'Eating and sleeping' with 13 projects, the girl in the water industry graduated as valedictorian of the University of Construction

Withdrawing her application from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hoai Thu decided to retake the university entrance exam and pursue water supply and drainage engineering at the University of Construction. After 5 years, the Thai Nguyen female student graduated as valedictorian of the whole school with an impressive GPA of 3.9/4.0.

Hoai Thu - new engineer in water supply and drainage engineering, University of Construction - Photo: NGUYEN BAO

Hoai Thu said that at the University of Construction, female students are often affectionately called "stone flowers". But in reality, here, both male and female students learn how to turn pressure into motivation, and turn difficulties into courage.

13 projects and sleepless nights

Duong Thi Hoai Thu, 24 years old, a former student of Phu Binh High School (Thai Nguyen), was admitted to the bioengineering major at Hanoi University of Science and Technology in 2019. However, after only one week of studying, she decided to withdraw her application for personal reasons.

In 2020, Thu retook the exam and passed her second choice to study water supply and drainage engineering at the University of Construction. Thu realized that this is a practical major with many job opportunities after graduation, so she decided to choose it.

Although she had mentally prepared that "studying engineering for women will be very difficult", Thu said that during the actual learning process, she still could not avoid shocks.

During 5 years of study, Thu had to "struggle" with about 13 personal projects (including graduation projects), each project lasting at least 2-3 months.

The first project is also the one that Thu remembers the most, because she had to do two projects at the same time for the subject "urban and industrial water supply" and the subject "urban and industrial drainage". Because she was still confused and did not know anything about how to do it, Thu had to ask for completed projects from her seniors to learn about the minimum requirements.

"Doing a project is a huge pressure, because to do a project, students must know how to read standards, regulations, and be proficient in drawing software and hydraulic calculation software in water supply and drainage. Most students have to study by themselves. During the project, if there is just a little bit of wrong data, the entire project and drawings will be wrong," Thu said.

The peak of pressure was when Thu completed her graduation project. Thu said this was the most difficult challenge, having to synthesize the knowledge of all the projects she had done to complete a complete water supply system.

In her graduation project, Thu chose the topic of designing a water supply system for the Southeast Nghe An economic zone in the period of 2024 - 2040. This is a practical project, requiring the implementer to request local actual data, survey water quality, check standards and make detailed calculations.

"The graduation project lasted 3.5 to 4 months. I had to stay up late many times, working, studying, and updating my skills," Thu said.

The result of her efforts and sleepless nights is a near-perfect score of 9.5/10. Thu's graduation project is also being submitted to the 2025 water industry excellent project competition.

Hoai Thu received her bachelor's degree in water supply and drainage engineering - Photo: NVCC

Pressure and discipline

After 5 years of university, Thu achieved impressive results with a GPA of 3.9/4.0 and became the valedictorian of the whole school. Thu affirmed: this achievement comes from the spirit of self-study and strict study discipline.

"In university, teachers do not hold chalk and write for students to write like in high school. Self-study spirit and study discipline determine success. If students study like in high school, they will fail in their first year and will not be able to keep up," Thu said.

Since her first year, Thu has outlined clear goals for each stage. During her studies, instead of "memorizing", she chose to learn by nature, draw mind maps, and take notes on knowledge outside the textbook that teachers emphasized. "This is often the 'highlight' in the exam to get a high score," Thu said.

With the above learning method, Thu has won the school's study encouragement scholarship for many semesters; Odon-Valeet scholarship for Earth and Environmental Sciences; SAKURA Japan student exchange scholarship (2023); won the school-level scientific research award; 5-good student at school and Hanoi city level...

Besides, Thu also holds the position of deputy head of the water engineering club at the school, deputy head of the logistics department of the faculty's volunteer student team, and participates in supporting student recruitment...

Dr. Duong Thu Hang - the lecturer who guided Thu in scientific research, said that through the guidance process, she realized that Thu is a serious student with scientific and creative thinking, has the ability to work in groups, self-study, and research documents very well. Especially, she is always responsible and progressive.

"In addition to studying, Thu is also an active student in community activities, having participated in the Green Summer campaign and the Faculty's Student Volunteer Team.

I believe that thanks to this combination of professional capacity and dedication, Thu will become more mature and successful on the road ahead," said Ms. Hang.

After receiving her diploma in water supply and drainage design engineering, Thu said she hopes to work in design consulting companies or manage water infrastructure in construction projects. In addition, she aims to continue to improve her expertise, learn more calculation software and plans to study for a master's degree.

NGUYEN BAO

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/an-ngu-cung-13-do-an-co-gai-nganh-nuoc-tot-nghiep-thu-khoa-truong-dai-hoc-xay-dung-20251023120356159.htm