Timeline of Kyle Duong by Kyle D.

2004 I Was born the youngest child

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:07:25 UTC

Born 5 years after my older brother because my parents experienced many difficulties with him when he was first born; many allergies, eczema, and sickness. They were afraid to have another kid and watch them suffer all over again. thankfully as my brother aged many of the problems went away.

2008 moved from sherwood to tigard, started at Alberta Rider Elementary 2nd Grade

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:08:35 UTC

The housing market crash in 2008 caused my parents to lose their once successful furniture business, and we moved from our nice house in Sherwood Hills to a small house in Tigard. I transferred from Westgate School to alberta elementary school. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason however, this was a very difficult time for my parents because they practically lost all of their investments, coming to America with nothing was especially heartbreaking. the good that came out of this was entering the public school system where I met some of my lifelong friends and made many connections within my community.

2018 my older brother graduating high school, I started high school

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:09:15 UTC

my brother and I having such a large age gap meant I never saw him at school, but we always supported one another and he was my built-in tutor. he graduated as valedictorian and got many offers from schools around the country.

2019 My father passing away in a car accident

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:09:33 UTC

This is the most important and pivotal moment of my life. Losing my dad on a random day in August 2019 was so painful, shocking, and confusing. I remember how my emotional grief turned physical because of how profound my emotional pain became.

This experience totally altered the course of my education, choices of careers, and family dynamics. I had to grow up faster than I thought and I became the head of my household because my mother and brother dealt with grief differently than I did.

Losing my dad showed me how important the medical field was to me, having close friends, and not taking one another for granted.

2020 covid starting and junior year of HS being online

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:10:00 UTC

Covid impacting the globe, causing deaths and sickness to everyone was not ideal for any timeline but especially after losing my dad, it was so painful to watch the world fall apart.

Having school online completely ruined my work ethic and mindset as a student, I became so burnt out and lazy.

2022 graduating HS with a 4.25 GPA, hawaii grad trip with my cousins

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:10:49 UTC

Using academic success as a coping mechanism, I took on difficult courses and completed high school with one of the highest GPAs in my class.

I was still lost and didn't know what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be, I was so tired and burnt out from the last 4 years.

Thankfully to distract me from the reality of my childhood ending My family planned a large trip with all of my cousins where we traveled to Oahu, Hawaii.

2023 starting at psu meeting some great friends

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:11:19 UTC

Starting fall 2023 at PSU was scary. I felt so lost, and it was a bit difficult to start academics after taking a hiatus. It was insanely hard for me to accept I would have to put in work to build back my work ethic and studying habits, I still managed to do very well my first year.

2022 august turning 18 and starting to work at Costco in October

kyleduong1_1 — 2025-04-29 21:13:34 UTC

Still feeling like i was at a crossroads in my life and career, I worked at Costco briefly (for about a year) just to earn some money while I decided and thought about what I wanted to do next.

I met some great people at Costco, worked in almost every department, built communication and team skills, and even trained as a supervisor in the front end department.

Here, I realized I did not enjoy retail or climbing a corporate ladder and I wanted to pursue a degree in healthcare. ( I worked in the pharmacy and loved it)

I put my 2 weeks in a couple of months before starting at PSU