Students who don't give up

TP - Among the more than 100 applications from the Northern region submitted to the Organizing Committee of the 2024 "Supporting Top Students" Program, many students come from challenging circumstances. They didn't get to choose where they were born, but through their own efforts, they have always strived for academic excellence and achieved initial successes.

TP - Among the more than 100 applications from the Northern region submitted to the Organizing Committee of the 2024 "Supporting Top Students" Program, many students come from challenging circumstances. They didn't get to choose where they were born, but through their own efforts, they have always strived for academic excellence and achieved initial successes.

A gift for Dad

Although her mother passed away three years ago, Trieu Thuy Chi still occasionally trembles with grief and sorrow. With a 2024 high school graduation exam score of 28.60 in the C00 subject combination (Literature: 9.5; History: 9.0; and Geography: 10), Thuy Chi became the top-scoring student in the Education and Other Sciences group of majors at the University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

But few people know that behind that achievement lies the tireless effort of this small, unfortunate girl. Thuy Chi was born and raised in Nam Hoa commune, Nam Truc district, Nam Dinh province. Chi's life flowed peacefully with her parents. When her second child was born, her mother showed signs of depression. In 2017, when her third child was born, her mother's illness relapsed, and coupled with the death of her maternal grandmother, her mother had to be hospitalized for treatment. The family's difficulties increased. Chi's father then had to work as a motorbike taxi driver to earn money to buy medicine for her mother. All of her father's efforts were suddenly lost in 2021 when her mother passed away.

Trieu Thuy Chi (on the right) always strives to study hard for a brighter future. Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

This loss is irreplaceable for Chi and her father. Since her mother's death, her father has also been psychologically affected, leaving him mentally unstable. Besides farming, he does extra work milling rice. His income is insufficient to support all three sisters, Chi and her siblings, who are still in school. This year, Chi is entering university, far from home, and the cost of living and tuition has increased significantly. Chi didn't choose to study education because she knows she wouldn't be able to handle the pressure. Her biggest motivation right now is her father's unwavering efforts to ensure all three sisters receive a complete education. With the results she achieved in the recent high school graduation and university entrance exams in 2025, Chi considers it a small gift to her father, who has always silently sacrificed for his children.

Currently, Chi continues to maintain excellent academic performance while serving as class secretary, aiming not only to enhance her knowledge but also to develop leadership and teamwork skills. Her immediate goal is to obtain a foreign language certificate to expand her learning and research opportunities, and to maintain high grades to win scholarships and reduce her father's financial burden. Looking further ahead, Chi aspires to become an expert in educational quality management, her field of study.

Don't give up.

At the beginning of his 12th grade year (October 2023), Nguyen The Vu was diagnosed with a cerebellar tumor. The disease caused not only physical pain but also mental distress. Lying in bed for three months, Vu thought a lot. “I always thought I had to try harder. While other students try 100%, I have to try 200%,” Vu shared. Coming from a poor family in the impoverished mountainous district of Quy Hop, Nghe An province , and suffering from a serious illness, Vu felt uncertain at times. But the dream of changing his circumstances always motivated him to try harder. In the 2024 university entrance exam season, Vu was among the top 3 highest-scoring candidates at Vinh University with a total score of 27 points in the C00 subject combination (Literature 9.2 points; History 8.8 points; Geography 9.0 points).

The "Nurturing Top Students" scholarship and recognition program will take place on January 4, 2025. In Hanoi, the program will be held at the Tien Phong newspaper headquarters; in Ho Chi Minh City, it will be held at Hong Bang International University.

From over 100 applications from universities in the northern region, after careful selection, the organizing committee of the 2024 "Supporting Top Students" program chose 30 top-scoring students in the entrance exam to award scholarships. Each student has a unique situation. Hoang Thi Huong Dung, a student at Hung Vuong University in Phu Tho, has a difficult background: her father left to start a new family when she was young; her mother died of cancer in 2020. Dung lives with her maternal grandmother. Her family is classified as a poor household. Similarly, Ma The Hoang, a student at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2, was orphaned at a young age and lived with his grandparents. His paternal grandfather passed away, leaving only the two of them as a family.

Quach Thi Thanh, a student at Hong Duc University (Thanh Hoa), is an orphan whose mother remarried when she was young. Thanh lives with her grandmother, who is now 75 years old. Her grandmother's average income is only 200,000-300,000 VND per month. In 2023, after finishing 12th grade, Thanh decided to start working. However, real-world experiences prompted her to return to school, and in 2024 she took the high school graduation exam.

This year, the organizing committee received over 350 applications from universities and colleges nationwide. Based on the criteria, the committee selected 30 students from the North and 60 students from the South to award scholarships. In addition, the committee also awarded scholarships to 5 students who had previously received the "Supporting Top Students" scholarship but continued to maintain good academic performance. Each scholarship is worth 10 million VND in cash and includes many meaningful and valuable gifts.

NGHIEM HUE

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nang-buoc-thu-khoa-nhung-sinh-vien-khong-guc-nga-post1703792.tpo