Hi Reader,

Yudi here,

In 2015, during my second semester of my master’s in the U.S., I said no to a 2-night Lake Tahoe trip because I was scared that losing 3 days would cost me my future.

Nine years later, in 2024, I went back to Tahoe, rented a boat for the day, and finally gave myself the memory I could not afford to choose back then.

Back then, the trip would have cost around $1,000.

My roommates and classmates were planning it, and I was the one who stayed back.

It wasn't that I didn't want to go.

I really did.

But I was in that phase of life where every decision felt loaded.

Some of my classmates already had internships or full-time offers.

I was still trying to pivot from software engineering to product management, and I could not shake the feeling that if I took those three days off, I would fall behind.

One of my roommates told me,

He probably meant well.

And honestly, maybe he was even right.

But when you are an international student and your future feels uncertain, it does not feel like "just a trip."

It feels like time, money, and momentum you cannot afford to lose.

So while they went to Tahoe, I stayed back and worked on product case studies.

Before we move on to next part, I have something important to share it with you.

This was before ChatGPT.

Before AI tools made research easier.

I had to manually go through websites, break down products, and teach myself how to think like a product manager.

One of the case studies I built was on Netflix.

I wanted to understand how Netflix became Netflix because I needed proof on my resume that I could do the job I wanted.

Looking back, I realize something else.

That Netflix case study never got me a job directly.

No recruiter ever told me,

But it changed something much more important.

It changed how I thought.

Once you spend 20 or 30 hours breaking down why a product works, how users behave, what trade-offs a company makes, you stop answering interview questions like a student.

You start answering them like someone who has already been doing the job.

That is a difference hiring managers notice immediately.

A lot of students ask me:

My answer is always the same.

Projects are rarely just for your resume.

They are for your thinking.

The resume is only where that thinking becomes visible.

There are still days when I think about that trip and wish I had gone.

Some memories do not come back.

But I am also honest enough to say that the work I did in that season helped me become the product manager I wanted to be.

I am not sharing this to glorify sacrifice or shame anyone for taking a break.

Go on the trip if that is what you need.

I am sharing it for the person who already knows what they need to do, but feels pressured by roommates, classmates, or other people’s opinions.

Trust that instinct.

One thing I've noticed after interviewing candidates and talking to hiring managers over the years is this:

The students who eventually get offers are not always the smartest.

They're usually the ones who become exceptionally good at one thing.

Maybe they're incredible at networking.

Maybe they've built an amazing portfolio.

Maybe they've mastered communication.

Maybe they understand one domain better than everyone else.

But they stop trying to be average at everything.

That season in my life wasn't about working more hours.

It was about intentionally building one skill that could change my career.

Looking back, that skill was product thinking.

If you're applying today, ask yourself:

What is the one skill you're becoming unusually good at?

Because that's often what separates candidates in interviews.

Not another hundred applications.

Sometimes the people around you are not wrong.

They are just not carrying your exact fear.

And sometimes life has a funny way of bringing a moment back to you.

In 2024, when I finally went back to Lake Tahoe, it felt completely different.

This time, I rented a boat for the day.

I stayed in a lakefront villa.

I got to experience the same place I had once decided I couldn't afford to visit.

And somewhere during that trip, I stopped thinking about what I had missed.

I started appreciating what those years had quietly built.

Hard work does pay off.

Not always quickly. Not always in the way you imagined.

Sometimes it looks like an offer letter. Sometimes it's confidence. Sometimes it's becoming the kind of person who no longer has to make decisions from fear.

If you're in that season right now, where it feels like everyone around you is moving faster, remember this:

Your career is not built in one interview.

It's not built in one semester.

It's built by the skills you choose to compound when nobody is watching.

Years later, those invisible hours become the opportunities everyone else calls "luck."

Keep going.

— Yudi