Hi Hive FAM, finally I am here with the introduction that I’ve been preparing for days. I know, you heard me right. I am not good at writing, even more so in English – as it is my second language. I always tell myself that this is my weakness and it’s hard to improve. I used to accept that and didn’t try my best, but with the commitment of joining this platform, I hope I can fix it or at least try to make it better.
My name is Dora Nguyen and I’m from Vietnam. My friend 
However, part of me like the idea of a social network that allows you to own your content, it’s uncensored, no one can plagiarize your content and you get paid for socialising. It speaks to me as I don’t like what the giant tech companies are doing.
So I decided to find out more online from reviews or users’ feedback. I usually trust more third-party reviews about products and services. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything like that online. My gut told me it’s not that easy; it’s too good to be true. Socialising and earning money? good luck with that.
Until one day I realised it has been always like that – when I face something news that I know nothing about - I spend too much time weighing in pros and cons. Then I would find enough reasons or evidence to prove that it’s best not to do it. However, I am tired of this cycle; I want to change it. I am curious about something but afraid to step out of my comfort zone at the same time. Instead of running away & still spending a lot of time thinking about it, why not try it and consider it as learning something new?
I know if it’s too hard to understand this platform, there might be reasons behind it. I didn’t spend enough time & commit myself to investigate it. So I started to dive a bit deeper into the guides & resources for newbie users, which helped me a lot. I grew my understanding of what Hive is and how it works. One of the best guides I read was “Hive: A Complete Beginner's Guide (With Fun Doodles)”. Thank you 
So, here I am. I know there are a lot of things I need to learn. But the first step is done and I hope I’ve nailed it. Oh, actually it is not. I suppose to tell you a bit more about myself, what I want to do here and how I will contribute to the community.
1. Who am I?
I was raised and born on a farm in the second smallest province in Vietnam. My childhood was full of memories of working on rice fields with my family. Not so much fun for a 10 years old girl as it was a really hard job especially in the summertime. It’s too hot during the day so we have to wake up early in the morning – around 4 am & then go to work on the field. However, I am grateful for it - helps me realise the value of hard work and build the resilience I have today.
Another good thing about growing up in family of farmers is that we can supply ourselves with almost everything we need. I still remember from the age of 10, I started to help my parents prepare meals. My main responsibility was to get green veggies from our backyards or get them from our relatives’ gardens. We share things we have with our relatives & neighbours. That was beautiful.
At the moment, I am working as a digital marketer in New Zealand. I love nature and always want to appreciate it in a special way. So whenever I had a chance, I go hiking to some places near home and I will collect some leaves & wildflowers, dry them and create something fun for me and for the people I love as well.
I am not a sports person but I do like skiing. Still, remember the first day I tried it. It was so much fun and a lot of fright as well. Wow, the feeling of skiing down the slope with the wind, is amazing.
2. What I want to achieve by joining this community.
If you can recall from the very beginning, I said I want to improve my writing, right? I already found a lot of posts on HIVE talking about how to improve and tips to make it right. It’s a good start. However, there is one more thing that might contribute to my fear of writing. All of my life, I've been trying to hide my feelings and don’t even dare to express myself. Growing up in a culture where it is easy to be judged if your thoughts and feelings are different from most people, I feel like the best way is not to say anything at all. Just live my normal life.
When I read many posts in the community, I feel that people are keen to share knowledge and to support each other. Plus, there is much cool stuff to learn as well. This made me realise that I still don’t know much about the outside world and even myself but it’s ok. I am on the way to find out.
Another reason that urge me to join this community is as a marketer, I need to keep up with the trend of social media network. If this is the future, I need to familiarise myself to it.
3. How I can contribute to this community
To be honest, I don’t know much at this point. All I can think now is to try to get a better understanding of this ecosystem so I can figure out what I can do. If it’s possible, I would love to get your advice.
Finally I want to thank you guys for spending your time reading my post. I hope to get to know many of the awesome Hive fellows soon. And last but not least to my lovely girl