Having reluctantly stumbled upon poetry translation at the age of 14, Minh Quan takes us on his journey through the world of translation explaining how it helped him to broaden his notion of Vietnamese culture, offering a bridge between him and the past, and how it can help others do the same as well. Minh Quan Do, a student at United Nations International School of Hanoi (UNIS), is an aspiring poet and translator of poetry. He has been working for a series of years on projects involving translation of poetry and crafting original works. His current project, “Gained In Translation,” seeks to explore the effect of translation on language and meaning through a process called back-translation. In addition to his work with poetry, he also is working with a franchise startup, Pablo Vietnam, and another food and beverage startup with the aim of promoting a healthier lifestyle. In his spare time, he is a co-founder of the Vietnam Youth Leaders (VYL), a networking group with the aim of connecting engaged youth in Vietnam. He is additionally a member of the student-led charity SANSE which seeks to promote the local education systems in mountainous regions. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.