Nearly 40 top-scoring students are orphans.

The "Supporting Top Students" program, now in its 10th year, continues its journey of spreading love by being implemented simultaneously in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Taking place over two days, January 7th and 8th, the program offered a series of meaningful activities such as visiting scenic spots, interacting with experts, a gala celebrating the 10th anniversary, and honoring and awarding scholarships to outstanding students with outstanding academic achievements. Each activity was not only a recognition of academic accomplishments but also a source of encouragement, instilling confidence in the students to move forward on their path.

This year, nearly 100 top-scoring scholarship recipients were present in Ho Chi Minh City, including nearly 40 orphans and many from families severely affected by storms and floods.

"The storm and floods swept away all of my family's possessions."

Amidst these stories of overcoming hardship, the circumstances of Le Phan Bao Vy, a student at Phu Yen University, touched many hearts. Vy's family is classified as near-poor; she has an elderly grandfather, and her parents struggle to support four children through their education, including Vy and her older sister, both of whom are currently attending university. Her father works as a construction worker, and her mother runs a small business. Life was already difficult, but it became even more precarious with the prolonged heavy rains and floods, bringing with them countless worries.

In a heartfelt letter to the program, Vy tearfully shared: “Even though our family had elevated our belongings, the floodwaters rose rapidly during the power outage, sweeping away almost all our possessions. After the flood, the house was still unfinished, the walls hadn't been repaired, the floor smelled of dampness and mold, and the worries about my sister and I's education grew stronger. However, it was in this situation that I found strong motivation from my parents. Without a single complaint, they always encouraged me to study hard, believing that knowledge would open up a new path.”

Le Phan Bao Vy dreams of escaping poverty through education.

For Vy, studying isn't the only path to success, but it's the shortest and most sustainable path she's chosen. Lessons learned from books, from perseverance, and from the losses caused by natural disasters have instilled in her a will to rise above adversity and never surrender to fate.

Also severely affected by the storms and floods, Vo Thanh Tien, a student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (now Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology), said that Typhoon No. 13 swept away much of his family's property in Phu Hoa 2 commune, Dak Lak province. His family of four, with his parents working as laborers and farmers, suffered significant losses, making his path to university seem narrow amidst countless difficulties.

It was precisely these challenges that further strengthened Tien's determination to study and choose the field of Mechatronics Engineering Technology, with the hope that in the future she could find practical technological solutions to improve production and contribute to the sustainable development of the country.

Nearly 40 top-scoring students are orphans or come from families with tragic circumstances.

During the application screening process for the "Top Student" scholarship program, the organizers empathized with many students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Among the nearly 100 students who attended the scholarship award ceremony, almost 40 were fatherless, some were orphaned by both parents, or had separated parents, lacking sufficient funds to cover tuition and daily living expenses.

Most touching is the case of Tran Chau Tra My, a student majoring in Petroleum Technology and Oil Exploitation at the University of Technology - Da Nang University. Tra My said she was born into a less than complete family. Her mother underwent surgery for a pituitary gland tumor in 2020, and unfortunately, the tumor spread to the optic nerve, causing her to completely lose her sight.

“In 2024, my father found happiness with someone else and kicked my mother and me out of the house, leaving our family without a stable place to live. I study in Da Nang, while my mother works at the Association of the Blind in Huong Tra Ward, Da Nang City, learning massage skills, and my younger brother lives with my maternal grandparents. The three of us face many difficulties, especially with daily living expenses,” Tra My wrote in a letter to Tien Phong newspaper.

Tra My shared that throughout her high school years, she consistently maintained an average grade above 9.3, actively participated in school activities, and always believed that studying was the only way to change her current life.

"My biggest dream is to successfully complete my university program, find a stable job to support my mother and younger brother. I also hope to contribute a small part to Vietnam's energy sector in the future," Tra My shared.

Tran Chau Tra My overcame adversity after being abandoned by her father, hoping to continue her studies to help her family, whose mother is blind due to complications from a pituitary medullary tumor.

The case of Nguyen Vo Nhat Thien (born in 2007, Dak Lak) resonated deeply with the organizers, who empathized with how he overcame his fate of being an orphan, completed high school, and is now a student at Phu Yen University.

“I used to have both a father and a mother, but in 2012, when I was 5 years old, an age when parents cherish their children, I lost my father. My mother and I relied on each other to make a living selling water spinach. In 2017, my mother suffered a stroke and could no longer walk, so I had to cook meals and help her alone. For a 10-year-old child, that was too much. When my mother could walk a little, fate cruelly delivered the devastating news that she had cancer. Holding my mother's medical records, the words 'malignant tumor' made me fall apart,” Nhat Thien confided.

Nhat Thien shared that she vividly remembers June 17, 2019, the day her mother passed away after her 12th birthday: “My mother died right in front of me. All the pain, her eyes, and her voice still haunt me to this day. I became an orphan, losing both my father and mother that day. My half-brother will be my guardian until I turn 18.”

Despite her challenging circumstances, Nhat Thien strived to complete high school with excellent academic achievements. “When I learned about the ‘Supporting Top Students’ program, I was happy but also apprehensive. Happy because I could receive support, apprehensive because I felt I hadn’t tried hard enough. I’m trying to achieve good results, complete my university program, and bring literacy to children in remote areas. More than anyone else, I know how terrifying poverty is and what would become of me if I didn’t find the light of knowledge,” Nhat Thien shared.

Nhat Thien further shared that the first thing she did was repair her parents' memorial photos because the recent flood had swept everything away. "After that, I divided the money into smaller portions, saving up for tuition fees, living expenses, and studying," Nhat Thien wrote in a letter to the organizers of the "Supporting Top Students" program.