"Scholarship hunter" earns 250 million VND to take his parents on a trip to Europe

(Dan Tri) - Tran Thi Ngan received 5 full scholarships to study for a master's degree in Europe. She studied and worked part-time to earn 250 million VND to take her parents on a trip and support her younger sister's tuition.

Journey in the "Heart of Europe" changed a young girl's life

Tran Thi Ngan (born in 1999) has a bachelor's degree with honors (GPA 3.84/4.0) majoring in foreign economics from Foreign Trade University and a series of impressive achievements before graduating from university.

In 2022, Ngan received admission offers from 5 scholarship funds in Europe before graduating from university. Ngan thought that with her modest academic achievements, she would have difficulty applying for scholarships.

However, based on her good essay writing ability, the female student has become a potential candidate to receive scholarship programs.

After 3 months, Ngan received two scholarships, France Excellence and Eiffel Excellence, from the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs , the Erasmus Mundus scholarship from the European Union Commission in Germany, the International Excellence scholarship from the University of Padova (Italy) and a scholarship from Wageningen University (Netherlands).

Tran Thi Ngan is an Erasmus Mundus scholar. (Photo: NVCC).

Ngan said that the scholarships she received did not cover food, accommodation, living expenses and transportation for 1-2 years of study (depending on the study program).

Due to personal financial problems, when choosing to submit her application, the female student only aimed for a full scholarship.

It is known that before receiving full scholarships from European countries, in 2020, Ngan received an Erasmus+ scholarship worth 5,200 euros (about 130 million VND) for a student exchange period in Belgium.

"This scholarship came to me as a fate, I applied for the exchange first and coincidentally had the opportunity to set foot in the country known as the "heart of Europe", Ngan said.

Among the exchange students who came to UHasselt that year, I felt lucky to receive a scholarship for both the flight and living expenses, and free tuition at the partner school," Ngan said.

Sharing the process of applying for the Erasmus+ scholarship, the female student said: "With this scholarship, students in need need to apply through the university they are studying at to be nominated through the partner school instead of freely applying like a master's scholarship.

To facilitate the application process, you should contact teachers from your school's International Cooperation Department for detailed support.

As far as I know, every year, Vietnamese students receive a lot of benefits with the scholarships they receive. Therefore, I highly encourage everyone to apply to study abroad for free.

In addition, you should always keep your academic results good if you are still studying, determine your scholarship goals early to have a strategy to build your profile."

Ngan and her mother in Venice (Italy) - the poetic ancient city. (Photo: NVCC).

Ngan said that after receiving a scholarship for the student exchange period, during the first 6 months of 2020, the female student was able to explore 7 European countries and come into contact with many cultures. This trip changed the young girl's life and self-perception.

"That was the trip that changed my life and gave me the motivation to return to Europe.

Before, I was not really confident in myself and always had the heavy thought that I was not good enough to study for a master's degree.

However, after participating in the exchange trip, I dared to step out of my comfort zone and broaden my thinking. Besides, I feel happy and lucky to meet my current colleagues," Ngan shared.

The journey to get a scholarship from a "three-no" application

In August 2020, Ngan returned to Vietnam to continue completing her studies at Foreign Trade University.

With the interesting and useful experience from the exchange period, the female student planned to build and complete her profile to continue applying for scholarships. However, at that time, the young girl had a three-no profile: no IELTS, no scientific research, no outstanding extracurricular activities.

"I started learning English at the end of grade 12 because I wanted to pass the university entrance exam. However, I only stopped at learning grammar and did not have good enough listening and speaking skills to study abroad.

Later, when I went to university, I felt pressured by my friends so I started to learn listening, speaking and took the Toeic and IELTS certificates. Four years at Foreign Trade University helped me change in a positive way.

Thanks to that, when participating in the scholarship selection round, I was completely confident to answer the interview and express myself in English. I think IELTS is currently the basic standard for you to be able to apply for a scholarship to study abroad.

Therefore, taking the IELTS exam is necessary and important, even though some schools exempt foreign language certificates for students studying English programs at university," Ngan confided.

Ngan and her mother in Cologne (Germany) (Photo: NVCC).

"However, people should not overemphasize this certificate, it does not say much about each person and the strength of their study abroad scholarship application," Ngan said.

In addition, Ngan also continuously improved her profile through scientific exams, foreign language certificates and international activities. The female student received the Academic Encouragement Scholarship for 4 consecutive semesters; the Honda Awards Excellence Scholarship 2021 nationwide.

At the same time, she also owns 5 scientific publications in the fields of education, business administration, economics and participated in a number of student scientific research competitions of Foreign Trade University and the Eureka science award.

In addition, the female student also participates in student club activities, extracurricular programs and supports the European Union Delegation to Vietnam.

At the end of 2021, the female student completed her scholarship application with a fairly thick list of achievements.

Ngan became the representative of Vietnam to attend the Youth Summit in Brussels (Belgium). (Photo: NVCC).

In 2022, Ngan was nominated as Vietnam's representative to attend the Youth Summit in Brussels and to speak for the educational cooperation initiative between the two regions EU - ASEAN.

Ngan confided: "I feel proud to become an Ambassador for QS Ranking with their educational activities in Vietnam, because this is the field I want to contribute to. Next year, I plan to cooperate with other educational organizations to promote educational activities."

Work extra to earn money to take parents on a trip to Europe and support sister's study abroad

Currently, Ngan has just completed a study abroad program in Germany. "I am planning to stay in Europe after graduation. My GPA at Bonn University (Germany) is 1.5/5.0 (equivalent to 90%).

To earn extra living expenses, I studied and worked as a guide for Vietnamese students applying for scholarships to study abroad.

Last year, I was proud to have supported more than 1,000 students from scholarship classes.

My friends often call me a "scholarship hunter" because I have helped many people win prestigious scholarships such as GOI-IES (Ireland), France Excellence (France), Women in STEM (UK), Erasmus Mundus (EU), Finland Scholarship (Finland), Danish Scholarship (Denmark)", Ngan shared.

Ngan and her family had an interesting experience at Hoher Dachstein Mountain in Austria. (Photo: NVCC).

For Ngan, the greatest achievement and the thing that makes her most proud in recent years is spending 250 million VND to take her parents on a trip to 6 European countries and financially supporting her sister to study abroad.

Ngan shared: "I am a family-loving person. All my motivation in life and work comes from my love for family.

In 2022, right after I set foot in the place that contains the most romantic cities in the world, I applied for a family visit visa from the German Embassy to take my parents on a trip.

In early 2023, my family traveled to 6 European countries: Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands within 15 days. Actually, the goal of taking my parents on a trip was set by me in 2020, when I received the Erasmus+ scholarship,"

Ngan understands that her parents have also worked hard, so she wants to make them happy and proud of her. Besides, Ngan's parents are still very young to be able to freely experience things with their children, so this is the most suitable time.

Ngan's family took a souvenir photo at the French tourist icon - Eiffel Tower. (Photo: NVCC).

"To me, the meaning of making money is to bring spiritual joy and experiential value. So, I also hope my family can have the same experience.

For that reason, this year, I paid a financial proof of about 6,000 euros (about 150 million VND) for my sister to study abroad in Germany with the hope that she will have a meaningful time in a new environment," Ngan confided.

Ngan completed her study abroad program at Bonn University (Germany) with high results. (Photo: NVCC).

In addition, the female student is learning French and German to use in daily life while studying abroad.

Talking about the difficulties of studying abroad in many countries, Ngan said: "At school, students learn entirely in English, so I don't encounter any difficulties.

The teachers in Germany and Belgium teach well and are also very good at English. When studying in many countries, as an exchange student, I found the most difficult thing was the problem of moving a lot, related to moving house and residence papers.

Besides, many people will find it difficult to adapt to a new environment if they only stay in one place for 6 months and have to constantly move around Europe to get a double degree. However, compared to the benefits that the scholarship brings, I think that every experience is valuable."

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