The journey to the title of excellent valedictorian of Nguyen Phuc Son (born in 2001, from Thanh Hoa ) is likened by many to a "fairy tale in real life". Born into a family of 3 sisters, Son is the second child in the family. Since Son was 2 years old, his parents separated, Son's mother had to go far away to work, leaving the three sisters to be taken care of by her grandmother.
"Study hard to escape poverty"
Son remembers his childhood growing up thanks to the love of his grandmother. “During my school years, my family was poor, and only later did they become near-poor. My grandmother often told us: Study hard to escape poverty,” Son recalls.
Seeing his grandmother having to wake up early every day to pick jute to sell, sometimes earning only 1,000 VND for 3 bunches, Son was even more determined to study well to take care of his grandmother.
Son’s family was poor, and he was only one year older than his youngest brother, so all his books were “passed down” to him. Despite the difficulties, throughout his high school years, Son was always in the excellent group and was at the top of his school’s selective class. Son’s younger sister also worked hard to be in the gifted student team. At that time, both of them had only one thought: “Other than studying, there is no other way to escape poverty.”
When Son was in 11th grade, tragedy struck. His older sister accidentally got pregnant and gave birth to a child. Two weeks later, she left, leaving her son in the care of his grandmother. With no other choice, Son had to take care of his grandchild with his grandmother while studying for his university entrance exam.
However, with good academic performance, diligence and a desire to “escape poverty”, Son was admitted to the Foreign Trade University, Ho Chi Minh City campus. The male student chose the joint program because of his dream of studying abroad and was fully sponsored for his tuition.
As soon as he entered school, Son immediately started looking for a part-time job to earn money to support his life. But only 2 months later, Son’s grandmother suddenly passed away. That loss left Son devastated and disoriented.
“My mother’s health was not good, my sister was in the final stage of university entrance exams, and my nephew was still too young. At that time, if it wasn’t me, no one else could work,” Son recalled.
Amidst many thoughts and struggles, Son decided to put aside his university dream to work for hire. He did all kinds of jobs, once went to Hanoi to work as a porter and manual laborer to send money back to help his mother take care of him and his nephew. During that time, Son had the intention of going to work abroad to earn money faster.
But after borrowing money and completing the paperwork, the Covid-19 outbreak disrupted the plan. Unable to go abroad and incurring another debt, Son felt like he had no way out. He threw himself into manual labor day and night.
“There were weeks when I ate instant noodles all the time, and only dared to drink water because I had no money. Even though I had knowledge, I couldn’t tutor because I wasn’t a student at any school,” Son said.
By chance, Son read the admission information of Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 and learned that when studying, students would be exempted from tuition fees and receive a living allowance of 3.6 million VND/month. Like a glimmer of hope, Son knew this was his last chance to go to school. He quickly applied for admission using his transcript and was accepted.
Journey of "taking grandchildren to school"
At this time, Son had to continue struggling to make another difficult decision. Son said: “At that time, my mother was sick today and my younger sister had also enrolled in Hanoi Pedagogical University. There was only a small child left in the house, if something unfortunate happened, I could not call for help.”
Knowing the situation, many people asked to adopt the child, but Son thought, "I have held the child for so many years, I can't bear to let him go."
This thought made Son restless and sleepless many nights. Finally, Son decided to send his grandchild to Vinh Phuc to both study and take care of him. Son also encouraged his mother to go to Hanoi to work as a maid, although it was not important for the economy, but at least there would be someone nearby to take care of her if something unfortunate happened.
In 2021, Son, then 20 years old, left his hometown with his 4-year-old nephew, rented a small room near the school to start a new life. Going to school and being a father, Son revolved in a never-ending cycle of working to take care of himself, his nephew and pay off previous debts.
In the morning, the student usually wakes up early to prepare food and take his grandchild to kindergarten. Son also asks his teacher to watch his grandchild until 7pm so that he has time to tutor, then takes him home to eat, drink, and bathe. Many days, when his grandchild is asleep, Son continues to teach the morning shift for 1-3 hours to some friends in Korea.
However, Son has never complained about his fate. “Many people feel sorry for me because I don’t have parents by my side and have to take care of my grandchild. But despite being poor, I still had a happy childhood with my grandparents. I also hope that my grandchild will not feel deprived,” Son said.
There were also days when Son came home late from school and had to ask a friend to pick up his grandchild. Many days when the kindergarten was closed, Son had to take his grandchild to the lecture hall. His classmates jokingly called him “the attachment” because they often saw Son carrying a child.
The boy was also very understanding, sitting obediently next to him, not crying or making noise. Therefore, Son’s teachers and friends were very kind and created favorable conditions for the two of them.
Learning has changed my life.
Since entering school, Son has set a goal of graduating as soon as possible. Son admitted that at that time, all he could think about was trying to study hard to win a scholarship to "survive". Therefore, Son threw himself into studying, reading the course outline and output standards in advance, taking notes of questions to discuss with the lecturer in class. Thanks to that, Son received a scholarship for all 6/6 semesters.
Son also participated in scientific research and had a project that won first prize at the school level and an encouragement prize at the ministry level. In addition to the joy of winning the prize, Son was also excited to receive a bonus to cover his living expenses.
Thanks to his efforts, Son completed his study program after only 2 years and 8 months, achieving the highest score in the English Department, Hanoi National University of Education 2 out of the last 5 years and becoming the school's excellent valedictorian.
Before receiving his diploma, Son had received many invitations from schools in Hanoi and the opportunity to study abroad. However, at that time, Son’s mother fell ill and had to be hospitalized due to meningitis. After treatment, she still had to take medication and was left with vision loss.
Once again, Son’s dream had to be put on hold. But Son did not feel regretful because “the dream of having a less difficult family life was bigger than studying abroad.”
“However, I will put it aside for now and not give up. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely go see the world once. That will probably be when my nephew is older, my sister is stable and can take care of Mom,” Son said.
Currently, Son is an English teacher at An Hoa Secondary School (Tay Ninh). Having experienced a deprived childhood and a desire to learn a foreign language without the means, Son chose to teach in the countryside to help students there have more opportunities to access English, thereby confidently reaching out to the world.
Looking back on his journey, Son said his biggest regret was not having the opportunity to repay his grandmother. "Time waits for no one. By the time I had a little less trouble, my grandmother was no longer here. But I am always grateful because my grandmother gave me something precious, which is to never give up on studying. For me, studying has changed my whole life," Son said.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/thu-khoa-dai-hoc-vua-hoc-vua-mot-minh-lam-ong-bo-sinh-vien-2466795.html
Comment (0)