“YOLO”. I stared at the phrase.

Of several entries for the CTB Essay Competition I had read, this response
was the most personally counter-intuitive one for me.

As a member judge, I was assigned fifteen responses, telling me how Muniba Mazari inspired them to
overcome challenges, how J.M. Barrie reminded them to appreciate present moments, or how or how
Gandhi taught them to be kind, random quotes in a café or sayings from a book character could impact a
person’s life that much.

Then, there came the “YOLO”. I always believe life is too valuable to act recklessly and inconsiderately.
Finding meaningful lessons in each action has long been my goal in life, and YOLO, a lifestyle that
prompted people to indulge in their current emotions when making important decisions, went against
that. Still, I read the essay. It’s about their choice to make a gap year, traveling across Vietnam before
going to Belgium and possibly, regretting that decision and return to Vietnam without diplomas. That
paragraph made no sense to me, who mapped out clear goals of joining the NEC to pass on knowledge to
next generations or entering a university with an Economics diploma to gain a well-paid job.

However, upcoming paragraphs came like my conversation with this anonymous writer.

- Seriously, I cannot understand this life philosophy.

- I just think I do something so that I will not regret the opportunity. You do something so that you
will not regret the outcome.
- But how can I not regret a failure?
- Because to me, what matters is you did your best. Last year, in a debate tournament, I got into the
quarter-final, knowing for sure our team could win if we rebutted the opponent’s case. And we
did rebut, but we did not have time to strengthen our case. We lost
- Wow, that’s a missed chance. And you surely felt bad?
- I could not sleep for days, but then I talked with my teammate, and we realized we would have
done the same if given the chance back. That’s our best performance already. So I do think that

I never applied that philosophy to my life until grade twelve, my final NEC. In three hours of the test, I had
mixed feelings, confused over challenging questions while calming reminiscing three months of passion.
What if it was a wrong answer? Then I would spent the months regretting myself not having made the
right decision. But I was proud of all the time I spent studying, and I had tried my best. Any answers I put
into the sheet would be my best efforts.

I realized going to Belgium was not a thoughtless decision, it was their best decision at the time. So I did
accordingly, giving my answers, and 2 months later, knowing that I needed only 0.1 more to get the First
prize. Strangely, I did not regret. I was proud of my choices. That “YOLO” essay did not win me as a judge,
but it won me as a friend.