Annie Pham (Han Pham) is 27, living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Originally from Ho Chi Minh City, she moved to Amsterdam 2 years ago to pursue a Master’s Degree in Science of Digital Design at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA).
Studying Across The World, From Australia To Amsterdam
Annie completed her undergraduate studies at RMIT Vietnam, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media Design in 2018. Her diploma programme included a year of student exchange at RMIT Melbourne.
After earning her Bachelor’s Degree, Annie moved back to Vietnam to work digital marketing agency for 2 years. Following that first job, she started working remotely for a Singaporean company. During this time, she learnt skills in Digital Media and UX/UI Design, as well as saving up money to finance a Master’s degree.
In 2023, she quit this job to move to Amsterdam and pursue further studies. Annie made this move independently, without the help of a university-related support programme.
This is because the degree she selected is a full-time 1 year Master’s degree, which makes working part-time to support it impossible. She graduated in July 2024 and has since been working full-time.
The decision to go back into academia was fuelled by the thirst for knowledge and a curiosity for discovery. Annie speaks positively of her time in Melbourne. She states she enjoyed Australia, but 1 year abroad “wasn’t enough”. The second time round, she opted for Europe because of the ease of travel intra-Schengen area.
On top of a desire to explore the world, she also explained she had learned everything she could about UX/UI and digital media design from her work experience, and wanted to expand her skills with study.
Annie says she chose to study UX/UI/Digital Media Design because of her appreciation for simple, minimalistic designs. She explains this style of design is dominant in these fields, particularly UX/UI design, which is her current job. “I tried photography, videography, film production, but out of all of that UX/UI [design] fit me the most because I think I'm a very logical person”.
Moving To Amsterdam : A New Environment
Annie said that she doesn’t know what the future holds for her yet, but she enjoys Amsterdam and would like to stay for a while to pursue her career.
Her favorite thing about the city is the public transport. “The cities are really close to each other. You can just get on the train. The public transport is really convenient and you can go anywhere around Europe [because of the Schengen free-travel area], like the nearby countries really easily. I also like the biking culture in Amsterdam, the city is really accessible, you can go anywhere by bike.”
Aside from the public transport, Annie also appreciates the signature yet often controversial Dutch sense of bluntness and honesty. “Some people don’t like how direct and honest the Dutch are, but I’d say I’m a lot more direct than a typical Vietnamese person. So I enjoy it, I fit right in”.
Moving helped overcome uncertainty. “What I learned is that if you want to do something just do it, and then you will like it. The thought is often scarier than the actual action that you're going to do”.
It also made Annie realise how unique her Vietnamese identity is. “Back in Vietnam, I never really thought about what it meant to be Vietnamese. It's just my daily life is being a normal Vietnamese person around everyone else.
But after moving here, meeting people from all over the world, I’m starting to see my identity a bit more clearly. Being far from home makes me more aware of my roots. I felt that it really took leaving Vietnam to truly understand how connected I am to Vietnam.”
Staying In Touch With Family And Friends
Annie explains she stays in touch as much as possible with her family, and tries her best to meet up with her friends when she returns home for visits. “I talk to my mom almost every day on the phone. I try my best to do so because I know she misses me a lot. I usually call her during lunch or dinner, or even at breakfast, whenever I have time.
For my friends, I call them sometimes and we always try to see each other when I come back for Lunar New Year.”
On the topic of making new friends, Annnie explained she faced difficulties due to the language barrier. “Making friends was way easier for me in Vietnam, I’m an extrovert in any case but Vietnamese being my native language helped a lot.
Here it’s kind of hard to blend in sometimes because I don’t speak Dutch yet. Everyone here speaks really good English but I get the feeling that sometimes people are more restrained because they want to speak their native language with their friends. “
However, she has been able to socialize with the international community through her studies. “University helps though, I would say that all of my close friends I met from university.
I also play badminton here, and I met a few Vietnamese and Chinese people at my badminton club. But most of my friends are international. My best friend is Turkish, I also have Canadian and Lebanese friends. “
The workplace has also been an avenue for socializing (with some difficulty) with the famously reserved Dutch locals, Annie explained : “My work colleagues are Dutch, they’re really nice. But I will say it’s sometimes hard to approach a group of Dutch people because they’ll speak Dutch to each other instead of English, but that is to be expected."