It Looked Like a Detour, but I Learned by Doing

When the competition was based on familiar measures such as grades, English, and certifications, I did not feel that my strengths stood out. It was not as if I had an unusual plan from the beginning. I looked in many directions, spent time on things I liked, and sometimes lost my way.

As I approached university graduation, I considered graduate school, a corporate job, the civil service exam, and even the certified public accountant exam. I bought books and sampled courses, but I did not push any one path through to the end. Looking back, experiences that were hard to explain when I began them often came to explain me later. Not every attempt succeeded, and luck and human connections played a part. Rather than compressing those years into one success story, I want to look back at what remained from the things I actually tried.

1. Confidence Built in Front of a Computer

There was a computer in our home when I was young, and my father’s influence naturally brought me close to it. At school, I often took on computer-related tasks. I did not choose a future career and prepare for it; I became familiar with computers by handling them often and doing whatever was needed.

When people asked why we needed an expensive computer at home, I found it hard to explain what difference that time would make later. But it mattered that I could reach for a computer and try something whenever I needed to. I became comfortable making documents and presentations in Excel, PowerPoint, and Hancom Hangul, the Korean word processor, through repetition rather than one grand decision.

During my military service, that experience led to administrative work at a higher-level unit. Later, it helped in part-time jobs and other workplaces where handling documents and computers was useful. Before I had an impressive résumé, I had built a sense that I could actually do the work someone needed. Discovering that small skills practiced many times could transfer to other settings gave me confidence.

More than once, I saw a small skill learned through repetition become an ability someone else needed.

2. Game Streaming Ended, but What I Learned Remained

After graduating, I began livestreaming games I enjoyed. Some people saw the choice to stream on AfreecaTV as reckless. My reason was simple: I liked games, and I wanted to try it myself.

Streaming did not lead to financial success. The income was modest, and it became difficult to continue while also working part-time. The outlook was unclear, so I eventually returned to preparing for employment. I cannot hide that outcome and rewrite the story as a hobby that naturally became a career.

Even so, I was different before and after streaming. I gained confidence speaking in front of people, and I learned one step at a time how to connect equipment, transmit video and audio, and edit footage. By leading a game guild and organizing in-person gatherings, I also learned what it was like to turn online encounters into real relationships.

When I was looking for work, some interviewers found my streaming and community experience interesting. Not every interview worked out because of it, but I gained material for explaining what I had done beyond grades and certifications. Later, I could draw on that experience whenever a job called for a product demonstration, video production, a broadcast, or an explanation.

3. The Period When Mining Helped Me Keep Going

I was interested in building computers and sometimes helped friends assemble their PCs. From my school years until around age 20, I accumulated experience choosing parts, connecting them, and solving problems. I also developed an early interest in finance. I tried simulated investing and bought small amounts of stock as a student, but I also used leverage and made poor judgments.

In 2018, I suffered a major loss in a cryptoasset investment involving borrowed money and leverage. I entered debt early in my working life and had to keep working to support myself and repay it. I do not want to cover that period with the successes that came later.

When I returned to cryptoassets around 2020 and 2021, my starting point was Ethereum mining. I experimented with GPUs I already owned and gradually added equipment. Income from selling the Ethereum I mined helped me keep going during a financially difficult period.

Along the way, I connected multiple PCs and pieces of equipment and configured the power and network in my home. This does not mean mining was always a good choice. But an interest in building computers proved useful in a difficult situation, and I retained the experience of configuring equipment and solving problems.

The choices I made during a difficult period combined survival, trial and error, and skills learned firsthand. They are hard to reduce to one lesson.

4. Remembering Both the Losses and the Relationships

Mining widened my interest to DeFi, NFTs, arbitrage, and on-chain experiments. I was curious about how these new structures worked and tried to understand them by participating directly.

Curiosity alone did not produce good outcomes. I lost money again and was also scammed. I cannot call all of those experiences positive assets. Nor can I say that taking more risk necessarily brings a greater reward. It was not easy to distinguish opportunity from a bad decision.

After losing a job, I worked in blockchain for a while. Relationships I formed there led toward another line of work. Trying an unfamiliar technology gave me abilities and relationships I could use elsewhere, but luck played a part too.

There may be opportunities in fields that others fear or undervalue. That does not mean we should automatically choose whatever path other people avoid. Some attempts left scars, while some experiences opened the next door. I want to remember both.

5. This Time, I Want to Use AI Deeply

I never began with a plan to succeed by choosing a path other people would not take. I followed my interests and wandered, and sometimes an unfamiliar experience became a strength. Only afterward did I begin to develop a way of understanding my choices.

My attention is now on AI. I do not want to stop at knowing the names of many tools; I want to learn what they can actually do in daily life and at work. There is a gap between saying AI will matter and using it deeply. I want to test its possibilities through my own experience, but I am not making this choice because I can guarantee the outcome.

I do not know what opportunity this time will lead to 3 or 5 years from now. I only hope that the practical experience and know-how I build will become a strength, and that I can share it with people around me or use it in ways that help society. The colleagues and relationships I found while exploring different fields matter as much as the experience itself.

Here, I want to record what I have tried and how my thinking changed along the way, rather than present a set of finished answers. I want to move beyond saying something will matter: to use it now, and to record both what worked and what failed. The introduction and original record behind this essay are at https://soga-ai-notes.znjsxmxnwk.chatgpt.site .

I cannot say that every period that looked like a detour was a necessary one. Some losses could have been avoided, and some pursuits never led anywhere. Still, by working with computers, streaming, connecting equipment, and testing unfamiliar technologies, I learned how to begin the next thing. The attitude I bring to learning AI now is an extension of that path.