【為什麼我們要挑選這篇文章】人生只有一次，我們盡可能要讓這場旅途更順利。參考他人的成功案例就是其中一種捷徑，這就是為什麼我很喜歡看那些〈在 XX 歲以前你一定要做的事〉或是〈真希望我在 XX 歲的時候知道這些〉等文章。這篇文章就是其中之一，希望不只給 29 歲以前的年輕族群看，也想激勵所有不服老、擁有追求新知夢想的人。（責任編輯：吳玲瑄）
本文以中英雙語刊出／中文翻譯：黃維德
今天是我的 29 歲生日，首先，我想感謝我的父母，是他們讓我來到了這個世界。另一方面，我也想談談我人生至今最棒的三個決定。
1. 大學時轉攻德語
我大學一年級念的並不是德語，所以我參加了德語系的轉系考。為何選擇德語？因為我一直想去歐洲（歐陸啦，不好意思啊英國），也知道德語不但是歐洲十分常用的語言，也是相當熱門的第二語言。當然，由於德語和德國方面的資源在台灣相當有限，念了三、四年德語之後，你可能還是沒辦法精通；此外，畢業後的工作機會也不是非常多……不過，叛逆的我還是通過考試，成功轉進了德語系。報考人數大約有五十人左右，但德語系只收五個轉系生，感謝老天，我英文和中文拿了高分，所以我考上了！
2. 選擇去柏林攻讀碩士
花了三年半的時間拿到學士後，我想實現自己的夢想。大多數台灣學生在申請海外學校時，會請顧問檢查所有的文件，不過，能協助我的顧問實在不好找，網路上也沒有太多申請德國國際課程的資訊，所以一切都得自己來。我找到了想念的學校，考了一些英語能力檢定和 GRE、準備申請文件、請母語為英語的朋友校對文件，再接受了幾間學校的面試。我非常幸運，又一次拿到了錄取通知！
我爸媽原本以為我會失敗然後放棄，但我熬過了這場考驗，帶著兩個裝滿身家的行李箱，就這樣來到了歐洲。問題是，我之前根本沒有去過歐洲。這是個非常大的賭注，也讓我爸媽非常擔心。
3. 辭去全職工作開始創業
在行動廣告產業工作幾年後，我非常渴望嘗試一些新事物。仔細思考之下，我兩度辭職創業，一路上起伏無數（細節這裡就先不談啦），不過，我學到了許多難以置信的事物，更讓我驚訝的是，我還發展了一些我從來不知道的技能。
如今，我開了幾個中文專欄，也準備開始寫新的英文專欄，談創業和科技新創企業。我們在超過 100 個申請團隊、30 個進入最終階段的團隊中脫穎而出，得以加入柏林最棒的育成機構 Hub:raum。
此外，我剛剛策劃主辦了我在柏林的第一場活動，參與者超過 100 人──包括 Facebook 和 Twitter 的投資者、參與座談的 500 Startup 合夥人、擔任講者的 Number 26 和 EyeEm、慷慨贊助的獵豹移動與 TechCode、參與競賽的機械學習新創企業，當然，還有我親愛的朋友們。
最後，還有一件很重要的事得說。我們在經歷低潮之後，必定會重新審視身邊各種各樣的關係；我想感謝每一位不離不棄的朋友，感謝你們願意體諒、支持一個幾近破產的創業者。
【以下為作者 Irene Yu 撰寫之原文】
The 3 Best Decisions That I Made So Far In my Life
Today is my 29 years old birthday, first of all I have to thank to my parents who made and delivered me to this world.
On the other hands, I would like to talk about which 3 decisions that I made the best in my life so far.
1. STUDIED GERMAN FOR MY BACHELOR
I was not enrolled in German/ Germanistik first year at the university, thus, I did exam in order to transfer to German department. Why German? Because I always wanted to come to Europe (Europe Continent, Sorry U.K), I know German was one of the common spoken and also popular 2nd language to learn in Europe. Certainly, you would not learn the best German after 3–4 years study, since the scarce resources of German and Germany in Taiwan, besides, not so many job opportunities after graduating, well… as rebel as I am, I passed the exam, got acceptance letter from German department. Thanks god, they only took 5 students from the exam 50 something? I got good grades of English and Chinese, thus, I made it!
2. CHOSE TO COME TO BERLIN TO STUDY MY MASTER
After 3.5 years, I completed my bachelor study, I would like to make my dream come true. There were not so many resources that you could find online to apply for international program in Germany. Most of cases in Taiwan, you need to hire consultant to check every document to apply for studying overseas. Apparently, there was no consultant who can assist me on this. Again, I did everything by myself, I found the school, took some English proficiency tests and GRE, prepared the applications and asked my friend who is English native speaker to proofread my documents and went through some interviews with schools. Lucky me, I received a letter with congratulation again!
During the time, my parents thought I would fail and gave up, but I made it through and packed my belongings with 2 suitcases then HERE I AM EUROPE!
The problem was, I had never been to Europe before, that was a big bet and endless worrisome from my parents.
3. QUITTED FULL TIME JOB AND STARTED MY STARTUPs
After couple of years working at mobile advertising, I desperately wanted to have something new. After carefully thinking for couple of years, I quitted my job twice and started my new journey. There were a lot of ups and downs (I don’t want to go through details here) However, what I have learned is extremely unbelievable, and what surprised even more is that I started to develop some other skills that I have never knew. I opened couple of new columns in Chinese with salary 😉 Moreover, I will also start another new one talking about entrepreneurship and tech startups in ENGLISH soon! Stay Tuned!
We won a startup competition with more than 100 applications and 30 teams in final so that we can join one of the nicest incubator- Hubaum in Berlin.
Besides, I just planned and organized my 1st event in Berlin with more than 100 people participated, along with Facebook and Twitter investors. 500 startup partner was on the panel, Number 26, EyeEm were as speakers, also generous sponsors Cheetah Mobile/ TechCode, and some startups from machine intelligence filed and beloved friends.
The last but not the least, if you have been through the down time, you will re-evaluate your relationships around you. Thank you for all of you are still there for me, being considerable and supportive for an almost-broke entrepreneur.
延伸閱讀： 「英文不好，你還是待在台灣吧」──謝謝嗆你英文的「貴人」，十個英文學習技巧 「14 歲在男友家過夜，是我媽親自接送」保守台灣媽在德國的文化衝擊 【永遠年輕，永遠熱淚盈眶】60 歲練肌肉、80 歲霸氣登上伸展台，年紀不是他的障礙 「富二代」是祝福還是詛咒？德國家庭：根本沒聽過這個詞
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（本文經合作夥伴換日線 CROSSING 授權轉載、編輯導讀與修訂標題，原文標題為〈【雙語】勇敢抉擇，我人生中最棒的三個決定〉）
