“Mar Phyao Yout Ha Loot.” Those were my grandmother’s first words as she welcomed me home. “Have you come back, son?” It was a simple greeting, yet it felt different after months away at university in Thailand. Stepping into our old house, I realized that time had quietly continued at home while I had been busy building my future.
The house, once so familiar, now had walls, ceilings, and even the floorboards repaired so many times they seemed to wear bandages over bandages. My grandmother’s back had begun to bend with age, I could see wrinkles on my aunts’ faces, gray hair strands on my mother’s head, and my grandfather was no longer there. He rarely expressed affection, so I hardly heard any compliments from him. Only after he passed did my mother, grandmother, and aunts tell me how proud he had always been of me. Their words brought comfort, along with a quiet regret that I never got to hear them from him myself.
Standing in that house, I realized that while I had been growing as a student, my family had been growing older. Every opportunity I have exists because of their sacrifices. While studying abroad, my whole family continued to support my education despite financial uncertainty and the challenges our country has faced in recent years. My mother especially had given up jewelry, savings, and pieces of her future for me, expecting nothing in return except that I keep learning and build a better future. At that moment, I understood my education was never just my dream. It was also theirs.
Perhaps that is why I have always been drawn to learning. In my family, I became the person everyone turns to when technology gets confusing—a video call that won’t connect, a forgotten password, or an app that stops working. Most of the time I am unable to answer immediately. I search, experiment, and learn until I can teach it back. Looking back, those small moments were where my fascination with technology began.
What excites me most is understanding how things work, and using that understanding to make life easier for others. This curiosity led me to study Digital Technology for Business Innovation at Mae Fah Luang University.
About Tobi
- Age: 22
- Ethnicity: Burmese, Shan
- Country: Myanmar
School & Program
- Mae Fah Luang University
- Bachelor’s, Digital Technology for Business Innovation
- 4th Year in Program
Goals & Dreams
- Become a data analyst or data scientist
- Build a house for my grandma
- Visit Bali
Loan Details
- Loan Amount: $2,175
- Amount Left To Fund: $2,175
- Contract Duration: 11 years
- Status: In School
There, I discovered a passion for data science while working on research publications with my professors, fascinated by how everyday data could be turned into insights that solve real problems. More recently, I have grown interested in ethical AI, particularly the environmental cost of the data centers powering it. I hope to help build technology that is both intelligent and sustainable.
Outside of the classroom, I often express myself through traditional art. The subject of art and technology may seem to belong to different worlds, but I have never seen them that way. Art taught me creativity and empathy, while technology taught me to think critically and solve problems. Together, they shaped how I approach life, with curiosity, resilience, and a desire to build things that help others.
Returning home reminded me that success is not measured by grades or the career I hope to build. It is measured by whether I can honor the people who believed in me before I believed in myself. My family’s support has given me opportunities many only dream of, and just as I once searched for answers to help my family navigate unfamiliar technology, I hope to become a data analyst or data scientist who uses data to solve larger problems and improve people’s lives. It would be a meaningful way to repay the sacrifices my family made for me.
Beyond this, I hope to contribute to developing more ethical AI and use data to help communities like mine better anticipate challenges such as natural disasters, where timely insights can provide real protection for people with limited access to resources.
“Mar Phyao Yout.” Yes, I have come back. And I intend to keep coming back, not only with new knowledge and experiences, but with the ability to give back to the people who raised me and to the community that shaped me.
Written by Tobi with editing assistance from Zomia’s volunteer editors.
Tobi
“Standing in that house, I realized that while I had been growing as a student, my family had been growing older. Every opportunity I have exists because of their sacrifices.”
