Dream

My friend is 34 years old.

He lives in Japan and works as a senior software developer.

Most people looking at him would probably think he’s doing fine.
Stable job. Good skills. Quiet life.

But they don’t know how much of himself he gave up chasing one dream.

For almost 10 years, he wanted to work in the United States.

Not because he hated Japan.
He just loved American tech culture.

He admired the creativity, the open discussions, the way engineers from different countries could build things together.

So he spent years preparing himself for that future.

Every night after work, while everyone else rested, he studied English alone in his apartment.

He practiced interview questions speaking to himself because he had nobody to practice with.

Sometimes he stayed awake until sunrise debugging personal projects because he thought:

“If I become good enough, maybe someone in America will choose me.”

Ten years.

Ten entire years.

He missed birthdays.
Skipped vacations.
Lost relationships.
Ignored his own health.

He thought sacrifice was the price of his dream.

Last year, a U.S. company finally gave him a chance.

He passed all the interviews.

The engineers liked him.
The managers liked him.

One interviewer even told him:

“You’d fit in really well here.”

He was so happy that he started watching videos called things like “How to make friends in America” and “Life in the U.S. as a software engineer.”

That’s the part that hurts me the most.

He wasn’t dreaming about luxury cars or money.

He was excited about simple things.

Talking with coworkers.
Eating lunch together.
Feeling accepted somewhere new.

Then HR emailed him.

They said they couldn’t continue because they were unable to sponsor a visa.

Just like that, 10 years disappeared.

I remember he went offline for almost two days after receiving the email.

When he finally replied to me, he said:

“Maybe some dreams are only possible for people born in the right country.”

Honestly, I cried reading that.

Because he’s one of the kindest and hardest-working people I know.

And the cruelest part is that his talent was never the problem.

His only mistake was being born in the wrong place.

Even now, he still studies English after work.

Still coding.
Still trying.

I think part of him still hopes that one day someone will choose him not because of where he was born, but because of who he is.

If anyone wants to connect with him, even casually, please leave a comment.

I think he could really use a friend right now.