How a 25-Year-Old Tunisian Engineering Student Went From $400/Month Stress to $2,100/Month Freedom in Ho Chi Minh City

Selim still remembers the conversation that changed everything.

He was sitting in a university lecture hall in Tunis, half-listening to his professor explain some systems architecture concept, when a girl in his class leaned over and said something completely unexpected:

He hadn't. Not even for a second.

Selim was 24, in his final year of a computer science engineering degree, and his entire plan was to graduate, find a developer job in Tunisia, and try to build something resembling a career. That's what smart Tunisian kids did. You studied hard, got the degree, and hoped the economy didn't collapse before you found a job.

But that one sentence — said casually, almost as an afterthought — planted a seed that would uproot his entire life within six weeks.

What $400/Month Actually Feels Like in Tunisia

Before we get to the transformation, you need to understand what Selim was running from.

Tunisia has one of the highest rates of university-educated unemployment in North Africa. You can spend six years getting an engineering degree — which Selim was doing — and your reward is a junior developer position paying $400 to $700 a month. If you're lucky.

Let that sink in: Six years of university. Full engineering degree. And you earn less than an English teacher with zero experience in Vietnam.

But it's not just the money. It's everything around it.

In Tunisia, your salary doesn't stretch. You can survive — barely — but you can't build. You can't save. You can't plan a future. You pay rent, you pay for food, you pay for transport, and by the end of the month, maybe — maybe — you have $100 left. Usually it's closer to zero.

And that $100 isn't going to buy you a plane ticket out. Isn't going to fund a business. Isn't going to help your parents when they need medical care. It's just going to disappear into next month's bills.

Selim watched this happen to everyone around him. Older graduates. His friends' older brothers. People with master's degrees working in call centers. Engineers driving taxis. Brilliant people trapped by geography.

And the thing about Tunisia that nobody talks about — the thing that makes it different from just being "a poor country" — is that Tunisians are educated. They know what the world looks like. They watch European friends post photos from Barcelona. They see what programmers earn in Germany. They know the gap between what they deserve and what they get, and that knowledge doesn't inspire them — it crushes them.

Because knowing you're trapped is worse than not knowing.

The Six Weeks That Changed Everything

After his classmate's comment, Selim went home and started Googling. He found UP2U's Instagram page — the same one that had helped teachers from Morocco, Algeria, Colombia, Brazil, and dozens of other countries land teaching jobs in Vietnam.

He watched the testimonials. He checked the numbers. He looked up cost of living in Ho Chi Minh City, teacher salaries, visa requirements. And something clicked.

The math was undeniable: even a starting ESL teacher in Vietnam, earning $1,200 a month, would take home more than most Tunisian engineers. And the cost of living was similar to Tunisia — in some ways cheaper.

He messaged UP2U that night.

He filmed his intro video — the one UP2U uses to pitch candidates to Vietnamese schools. He prepared his documents. He worked with the UP2U team on his teaching demo, his pronunciation, his on-camera presence.

And then came the hardest part: telling his father.

"My Father Knew I Had to Leave"

Tunisian parents — North African parents in general — tend to be protective. The idea of their 24-year-old son abandoning an engineering degree to go teach English in Southeast Asia doesn't exactly scream "responsible career move."

But Selim came prepared. He showed his father the salary numbers. He showed him testimonials from other North Africans — Moroccans, Algerians, other Tunisians — who had made the move and were thriving. He laid out the math: even if he finished his engineering degree and found the best possible job in Tunisia, he'd still earn less than half of what he was being offered in Vietnam.

His father came around. Not enthusiastically at first, but enough to give Selim the green light.

And so, with about $2,000 in savings and a one-way ticket, Selim flew to Ho Chi Minh City.

He was 24 years old. He had never left Tunisia before. He had zero teaching experience. And he was about to start a completely new career in a country he'd never visited, in a culture he'd never experienced, speaking a language he'd never heard.

He didn't wait for the "right time." He just went.

Week One: Learning to Teach in Seven Days

When Selim arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, his employer gave him one week of training.

One week.

That's it. Seven days to go from "I've never stood in front of a classroom" to "I'm responsible for 54 students."

Because here's the thing about teaching English in Vietnam that most people don't understand: it's nothing like teaching in Tunisia, or anywhere else in the traditional sense.

There's no sitting behind a desk lecturing for an hour. No marking papers until midnight. No soul-crushing curriculum that sucks the life out of the room.

Instead, it's games. Interaction. Energy. Movement. High-fives and stickers and songs.

His first observation from the school came back as "above average." His second one? "Excellent."

In four months, he'd gone from zero teaching experience to being one of the top-rated teachers at his company.

And the secret? It wasn't some hidden talent. It wasn't years of preparation. It was just energy, empathy, and a willingness to learn.

The Numbers That Changed His Life

Let's talk about money, because Selim is refreshingly open about it.

His base pay at his main school: $17 per hour, around 80 hours a month. That's about $1,360 right there.

But Selim didn't stop at his main job. He used the intro video that UP2U helped him create and sent it to private language centers near his apartment. Two of them hired him on the spot for evening and weekend classes — an additional 48 hours per month at $17 an hour.

At 25 years old. With zero teaching experience before arriving. In a country where his rent is $275 a month.

Let's compare that to what was waiting for him back home.

A junior developer position in Tunisia, if he could even find one: $400–700 per month. After rent, food, and transport, he'd save maybe $100. More likely nothing.

In Vietnam, with rent at $275, food at $200, and everything else at maybe $200 — he's saving $1,400 every single month.

That's more than most Tunisian engineers earn in total.

What a $275/Month Apartment Looks Like in Vietnam

When Selim first arrived, he rented a small room — about 15 square meters — for $98 a month. Private room, private bathroom, air conditioning, electric stove. Not luxury, but clean and functional.

After four months of saving, he upgraded to a bigger place for $275 — still a fraction of what he'd pay in Tunis for something comparable.

And here's the detail that always surprises people: ordering food delivery on Grab is actually cheaper than eating at the restaurant in person, because the app is constantly running coupons and promotions. Selim figured this out fast — he orders from a restaurant 900 meters from his house because it's cheaper with the delivery app than walking there himself.

The Vietnamese Girlfriend, the Community, and the Life

Somewhere in the middle of all this — the teaching, the saving, the exploring — Selim found a Vietnamese girlfriend. She's 20, she's teaching him Vietnamese, and they go exploring cafes and hidden alley restaurants together on his days off.

He's part of a community of over 50 UP2U teachers on WhatsApp. They meet up, share tips on apartment hunting, recommend language centers that are hiring, help newcomers navigate the chaos of the first few weeks.

And his family back in Tunisia?

He video calls them every day. His mother sends him shirts by international post, even though he keeps telling her Vietnam is literally where shirts are made. His plan is to bring both his parents to visit in the summer.

What He'd Tell Every Tunisian Who's Still Waiting

This is the part where most people expect Selim to say something gentle and diplomatic. Something like, "It's not for everyone" or "You have to weigh the pros and cons."

That's not what he says.

Because here's what Selim understands that most of his friends back home still don't: the risk of going isn't nearly as high as the risk of staying.

If he lost his job tomorrow, he has enough savings to survive for three months. And finding a new teaching position in Ho Chi Minh City? He estimates it would take about a week. Maybe less.

That's the difference between Vietnam and Tunisia. In Tunisia, you send 50 applications and hear back from none. In Vietnam, you show up with energy and good English and someone hires you before you leave the building.

The Truth Nobody in Tunisia Wants to Hear

Most Tunisian graduates — smart, educated, multilingual people — don't know that this path exists.

They think "teaching abroad" means expensive programs in Europe that require EU passports. They think Asia is for backpackers, not professionals. They think their accent disqualifies them, their passport limits them, their lack of experience eliminates them.

None of that is true.

Vietnam has been quietly hiring non-native English teachers for over a decade. Schools don't care where your passport is from. They care whether you can smile, connect with kids, speak clear English, and show up on time.

Selim didn't have a teaching degree. He didn't have a native accent. He didn't have connections. He didn't have money. He had an engineering background, decent English, and the willingness to bet on himself.

And now he's earning more at 25 than most people in his country will earn at 45.

How to Actually Make This Happen

Selim didn't just stumble into this. He worked with UP2U to build his application, film his teaching demo, prepare for interviews, and navigate the visa process.

The system is the same one that's placed over 700 non-native teachers in Vietnam since 2017 — from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Colombia, Brazil, Serbia, and 30+ other countries.

And now it's your turn.

You've got two paths forward:

Every month you wait is another $1,400+ you're leaving on the table.

Selim spent six weeks preparing. Then he got on a plane and never looked back.

You don't need to be ready. You just need to start.