own legacy and shortage. My village may be short on food and safety, but it will never run out of love and sharing. It also teaches me the resilience to achieve my academic excellence today. Moreover, losing my parents at a young age is equivalent to receiving their legacy earlier than others, as I learn to appreciate every little lesson they have taught me, from sharing food with poorer people to their forever positive attitude towards life. Those little but precious things are usually taken for granted by those "normal people" that I used to envy. Isn't that their own shortage? As a result, I decided to stop blaming the past, appreciate the little things that I currently have, and stay selfless. Therefore, I sought mental support, stayed, and helped my village, regardless of my opportunity in other developed countries. I tried to strengthen living conditions for my village by innovating flood-resistant houses, raising funds and human resources to build a strong flood rescue team so that children no longer lose their parents. However, above all, the most significant support empowering me to go that far is my parents' largest legacy: their forever trust and hope for a greater potential of "me" than what I could have ever thought. Living in darkness prevents me from seeing the light in myself. Similarly, living in a village where people have struggled with flooding for too long, all the villagers can think of is how to survive during flood season. That is also the case with the children here: It is difficult to see they dream of anything else, talk about what they want to do in the future, not to mention actively and passionately learning. Even if they do, not every kind of passion will be appreciated. It seems like learning is just an obligation, and the words "future" and "passion" have never existed in education. Above all, I was the luckiest girl empowered by my parents to dream big to my fullest potential. Ultimately, I have realized: Students lack (1) Self-awareness of their unique passions, capacities, and characteristics, as well as a (2) Personalized education that cultivates those. Therefore, I found EDUCITY startup - a game-based learning application for secondary students on self-awareness that dedicates to personalized education. It also helps students learn soft skills and discover social knowledge outside classrooms. In the short term, I will gather a team of content designers (education, psychology), artists, and coders to create an actual product. Also, I will pursue a double degree in Education and Entrepreneurship to develop my expertise. My long-term career goal is to pioneer personalized education. As a business manager, I will lead EDUCITY to an EDtech market leader in 2030. As an educational change-maker, EDUCITY's self-awareness system will provide a fully-developed database on customized curriculums and development plans for each student. This framework will act as the first step towards officially adopting personalized education in the national school system - my ultimate goal. In conclusion, my journey with my mental illness has shaped me into who I am today: an educational change-maker who fights for the most unique value in each person. When they are in their darkness, I will be the light.

A flood has taken my parents from me - a typical flood that takes thousands of lives in my village every year. The loss was unbearable for a 14-year-old. It soon made me into a dark, depressed, and hopeless person. I felt nauseous frequently and a forever heaviness upon my back. Sometimes, I felt empty. However, sometimes, I even could not endure the repetitive sound of water dripping through the wall and the sticky feeling down my feet – the signature of our home that I had once gotten used to. I hated my seashore village. Why did it always lack everything that normal people would usually take for granted? As time passed, I entered high school and be a high achiever. However, learning was literally driven by the desperation to get out of that village and run away from the past. Still, there is a good side of knowing better: I learned about a just world where everyone has their own legacy and shortage. My village may be short on food and safety, but it will never run out of love and sharing. It also teaches me the resilience to achieve my academic excellence today. Moreover, losing my parents at a young age is equivalent to receiving their legacy earlier than others, as I learn to appreciate every little lesson they have taught me, from sharing food with poorer people to their forever positive attitude towards life. Those little but precious things are usually taken for granted by those "normal people" that I used to envy. Isn't that their own shortage? As a result, I decided to stop blaming the past, appreciate the little things that I currently have, and stay selfless. Therefore, I sought mental support, stayed, and helped my village, regardless of my opportunity in other developed countries. I tried to strengthen living conditions for my village by innovating flood-resistant houses, raising funds and human resources to build a strong flood rescue team so that children no longer lose their parents. However, above all, the most significant support empowering me to go that far is my parents' largest legacy: their forever trust and hope for a greater potential of "me" than what I could have ever thought. Living in darkness prevents me from seeing the light in myself. Similarly, living in a village where people have struggled with flooding for too long, all the villagers can think of is how to survive during flood season. That is also the case with the children here: It is difficult to see they dream of anything else, talk about what they want to do in the future, not to mention actively and passionately learning. Even if they do, not every kind of passion will be appreciated. It seems like learning is just an obligation, and the words "future" and "passion" have never existed in education. Above all, I was the luckiest girl empowered by my parents to dream big to my fullest potential. Ultimately, I have realized: Students lack (1) Self-awareness of their unique passions, capacities, and characteristics, as well as a (2) Personalized education that cultivates those. Therefore, I found EDUCITY startup - a game-based learning application for secondary students on self-awareness that dedicates to personalized education. It also helps students learn soft skills and discover social knowledge outside classrooms. In the short term, I will gather a team of content designers (education, psychology), artists, and coders to create an actual product. Also, I will pursue a double degree in Education and Entrepreneurship to develop my expertise. My long-term career goal is to pioneer personalized education. As a business manager, I will lead EDUCITY to an EDtech market leader in 2030. As an educational change-maker, EDUCITY's self-awareness system will provide a fully-developed database on customized curriculums and development plans for each student. This framework will act as the first step towards officially adopting personalized education in the national school system - my ultimate goal. In conclusion, my journey with my mental illness has shaped me into who I am today: an educational change-maker who fights for the most unique value in each person. When they are in their darkness, I will be the light.

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Everyone is unique. But look at what we have done with our children: “I do not know what to do with my life” “School forces me to study hard in every subject to get a good job in the future.” “I am tired of math, why would she not let me live with my artistic passion?” I have always believed in an individual's uniqueness. I loved interacting with and understanding a person as who they really are rather than the labels imposed on them. That is exactly the case with education. Schools, with their theoretical approach and limited resource, could not respect and cultivate each individual's uniqueness. Learning seems like an obligation: students do not know what they are learning for, or the meaning of learning. It is hard for students to know who they want to be in the future; even if they do, not every kind of passion will be appreciated. Even external career orientation service is also misleading: It focuses solely on "career" prospects while ignoring helping students develop self-awareness of their personality, ability, and passion. My love for individuality and the problem with the existing education has inspired me to pursue entrepreneurship. No matter how much money it can make, the core value of entrepreneurship still lies in its user-centric rule: Always start with users' problems, talk with users, and befriend users to really understand their deep-down needs. Throughout my 3-year startup journey, I have talked with 100 parents and students to pioneer personalized education. I dug deep into their everyday lives and help them realize the problem of self-awareness that they have not even noticed before. It really excited me to build something that customizes to each person that I had the luck to interact with - a real solution that can make their lives easier. Moreover, entrepreneurship is the most powerful and innovative tool to make changes in the world. It breaks any past limits and keeps amazed people with something they did not think they needed. Therefore, I found EDUCITY startup - a game-based learning application for secondary students on self-awareness that dedicates to personalized education. It also helps students learn soft skills and discover social knowledge outside classrooms. I have already gathered a team of content designers (education, psychology), artists, and coders to create an actual product. in the short term, I will pursue a double degree in Education and Entrepreneurship to develop my expertise. I will learn about the science of learning with many innovative principles such as active learning, passion-based learning,… in connection with self-awareness personalized education. Also, I would use my experience and networking in the business major to start EDUCITY from scratch and gradually scale up to impact millions of students. My long-term career goal is to pioneer personalized education. As a business manager, I will lead EDUCITY to an EDtech market leader in 2030. As an educational change-maker, EDUCITY's self-awareness system will provide a fully-developed database of an individual’s personality, abilities, and passion, which helps build a personalized way of learning for each individual, whether slow-paced or picture-oriented, and even a personal development plan customized to each individual’s passion and goal. This framework will help me reach my ultimate goal of officially adopting personalized education in the national school system. All in all, although entrepreneurship is a hard route to take, I will bravely step on it anyway to make the change I want to see in the world.

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.” Everyone is unique. But look at what we have done with our children: “I do not know what to do with my life” “School forces me to study hard in every single subject.” “I am tired of math, why would my teacher not let me live with my artistic passion?” Do you know that school kills passion and creativity with its theoretical approach? Learning seems like an obligation: students do not know what they are learning for, or the meaning and beauty of learning. It is hard to know who they want to be in the future; even if they do, not every kind of passion will be appreciated. Moreover, a misleading career-orientation market further compounds this problem: It focuses solely on "career" prospects while ignoring self-awareness (e.g., the Holland career test is poorly multiple-choice questions). Consequently, this problem may lead to a lack of diverse and high-quality human resources for society, with 40% of talent and potential being wasted. Ultimately: Students lack (1) Self-awareness of their unique passions, capacities, and characteristics; and a (2) Personalized education that cultivates those. In search of solutions, research has pointed out the power of personalized education in helping students develop self-awareness (Jessica DeMink-Carthew, Steven Netcoh & Katy Farber, 2020), with three major changes: Firstly, schools should organize Genius hour (Denise Krebs & Gallit Zvi, 2020). Genius hour (sometimes called "passion pursuit") is a project-based learning practice that allows pupils to choose what they learn and even create during a fixed school time in order to give students opportunities to explore their passions and demonstrate creativity. Given enough freedom and guidance, students could experiment with project proposals and presentations, then gradually develop into the change-makers of what they want to see in the community. Secondly, educators should not only teach but also start to learn about students – their unique personalities, abilities, and interests. They could do this by collecting and analyzing a database on students’ learning behavior such as different motivations, speed and teaching method preferences… while also actively helping students reflect on their learning self-awareness. This method would enforce active learning among students and more close-knit bonds with their teachers. Thirdly, there should be an improvement and, in the best scenario, collaboration with schools, from the career-orientation market. With the current dominance of career-test services that inhibit real-life career exploration, there should be more experience-based solutions such as career camps, XR & Game-based career stimulation, etc. Furthermore, self-awareness innovations in this market (ex: personalized AI tutors) could be well integrated into the official school setting to maximize productivity and effectiveness. In conclusion, we should adopt personalized education to raise students’ self-awareness, active learning, and passion-based learning. Several methods suggested include Genius hours, self-awareness tracking systems, and more technology-based innovations from the career-orientation market. Let students be the center of learning!

A flood has taken my parents from me - a typical flood that takes thousands of lives in my village every year. The loss was unbearable for a 14-year-old. It soon made me into a dark, depressed, and hopeless person. I felt nauseous frequently and a forever heaviness upon my back. Sometimes, I felt empty. However, sometimes, I even could not endure the repetitive sound of water dripping through the wall and the sticky feeling down my feet – the signature of our home that I had once gotten used to. I hated my seashore village. Why did it always lack everything that normal people would usually take for granted? As time passed, I entered high school and be a high achiever. However, learning was literally driven by the desperation to get out of that village and run away from the past. Still, there is a good side of knowing better: I learned about a just world where everyone has their own legacy and shortage. My village may be short on food and safety, but it will never run out of love and sharing. It also teaches me the resilience to achieve my academic excellence today. Moreover, losing my parents at a young age is equivalent to receiving their legacy earlier than others, as I learn to appreciate every little lesson they have taught me, from sharing food with poorer people to their forever positive attitude towards life. Those little but precious things are usually taken for granted by those "normal people" that I used to envy. Isn't that their own shortage? As a result, I decided to stop blaming the past, appreciate the little things that I currently have, and stay selfless. Therefore, I sought mental support, stayed, and helped my village, regardless of my opportunity in other developed countries. I tried to strengthen living conditions for my village by innovating flood-resistant houses, raising funds and human resources to build a strong flood rescue team so that children no longer lose their parents. However, above all, the most significant support emporering me to go that far is my parents' largest legacy: their forever trust and hope for a greater potential of "me" than what I could have ever thought. Living in darkness prevents me from seeing the light in myself. Similarly, living in a village where people have struggled with flooding for too long, all the villagers can think of is how to survive during flood season. That is also the case with the children here: It is difficult to see they dream of anything else, talk about what they want to do in the future, not to mention actively and passionately learning. Even if they do, not every kind of passion will be appreciated. It seems like learning is just an obligation, and the words "future" and "passion" have never existed in education. Above all, I was the luckiest girl empowered by my parents to dream big to my fullest potential. Ultimately, I have realized: Students lack (1) Self-awareness of their unique passions, capacities, and characteristics, as well as a (2) Personalized education that cultivates those. Therefore, I found EDUCITY startup - a game-based learning application for secondary students on self-awareness that dedicates to personalized education. It also helps students learn soft skills and discover social knowledge outside classrooms. In the short term, I will gather a team of content designers (education, psychology), artists, and coders to create an actual product. Also, I will pursue a double degree in Education and Entrepreneurship to develop my expertise. My long-term career goal is to pioneer personalized education. As a business manager, I will lead EDUCITY to an EDtech market leader in 2030. As an educational change-maker, EDUCITY's self-awareness system will provide a fully-developed database on customized curriculums and development plans for each student. This framework will act as the first step towards officially adopting personalized education in the national school system - my ultimate goal. In conclusion, my journey with my mental illness has shaped me into who I am today: an educational change-maker who fights for the most unique value in each person. When they are in their darkness, I will be the light.

A flood has taken my parents from me - a typical flood that takes thousands of lives in my village every year. I hated my village. Why did it always lack everything that normal people would usually take for granted? As time passed, I studied hard to get out of this village. However, things changed when I realized that those bad things in my life turned out to be gifts if I chose to stop blaming the past, appreciate the little things that I currently have, and stay selfless. My village may be short on food and safety, but it will never run out of love and sharing. It also teaches me the resilience to achieve my academic excellence today. Moreover, losing my parents at a young age is equivalent to receiving their legacy earlier than others, as I learn to appreciate every little lesson they have taught me, from sharing food with poorer people to their forever positive attitude towards life. Those little but precious things are usually taken for granted by those "normal people" that I used to envy. Isn't that their own shortage? This lesson has instilled in me a belief in a just world where everyone has their own legacy and shortage, and that an underprivileged child like me should also pay back and contribute to the community. Therefore, I have stayed and helped my village, regardless of my opportunity in other developed countries. I tried to strengthen living conditions for my village by innovating flood-resistant houses, raising funds and human resources to build a strong flood rescue team so that children no longer lose their parents. However, the most significant legacy from my parents is their forever trust and hope for a greater potential of "me" than what I have ever thought. Living in a village where people have struggled with flooding for too long, all we can think of is how to survive during flood season. That is also the case with the children here: It is difficult to see they dream of anything else, talk about what they want to do in the future, not to mention actively and passionately learning. Even if they do, not every kind of passion will be appreciated. It seems like learning is just an obligation, and the words "future" and "passion" have never existed in education. Above all, I was the luckiest girl empowered by my parents to dream big to my fullest potential. Ultimately, I have realized: Students lack (1) Self-awareness of their unique passions, capacities, and characteristics, as well as a (2) Personalized education that cultivates those. Therefore, I found EDUCITY startup - a game-based learning application for secondary students on self-awareness that dedicates to personalized education. It also helps students learn soft skills and discover social knowledge outside classrooms. In the short term, I will gather a team of content designers (education, psychology), artists, and coders to create an actual product. Also, I will pursue a double degree in Education and Entrepreneurship to develop my expertise. My long-term career goal is to pioneer personalized education. As a business manager, I will lead EDUCITY to an EDtech market leader in 2030. As an educational change-maker, EDUCITY's self-awareness system will provide a fully-developed database on customized curriculums and development plans for each student. This framework will act as the first step towards officially adopting personalized education in the national school system - my ultimate goal. "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

A flood has taken my parents from me - a normal flood that takes thousands of lives in my village every year. I hated my village. Why did it always lack everything that normal people would usually take for granted? As time passed, I studied hard to get out of this village. However, things changed when I realized that those bad things in my life turned out to be gifts if I chose to stop blaming the past, appreciate the little things that I currently have, and stay selfless. My village may be short on food and safety, but it will never run out of love and sharing. It also teaches me the resilience to achieve my academic excellence today. Moreover, losing my parents at a young age is equivalent to receiving their legacy earlier than others. I will never forget every tiny lesson that they have taught me, from sharing food with poorer people to their forever positive attitude towards life. Those little but precious things are the things that a lot of "normal people" are also taking for granted. Isn't that their own shortage? Accepting and embracing my own life, I desire to stay and help my village, despite objections that I am wasting my opportunity in those developed countries. Now, I still suffer from a shabby, dripping shelter. However, I am making little effort to strengthen living conditions for my village, by researching and innovating flood-resistant houses, sharing optimism, and raising funds and human resources to build a strong flood rescue team so that children no longer lose their parents... In the end, it does not matter whether you are poor or rich, accepting your life will forever be your most generous legacy, and staying selfless will make both your life and others better.

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - This is my educational philosophy. Do you know that school kills passion and creativity with its theoretical approach? It is hard for students to know who they want to be in the future; even if they do, not every kind of passion will be appreciated. With limited time and resources, education has failed to cultivate each student’s unique personality, abilities, and passions. I want to solve the problem by helping students realize and develop their unique values to the fullest. Therefore, I came up with a game-based learning application called EDUCITY for secondary students on self-awareness, but not by multiple-choice questions like the MBTI 16 personalities test, but by real and fun in-game experiences. It also helps students learn soft skills and discover social knowledge outside classrooms. In short term, I will gather a team of content designers (education, psychology), artists, and coders to create a real product. Also, I will pursue a double degree in Education and Entrepreneurship to develop my expertise. My career goal is to scale up this EDUCITY startup to impact millions of students. As a business manager, I will create strategies, for example, in terms of growth, fundraising or partnership… to take EDUCITY to an EDtech market leader in 2030. As an educational change-maker, I will further develop the self-awareness startup into a personalized education, by providing a database and framework on students’ characteristics to build a customized curriculum or even a comprehensive development pathway. My ultimate career goal is to work with all secondary schools in Vietnam and adopt self-awareness and personalized learning in the whole educational system itself.

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will believe it is stupid.” - This is my educational philosophy. However, let me tell you the story of another fish - a fish good at climbing trees. Will it believe it is smart for its whole life? Before I studied hard for the National Olympiad, I had just ended the TALK+ project, ironically, knowing that our 300 students' lives would remain unchanged after all. “Successful”, as we concluded our soft-skill classes, was our defense for leaving the deep-rooted problem behind: it was not about soft skills, it was the inherited cycle of being farmers that discouraged children's passion and growth. Actually, “successful” was MY defense for leaving: to continue the National Olympiad was to safely continue the compliments while avoiding criticism. Yes, I used to label myself as “an excellent student” - my shelter to avoid failure. But…“What were their passions? What was mine?” – my question to Vietnamese education. Then, I found the answer in a saying from ACKY-san - a 47-year-old Japanese passionate and inspiring dancer: “Maybe I failed this battle, but after watching my performance, others will win.” Those words totally changed how I perceived failure. Instead of avoiding it, I would embrace it. Eventually, I dropped the National Olympiad, dropped my label to pursue my startup on Personalized education that cultivates children's uniqueness and passion. …"I am indeed good at climbing trees... But it is ok”. Then, she left the good old tree and entered the unknown ocean where she truly belongs. She may fail, but learning to swim is what fish do! Ultimately, the sentence that I want to share is: The true wisdom lies in accepting our shortness, our failures to keep exploring the unknown world!

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will believe it is stupid.” - This is my educational philosophy. However, let me tell you the story of another fish - a fish good at climbing trees. Will it believe it is smart for its whole life? Before I studied hard for the National Olympiad, I had just ended the TALK+ project, ironically, knowing that our 300 students' lives would remain unchanged after all. “Successful”, as we concluded our soft-skill classes, was our defense for leaving the deep-rooted problem behind: it was not about soft skills, it was the inherited cycle of being farmers that discouraged the children's passion and growth. Actually, “successful” was MY defense for leaving: to continue the National Olympiad was to safely continue the compliments while avoiding criticism. Yes, I used to label myself as “an excellent student” - my shelter to avoid failure. But…“What were their passions? What was mine?” – my question to Vietnamese education. Then, I found the answer in Street dance with a 47-year-old Japanese dancer, ACKY-san. His passion and his loss to his student in his own battle… all gave the surrounded young generation hopes in making that little-known culture known. “Maybe I failed this battle, but after watching my performance, others will win.” - said ACKY-san. Those words totally changed how I perceived failure. Instead of avoiding it, I would embrace it. Eventually, I dropped the National Olympiad, dropped my label to pursue my startup on Personalized education that cultivates children's uniqueness and passion. …"I am indeed good at climbing trees... But it is ok”. Then, she left the good old tree and entered the unknown ocean where she truly belongs. She may fail, but learning to swim is what fish do!