Male student who was carried to school by his friend for 10 years graduated from University of Technology with honors

Nguyen Tat Minh (from Trieu Son, Thanh Hoa ) is a student who was once known by many people for his beautiful friendship in the story "10 years being carried to school by a friend". Since birth, Minh was disabled, his legs and one arm were twisted, and the older he grew, the more they shrank. Seeing that his friend could not walk, Ngo Van Hieu volunteered to "change his legs", carrying his friend to school for 10 years.

After graduating from high school, Minh was admitted to the Computer Science major at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, while Hieu also became a student at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy. From then on, the two friends began to live apart.

No longer accompanied by his close friends to school, Minh said he had to learn to adapt and overcome difficulties on his own. At school, Minh was arranged to share a dormitory room with Quan - a friend with brittle bone disease, who had been sent to school by his parents for 12 years. The four people, including two students and two parents, were arranged by the management board in a room of more than 25 square meters, eating and living together like a family.

Two friends carried each other for 10 years. *Photo: NVCC*

When the school learned of Minh’s situation, they and the company donated a wheelchair to him. For his convenience, Minh’s room is also located on the first floor with a separate entrance designed with a moderate slope, allowing the wheelchair to access it.

Minh’s father has also accompanied him throughout his four years at university. During the past four years, his father, Mr. Nguyen Tat May, also quit his job in the countryside to come to Hanoi to take care of his son. At first, Mr. May applied for a job pumping water for the school dormitory. Later, he became a security guard at a coffee shop near the dormitory to earn extra income and take care of his son.

“Before that, my father had an accident and broke his leg while working as a quarry worker, so his health declined. These jobs were suitable for him, and he did not have to depend on the meager salary he earned working for his mother’s leather shoe company,” Minh said.

On days when his father couldn’t take him to class, Minh would ride his electric wheelchair to school and ask his friends to carry him up if he was on a higher floor. There were also days when his friends came to his room to take him to school. Thanks to their help, Minh was able to attend class as usual without missing any classes.

Minh and his father in the dormitory. *Photo: Thuy Nga*

However, recalling the early days when he first entered university, the environment was completely different from high school, Minh also encountered many difficulties because the amount of knowledge was vast, while students had to study and search for documents on their own.

In the first semester, the male student did not get good results in many subjects. In order to get a good degree when graduating, Minh gradually changed his study method. He studied each part carefully and did many exercises, then searched for questions online to practice. In addition, Minh also studied with a group of friends in the library, thanks to which his scores gradually improved over the semesters.

“I have many friends around me who are very good at studying. That is the motivation for me to try hard every day,” Minh said.

Nguyen Tat Minh 3 1746524699 8143 1746530053.webp — Tat Minh and his classmates. *Photo: NVCC*

With specialized subjects that require a lot of computer work, at first Minh could only use one hand, so he typed slower than his friends. After that, the male student had to spend time practicing to get used to typing with one hand, occasionally using the other hand to press a few support keys.

After 4 years of university, graduating with honors, the thing that makes Minh regret the most is not being able to participate in the activities of the school's union, team or club due to travel restrictions. However, Minh also has more time to study and improve his expertise.

A representative of the student affairs department of Hanoi University of Science and Technology said that Tat Minh's graduation from university with honors shows that "determination can help overcome all limits."

After graduating, Minh returned to his hometown and hopes to find a job in his field in Thanh Hoa. According to Minh, information technology is updated quickly and changes every day. Therefore, he must constantly improve himself to keep up with new technologies. Minh also plans to learn more about AI to increase his career opportunities in the future.