A story about the value: Community
If you know me, yes I am creating ANOTHER blogging series. Why? Because I can.
Gosh, what are you creating this time?
“A story about the value”.
I pick a value from this Tomi Llama Values card deck, and write a story, write about a person, or write some random thoughts around it.
Let’s get into it.
You may have heard about “know your values, live your values” stuff.
Textbook definition (According to Cambridge): the beliefs people have, especially about what is right and wrong, and what is most important in life, that control their behaviour.”
It’s simple to say “Living by your values leads to a fulfilling life.”, but it’s way harder to first identify your values.
I guess we can say, values are easier to feel than to name.
When you feel strongly against something, that is when one of your values are being offended.
The stronger your feelings are, the more important to you that value is.
Today’s Pick of Value: Community
The first one I picked from the card deck today, is
Community: A social group of people who care about and support each other. A group of people who share something in common.
If you know me, I talked a lot about community, especially Vietnamese students’ community overseas.
If you knew me 5 years ago, I solely talked about earning money to get by.
Is there anything wrong with this? Nope.
Financial stability was something I valued back then - now that I realised it! With that secured now, I can focus on other values I care about.
When did I know I care about the community I belong to?
When “Don’t get along with Viets when you go overseas.” started to bug me.
I wrote a blog in Vietnamese about this: Read here.
To summarise the blog above, if you are detaching yourself from a community you’re meant to be in, it’s usually because you haven’t met the right person/ people.
When seeing or hearing about the negative connotations associated with being Vietnamese overseas made my heart ache.
A friend of mine told me, that in Japan, people would look down on you because you’re a Viet, as they associate Vietnamese with crime.
I didn’t fact-find to see if the above is true, but it was not comfortable listening to such things.
Here are some of the responses to that statement:
“Damn, I would rather say I’m Chinese then.”
“Luckily people usually think I look like Japanese.”
“Can’t wait to get another passport.”
Those reactions are so legit. They didn’t feel proud, or even worse, safe.
When being able to ask for help or get help without asking, made me feel safe.
I was provided with a dinner, and transport the first day I landed in Wellington, New Zealand.
I was recommended to work for a Vietnamese restaurant within the first 2 weeks of settling in.
I was made a part of a close-knit social group, because we studied through the same program, worked in the same place, and lived in the same (overseas) city.
I was listened to, when my work was exploited, when I struggled to find a job.
I was offered a stay when I needed a getaway.
I was offered opportunities when I felt I wanted to grow, personally and professionally.
I was asked “How did you feel?” the first thing, instead of “Why did that happen?”.
It was rough moving overseas, but was made kinder by the community I’m fortunate to be a part of.
When being able to support or give back to my community, felt so rewarding.
I was fortunate to partake in DreamMakers’ Careers Summit for Viets last year, as a workshop facilitator.
What I love about the experience:
Getting to know, to work with, and to befriend a bunch of cool peeps.
Getting to learn how to use Notion, Discord, and other work processes.
Getting to facilitate a formal something for the first time.
Getting recognised.
What I love even more after the experience:
Someone landing a wanted role (99% because of their capability, 1% from the Summit)
Someone messaging me for further advice.
Someone giving me a call for a catch-up.
When I wanted to continue the work, and didn’t want to do it alone.
(I don’t know where this would end but) We set up a Viet Students Support Network with a:
And that’s all my thoughts & stories about why community has become one of my values.
Please feel free to also share your top values from the Card Deck in the comments or by emailing me. Would love to hear that.
If you are new around, this is probably the button for you:
babe wake up Thao Vo dropped another banger 🔥