I am an ordinary person who refuses to stay ordinary. I am someone with low energy but big dreams.

In 2019, I decided to learn programming. I switched one of my master's focus areas to Information Technology and enrolled in various computer science courses on Udacity. In 2021, I found a thesis topic on reinforcement learning for digital twin agents. It was the pre-AI era — I learned to work with Python, C++, and ROS, and studied classical reinforcement learning algorithms like PPO and TRPO.

After my thesis, I continued working on the same topic for three more months as a HiWi (student research assistant), and participated in The 4th 2022 IEEE International Conference on Architecture, Construction, Environment and Hydraulics (IEEE ICACEH 2022). I received a certificate and signed an authorization contract with IEEE. Unfortunately, the 2022 proceedings were never indexed by IEEE — the only edition of this conference not to be included. This remains one of my greatest regrets, and it fueled my dream to one day publish a paper of my own.

In 2022, my wife became pregnant. In 2023, I spent half the year in China with her, and in May, my son was born. Early that year, while still in China, I applied for doctoral positions in Germany — in post-quantum cryptography, semantics, and human-computer interaction. But due to my background, none of these applications succeeded. I studied these fields, but could not sufficiently prove my qualifications. During this time, I built a WeChat mini-program for generating astrology charts.

In October, when my son was three months old, I decided to return to Germany and look for work — not limited to doctoral positions. I cast a wide net across industries, and by late November I had secured my current role as an automotive development engineer. The following April, our family was reunited in Germany.

Time flies. I spent my first year on an Audi project, then began my second year on a BMW project. The automotive industry started its visible decline in 2025. While working, I kept learning new things — though never in a ruthlessly strategic way, so progress was always slow.

Toward the end of 2026, I consulted experienced people about large language model research and began preparing a paper. As an independent scholar, doing AI research means investing hundreds of euros of my own money to rent GPU servers. My research topic isn't wildly ambitious, but it is progressing steadily.

I've always wanted to try entrepreneurship. My drive hasn't always been the strongest, but through gradual reflection and using my son's kindergarten app, I realized this might be a real pain point in the market. After publishing my paper, I plan to start developing a Kita-App, with a core focus on achieving the highest standards of data security and privacy. I see this as an opportunity to dive deep into cryptography — one of my long-standing ideal fields.

Looking back at my industry experience, two years in automotive — in modelling, test automation, and end-to-end test development and validation — have all had a positive impact on me. Standing at this crossroads, I hope to choose an industry with more growth potential and one that truly excites me. Whether it's a cross-disciplinary field, using AI to empower automotive, or pure AI research — these are all my ideal future directions.

I know it's time to set off. Facing new opportunities and challenges, whether or not I'm ready, I will chase my dreams. 2026 — still on the road.