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Huỳnh Nhân Quốc
Huỳnh Nhân Quốc

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The Life of the Young: Effort, Dreams, and the Cost of Choices

#webdev #passion #journey #technologicalindependence

The Struggles of the Young

Life is hard for the young.

I couldn’t help but see myself in them — in that quiet resilience, that shared determination. The world out there is rough, and it isn’t just our struggle. It’s a generation’s.

A younger friend once told me:

“Society keeps evolving, but human tolerance for stress… has stayed the same.”
I don’t like comparing generations. But when you walk out into the world, you meet all kinds of people — each fighting their own quiet battles.

I remember sitting in a co-working space back in 2019. The air was thick with the sound of typing and ambition. Everyone’s eyes locked on their screens, chasing something unseen. I wondered what they were looking for. A future, maybe — the same thing I was searching for.

We all chase after rice, clothes, money — the basics. But beyond survival, there’s something deeper: a longing for a home, a place of peace, a space where dreams can breathe.

What are we really looking for?

Peace.

Freedom.

The room to dream and build.

Life isn’t just about comparisons. Sometimes, it’s about having a strong enough foundation — a good base to grow from.

When You’re Hungry

What do you do when you’re hungry?

A child once answered, simply:

“Drink water.”
That answer breaks your heart a little.

I’ve sacrificed a lot to be where I am — for a kind of vision, a way of thinking shaped by code. Those sacrifices… I don’t need to name them. You already understand.

For those of us without a privileged start, our work itself becomes our voice. Our proof. Our foundation.

I used to think I was lucky — and maybe unlucky at the same time. But what matters most is this question:

“What do I really want?”
And the truth is — I don’t want much. Just one thing: technological independence.

People might say it’s a dream, but they don’t realize — I have no other path.

I want a simple life, but not a small one. I dream. I crave. I believe those dreams will guide me farther than fear ever could.

Sometimes, I tell my partner:

“All I want is a quiet place where I can nurture my dreams. Everything else… doesn’t really matter.”

Life, and the Price of Choice

“How much does a small pill cost?”

The answer depends on who you ask.

As I grew older, I learned that some pains you simply have to feel. I once heard a heartbreaking line on YouTube:

“If you have no money, you have no right to get sick.”
It sounds cruel — but it’s true in ways we all understand.

Every person faces choices: to have, or not to have. To stay, or to move forward. Fear often keeps us still — away from the path that might change our lives.

Each of us is born with a mission. Some are similar, others unique. But like every unsolved problem, each life has its own solution. The struggles we face today… they’re part of our algorithm — lessons for the next iteration of ourselves.

I remember 2020 vividly — the year I went back to my hometown and started again with nothing but two hands and an idea. I relearned everything. Rewrote my first lines of code.

Was I afraid?

Yes.

Afraid of being left behind, of losing touch with the fast-moving tech world.

Someone once asked me that. And I told them — Technology can’t “train” humans like machines. We need time. Experience. Reflection. Reading docs alone doesn’t make you a developer. Living through bugs does.

AI and the Future of Developers

Today, everyone uses AI — and so do I.

But I’ve never once felt “behind” AI, not even ChatGPT. Sometimes, I even teach it.

Because everything AI does still rests on the foundations built by humans. We made it. And there’s one thing humans can still do better: create.

AI can generate — but creativity is something deeper. It’s not just random patterns hoping to be right. It’s the echo of lived experience, emotion, and insight.

Will we ever “slow down” with technology? I don’t know. Maybe we shouldn’t. But I do believe this:

We need a solid foundation — and readiness for when opportunity comes. Those who prepare will thrive when it does. Those who don’t… will call it bad luck.

AI created new jobs. It also took some away.

But if you’ve ever lost a job — like I have — trust me, it’s not the end. It’s just a reboot.

Finding My Own Path

I finally know what my craft is.

For years, when people asked what I did, I couldn’t give a clear answer. Was I a designer? A developer? A marketer? Maybe just a photographer with too many side projects?

But now, I know.

Since 2020, when I started writing the first lines of code for my own platform — I’ve been on this path:

Indie Hacker.

An independent developer. A dreamer with code.

I love building things — apps, tools, tiny platforms that solve real problems for others and myself. I don’t know where this road will lead. But I hold onto one quote:

“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
In this era of SaaS and micro-startups, I’m building my own versions — small, human, indie. Because at its core, programming isn’t about syntax. It’s about creating solutions that make life a little better.

We all carry a mission.

That mission shapes our work, our dreams, our existence.

If we can move one step forward today — we’ve already won more than yesterday.

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