Overcome circumstances, nurture dreams

Doan Nguyen Thang helps his mother sell rice when he has free time. Photo: Cong Nghia

Talking about his hard-working learning journey, Thang shared: “My maturity today is thanks to my mother’s hard work and the love of many teachers I have learned from. Without those important factors, I would not have achieved the academic results I have today.”

Efforts to overcome circumstances

Although born into a family with poor economic conditions like many of his peers, Thang is a child with many qualities that any parent would hope for, such as being obedient, polite and good at studying. Understanding his family's situation, Thang was aware of the need to study and be independent from a young age to ease his mother's worries. Thang shared: "I always try not to let my mother worry about my studies."

Talking about his family's situation, Thang said that his mother used to work as a factory worker at a company more than 15km away from home. Her monthly salary was sometimes not enough to cover the rent, food and education of her children. During Thang's high school years, it was not uncommon for him to be late paying his tuition for 1-2 weeks, or even a whole month. Even for textbooks, Thang had to ask for old books to re-study so his mother could save money on shopping, and he tried to keep his uniform clean so he could wear it year after year. More than a year ago, Thang's mother quit her job as a factory worker and rented a space to open a restaurant to have a better income to support her and her two brothers' education.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Loan (living in Bien Hoa ward): "Trust in your child's choice"
During the long journey of raising my child alone, I always believed in my child's self-awareness in studying. Now that I have the opportunity to be admitted to the Mathematics Education program as my child wished, I have complete faith. I only hope that my child will grow up and contribute a small part to making life better through kindness, gratitude and knowledge.

At Ngo Quyen High School, Thang’s situation was known to many teachers and the Board of Directors, who loved the determined student even more. Teachers who taught Thang shared that they had good impressions of a student who was good at studying but humble, polite and always knew how to help friends in their studies. Some tutors who taught Thang knew about his situation and did not accept money, but instead encouraged and accompanied Thang to conquer his goal of going to university.

Principal of Ngo Quyen High School Phan Trong Nghia said: "At the beginning of grade 12, Thang was introduced by the school's Youth Union to the school's Party Cell for consideration of Party development training. The Party Cell and the Board of Directors have created conditions for Thang to train, and at the same time completed his Party admission profile. On July 16, Thang turned 18 years old, so in the coming days, the school's Party Cell will propose to the higher-level Party Committee to consider admitting Thang into the Party."

Dream of becoming a Mathematician

Doan Nguyen Thang has an impressive high school graduation exam result in 2025 in the university entrance exam group A00, including Math 9.75, Physics 10 and Chemistry 9.25. With this score, Thang can completely be admitted to top universities in Ho Chi Minh City. However, Thang is still determined to pursue his dream of studying Mathematics Pedagogy at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education.

The reason is because since childhood Thang has had a passion for Math, dreaming of becoming a Math teacher and a Mathematician. Thang shared that when he achieved high scores in the A00 exam, many people advised him not to choose Mathematics, because the future would be very difficult. Everyone advised Thang to choose "hot" majors such as: semiconductor microchip, information technology engineer, general practitioner... but Thang was still steadfast in his choice.

When asked what specifically influenced his decision to choose his major, Thang emotionally said: “I had dedicated teachers who supported me unconditionally throughout my studies. I am grateful to my teachers and will strive to “repay” this debt of gratitude to future generations of students.” Thang shared another special memory, which was that on the last day of class in grade 12, a teacher sent him a letter, with a message hoping that Thang would become a good teacher. That further motivated Thang to pursue the field of Mathematics Education.

A teacher who had secretly tutored Thang for free during his three years of high school expressed his joy: “At the beginning of grade 10, Thang came to my house to ask for tutoring. He had no money to pay and proactively asked me to wait until his mother had her salary so he could send it to me. Hearing his situation, I decided to tutor him for free, with the only condition being that he could not miss any classes. When he was in grade 12, although he was very busy, he also volunteered to tutor students in grades 10 and 11 for free in other subjects. I realized that Thang had many qualities to become a good and dedicated teacher, so I encouraged him to try to pursue his dream.”

Justice

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202507/vuot-len-hoan-canh-nuoi-duong-uoc-mo-07a008b/