The Ultimate Dream

January 31st, 2024 (9 months ago) • 2 minutes

Dreams are always changing and evolving.

In the early days, right after high school, Ben and I had the same dream of entering a prestigious school like Harvard, Stanford, MIT or even Oxford and Cambridge. Both of us had big dreams but were told it was impossible to achieve for a mere Malaysian. We were told to be realistic and to be happy with what we have. While that ended us up at INTI's ADTP program, we never gave up on our dreams.

During our freshman year, we both were caught up in the hype of Silicon Valley. We wanted to be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs. We wanted to build and create something that would change the world. We tried to build Compound - a startup that would help generate insights and recommendation from your financial spending, but it didn't take off.

We parted ways in the middle - Ben went to Iowa State University while I went to Monash University. Both of us pursued Computer Science and kept in touch frequently. During our junior to senior year, our dream changed to getting a job in FAANG or their equivalent. That would be the ultimate goal of a CS student. We started to join many hackathons and pick up new skills.

After undergrad studies, now our dream is to go to the US, get a job in a company working on the next big thing like climate tech or fintech, build a startup on the side, get enough money and retire early in Europe. Or alternatively, join a VC firm and end up in Europe too.

While our dream keeps changing, the core of it remains the same - to be a successful entrepreneur working on things that is impactful and meaningful.

I am excited for tomorrow and I am hopeful for the future.