student booklet 20 sep2013_engl

2013-2014

Student Booklet

Content # Full name Gender Hometown Enrolled University Page #

1 Nguyen Ngoc Son M Hà Nội Foreign Trade University – Hanoi Campus 4

2 Huỳnh Thị Dung F Hà Nội National Economics University 6

3 Duong Thi Hanh F Hà Nội Hanoi Medical University 8

4 Nguyễn Thị Kim Xuân F Thái Bình University of Languages and International Studies - VNU 10

5 Nguyễn Tiến Bằng M Thái Bình University of Science and Technology – Hanoi City 12

6 Phạm Thị Bích Ngọc F Thái Bình Hanoi University of Law 14

7 Nguyen Van Hieu M Thanh Hóa Hanoi University of Science and Technology 16

8 Lê Thị Nam Trang F Thanh Hóa National Academy of Public Administration – Hanoi City 18

9 Ngô Thị Hằng F Thanh Hóa National Economics University 20

10 Mai Thị Linh F Thanh Hóa Vietnam Military Medical University 22

11 Nguyễn Mậu Thành M Hà Tĩnh National Economics University 24

12 Than Van Quang M Hà Tĩnh Hanoi University of Science and Technology 26

13 Nguyễn Bá Đạt M Hà Tĩnh Foreign Trade University – Hanoi Campus 28

14 Trần Quốc Dũng M Hà Tĩnh Hanoi Medical University 30

15 Phạm Thị Ngọc Dung F Phú Yên Foreign Trade University – Ho Chi Minh City Campus 32

16 Tô Bảo Ngọc F Phú Yên University of Science – Ho Chi Minh City 34

17 Huỳnh Thị Sen F Phú Yên Foreign Trade University – Ho Chi Minh City Campus 36

18 Nguyễn Huỳnh Quỳnh Thoa F Phú Yên University of Science and Technology – Ho Chi Minh City 38

19 Châu Thị Bích Hạnh F Phú Yên Foreign Trade University – Ho Chi Minh City Campus 40

20 Lê Bê Ly F Quảng Trị University of Finance – Marketing – Ho Chi Minh City 42

21 Lê Thị Quỳnh Phương F Quảng Trị University of Finance – Marketing – Ho Chi Minh City 44

22 Nguyễn Thị Thu Trang F Quảng Trị University of Economics – Ho Chi Minh City 46

23 Nguyễn Thị Hồng Hóa F Quảng Trị University of Economics – Ho Chi Minh City 48

Content (cont.) # Full name Gender Hometown Enrolled University Page #

24 Nguyễn Thiện Hải M Quảng Trị University of Architecture – Ho Chi Minh City 50

25 Lê Thị Trà My F Quảng Trị University of Economics and Law – Ho Chi Minh City 52

26 Phạm Thị Như Quỳnh F Quảng Nam University of Finance – Marketing – Ho Chi Minh City 54

27 Pham Thi Phuoc F Quảng Nam University of Science – Ho Chi Minh City 56

28 Vo Hoang Phuong M Khánh Hòa University of Pedagogy – Ho Chi Minh City 58

29 Nguyễn Thị Thanh Tuyền F Khánh Hòa University of Finance – Marketing – Ho Chi Minh City 60

30 Nguyễn Duy Long M Khánh Hòa Medical and Pharmacy University – Ho Chi Minh City 62

31 Nguyễn Thị Dương Nhi F Khánh Hòa Medical and Pharmacy University – Ho Chi Minh City 64

32 Le Nguyen Vien Duong M TPHCM University of Pedagogy – Ho Chi Minh City 66

33 Lê Thị Trang F Binh Duong University of Pedagogy – Ho Chi Minh City 68

34 Trần Thị Thúy An F Đồng Tháp University of Pedagogy – Ho Chi Minh City 70

35 Mai Văn Chiến M Đắc Lắc University of Science and Technology – Ho Chi Minh City 72

36 Lê Thị Hồng Thắm F Quảng Nam Foreign Trade University – Ho Chi Minh City Campus 74

37 Nhi Nguyen F Quang Tri Foreign Trade University – Ho Chi Minh City Campus 76

38 Trang Le F Qua ng Tri University of Law – Ho Chi Minh City 78

39 Nguyen Pham M Khánh Hòa University of Economics - Finance – Ho Chi Minh City 80

40 Nhung Ho F Qua ng Tri Foreign Trade University – Ho Chi Minh City Campus 82

41 Anh Dong F Khánh Hòa University of Pedagogy – Ho Chi Minh City 84

42 Khoa Pham M Khánh Hòa University of Science and Technology – Ho Chi Minh City 86

43 Huỳnh Thị Mỹ Phượng F Khánh Hòa University of Economics – Ho Chi Minh City 88

44 Lê Bảo Toàn M Khánh Hòa University of Finance – Marketing – Ho Chi Minh City 90

45 Lê Quốc Toản M Quảng Trị National Academy of Public Administration – Ho Chi Minh City 92

Son Nguyen

Born 04/30/1993

Parents Parents – Retired, now street vendors

Family Income 60 USD/Month

Ideal Profession Actuary

Me in 3 Words Genuine, Caring, Family-oriented

My Dream To help people live happily

My College Goal Top 2%

Getting to Know Son

Foreign Trade University – Hanoi Campus

Class: Third year

Major: External Economics

Hometown: Nam Dinh

High School: school for gifted students – Hanoi Uni of Pedagogy

GPA: 9,6/10, High School Exams : 50,5/60

College Entrance Exams: Granted Admission (don‟t take exams)

Achievement: Third prize in National Math Competition in two consecutive years, Golden Medal in Math Olympics for Students for 02 years, First prize in Provincial Math Competition at high school

Son comes from a poor family where his parents struggle to send their two kids through college. Their lives

could not be worse since his mum was diagnosed with a tumor and recently his dad develops a tuberculosis.

Despite all the hardship and illness, Son‟s parents try their best to send Son and his older brother to schools.

Son‟s mother sells breads for passengers at a railway station every day regardless of weather, be it extremely

hot or pouring rain. However, those little money earned is not even sufficient to cover her own medical

expenses. This is exactly why Son has not received any financial support from his parents for over one year

now. Son and his brother then had to work to cover all their tuition fees and living expenses. Both of them

altogether can make around 70 USD per month, which breaks down to 0.6 USD per meal per person, and of

course breakfast is out of reach.

Going through all these hardships, Son knows best that only education can help him and his family. He has

tried so hard constantly and achieved great accomplishments, e.g. Third prize in the Math National

Competition for two consecutive years, Golden Medal in Math Student Olympiad Country-wide, his GPA is

ranked # 15 out of 1000 students in his university (which makes him in the top 1.5%). Not only excel in studies,

Son has always had a passion for doing good, he participated in a wide range of community work as a way to

contribute back to society.

Son Nguyen

Son’s story

Dzung Huynh

Born 01/25/1994

Parents Father – Passed away Mother – Retarded


Ideal Profession Entrepreneur

Me in 3 Words Optimistic, Determined, Strong-willed

My Dream To help my family and people in my hometown break out of poverty

My College Goal GPA > 8.0

Getting to Know Dzung

National Economics University

Class: Second year

Major: Investment

Hometown: Hanoi (remote outskirts)

High School: Dong Quan

GPA: 8.5/10, High School Exams : 48/60

College Entrance Exams: 26/30

Achievement: Third prize for Math Competition

Dzung has a very tragic background. Her mother and her younger brother are mentally retarded, they can hardly do normal work, not even be able to hold scissors. Dzung family, thus, has no source of income. Dzung used to be a alcoholic before he passed away.

Dzung is a very strong-willed and determined girl. She has to travel 50 km by bus every day to go to school and get back home – this is very uncommon (if not happen at all) for a student in Vietnam. She purposefully does this so that every day when she gets back home, she can do her part-time job for a couple of hours (usually to 8 in the evening) as a way to earn some money. Dzung is clearly the bread-winner for her family. Besides working part-time in her hometown after school, she does a couple of more part-time work in the city, e.g. tutor, delivery of stuff etc., all of which help her to make around 35 USD per month. As the main (and the only) income generator, Dzung allocates around 15 USD out of the 35 USD that she makes to her mother and brother so that they can survive.

With all these unimaginable hardships, Dzung still got admitted to one of the top university with a quite high entrance score. And she is on her way to become an Entrepreneur. It has to be noted that Dzung is still very optimistic and determined to overcome challenges and to succeed.

However, coming from a very poor family, Dzung is sometimes too obsessed with making money to support herself and her family, she said in the interview: “If I don’t work part-time, the whole family will starve to dead”, when asked “if you receive this scholarship, and we require you to focus on studying, and not to work too much, would you be able to do that?”

Dzung Huynh

Dzung’s story

Hanh Duong

Born 03/22/1995

Parents Father – Farmer Mother – Farmer


Ideal Profession To become an excellent doctor

Me in 3 Words Genuine and Confident

My Dream To provide medical care for the poor

My College Goal Get admitted directly to Master Program of her Medical University after graduation (*)

Getting to Know Hanh

Hanoi Medical University

Class: Freshman

Major: Doctor

Hometown: Hanoi (remote outskirts)

High School: Dong Quang

GPA: 8.6/10, High School Exams : 49/60

College Entrance Exams: 29.5/30 (Highest score in the applicant pool)

Achievement: First prize for Provincial Competition of Chemistry

Hanh is the second child of a 5 children family. Her older sister is going to graduate shortly and her three

younger siblings are still going to schools. Her parents are both farmers, recently her father went to the city as a

worker trying to earn a little bit more money to support Hanh‟s older sister at college. All the money that he

makes are hardly sufficient to cover expenses incurred by Hanh‟s sister. Hanh‟s mother was diagnostic with a

tumor and thus she is getting weaker and weaker. Therefore, it will be a great burden on her parents to send

Hanh through college.

Knowing that education is the only way to help her family, Hanh has always been trying so hard and put forth

her best efforts to study. Hanh has achieved great accomplishments such as the first prize in a provincial

competition of Chemistry, and notably achieved highest score out of all applicants applying to Hanoi Medical

School (29.5/30). Hanh also applied to another school, which is National Economics University, and she got

27/30 for this one. However, following her passion, Hanh has enrolled at Medical school.

Hanh‟s dream is to become an excellent doctor, and to be able to help the poor with medical care. However, her

dream is beset with great financial obstacles. She noted to us in the interview that before she went to Hanoi, her

mother sadly told her “Don’t forget to find a part-time job once you settle things down”

Hanh Duong

Hanh’s story

Xuan Nguyen

Born 03/22/1995

Parents Father – Passed away Mother – Farmer

Family Income < 100 USD/ month

Ideal Profession Teacher

Me in 3 Words Active, enthusiastic and filial

My Dream Succeed in life and make my mother happy


Getting to Know Xuan

University of languages and International studies - Hanoi national university

Class: Freshman

Major: English Pedagogy

Hometown: Thai Binh

High School: THPT Dong Thuy Anh

GPA: 8.1/10, High school exam: 53.5/60

College Entrance Exam: 22.5/30

Achievement: Third prize in provincial English competition

Everyone has once encountered difficulties in life and no loss is as great as the loss of spirit. The day death

claimed my beloved father; Xuan seemed to fall into a complete collapse. But since then, she has lived in a

strong and brave way moving forward.

The situation was becoming more tragic when her mother degenerative spinal disease for many years and the

disease gets worse, and sometimes it is likely almost completely paralyzed. Xuan knows she has to be more

optimistic, confident, responsible and mature to be a solid support for her mother to lean on. Xuan has lived,

studied and moved forward with her own determination, inspiration to succeed: at school, Xuan was a

respected class president, and a top-ranked students.

Knowing that the road to success is beset with great obstacles, Xuan refused to give up on her dream. She has

just opened the door to college which will eventually lead to many other doors of opportunities for those who

dare to go far and to succeed, Xuan knows she will need to put forth her best efforts to, one day, realize her

dreams. Going to college, Xuan expresses her great commitment to enrich herself with knowledge personally

and professionally

Xuan Nguyen

Xuan’s story

Bang Nguyen

Born 08/12/1995

Parents Father - Farmer Mother - Farmer

Family Income 60 USD / month

Ideal Profession Automation engineer

Me in 3 Words creative, active and enthusiastic

My Dream Changing my life and taking care of my parents


Getting to Know Bang

Hanoi university of science and technology

Class: Freshman

Major: Automation and control engineering

Hometown: Thai Binh

High School: THPT Đông Thụy Anh



Achievement: Second prize in provincial Math competition / Third Prize in provincial Physics exam / Nguyen Duc Canh Award (for active and excellent students)

Bang is from Thai Thuy – Thai Binh. He was born in a family where his entire family is peasants for so long. He

knows clearly the poverty of his home land. His parents have to work hard all years to raise their children. His

mother often gets sickness, especially when the weather changes. While his farther gets sciatica disease due to

hard work and also gets serious stomachache. Family circumstance is so difficult that his parents have not

enough money to seek medical care.

The disadvantaged situation, in contrary, motivates him to continuously strive. Although the family could not

afford Bang to go to the city and study in a high school for gifted students , he always determines to study and

thus was rewarded many prizes. He is not only excellent at study but also very active in participating in many

extra activities such as being vice president of the student union and editor of school newspapers.

Despite of staggeringly difficult circumstances and sympathy for his parents‟ hardness, once Bang managed to

work to make money and this led him to reflect his study. He then got low GPA as a result and finally figured

out that he had made mistakes – what he did only solve temporary issues of poverty. At this point in time, he

was realizing how important it is to study: to get out of poverty, to improve himself, and to be recognized.

Bang Nguyen

Bang’s story

Ngoc Pham

Born 05/25/1995

Parents Divorced parents and each has re-married and now live in a remote province/city

Family Income 30 USD / month

Ideal Profession Lawyer

Me in 3 Words Strong, ambitious and determined

My Dream Succeed in life and contribute to society


Getting to Know Ngoc

Hanoi University of Law

Class: Freshman

Major: Lawyer

Hometown: Thai Binh

High School: THPT Bac Kien Xuong

GPA: 8.3/10 , High school exam: 51/60


Achievement: High-ranked student at school

Ngoc was born in Thai Binh. It was after her parents divorced that is most challenging for her. And after an

accident, her mom suffered hemiplegia and had to spend a lot for treatment but was hardly able to walk and

apparently could no longer work. Ngoc and her mother then had to live on her grandparents‟ support – from

foods to accommodation as they did not have any income sources. Often in times, all they have for meals are

rice and salt. Luckily, her mother went to and gradated from a vocational training school but then she got a job

from the remote North West of Vietnam (Lai Chau). Ngoc and her mother was apart since then. Ngoc tried to

study hard to overcome difficulties.

Now her mother lives permanently in Lai Chau. At the beginning Ngoc‟s mother sent some money back home

to cover a part of Ngoc‟s living expenses but then it was stopped as her mother had to pay for the treatment of

osteitis disease. Her father, who is living in Ho Chi Minh city, sends a trifling amount of money monthly

because he earns very little and has to pay for the treatment of his other daughter‟s chronic tumor. On her side,

the grandmother is very old, unable to work and has illness all the time – Every time Ngoc needs money to pay

tuition fee, her grandmother has to struggle around to borrow money.

However, through these hardship, Ngoc believes she will be stronger and more rational. Living as a poor and

hard-working farmer, she has a dream to break out of poverty. She always reminds herself to study for a better

life. Ngoc knows she has to walk on her own foots as she has no-one to live on. As a young matured girl, she

loves justice and peace, and that‟s why she wants to enroll at Law school because one day she will be able to

contribute to her country.

Ngoc Pham

Ngoc’s story

Hieu Nguyen

Born 06/13/1995

Parents Father – Serious Sickness (unable to work) Mother – Farmer

Family Income < 40 USD / month

Ideal Profession Electrics Engineer

Me in 3 Words Hard-working, Mature, Determined

My Dream To become an excellent electrics engineer

My College Goal Ranked as a top student

Getting to Know Hieu

Hanoi University of Science and Technology

Class: Freshman

Major: Electronics

Hometown: Thanh Hoa

High School: Tran Phu

GPA: 8.2/10 , High school exam: 44.5/60

College Entrance Exam: 26/30

Achievement: Second prize for Provincial Math Competition; Third prize for Math Competition on Casino Calculator

Hieu usually leaves people with the impression of himself that he is very trustable, even after first meet-up as

he shows his genuine and honesty in every single word he speaks.

Hieu comes from Thanh Hoa, a poor province in the central region of Vietnam. He is one of the best student in

his high school with a great deal of achievements that could go on and on. He especially loves and has passion

for physics, and that‟s why he decided to become an engineer by applying to Hanoi University of Science and

Technology – one of the best (if not the best) university focusing on science and technology.

A dream that seems to go well on track for someone might be the most challenging one for another. Going to

college will put his entire family on financial burden: Hieu‟s father is so sick by now, he could no longer work,

his mother earns around 100 USD per month and it‟s still way too far from enough to cover living expenses for

a 5 member family, not even to think of medical care for his father. That‟s not all yet – Hieu‟s family is now

having a debt of 2.500 USD incurred when his family decided to renovate the house.

Despite all hardships and financial burdens, Hieu still strongly believes that he will somehow be able to realize

his dream. He once said he will find a part-time job and try to earn enough to pay tuition fee – but this might

just be not really realistic given how much time his schooling eats in his schedule. Knowing there are still many

obstacles down the road, Hieu is optimistic about overcoming those challenges

Hieu Nguyen

Hieu’s story

Trang Le

Born 04/08/1995


Family Income < 40 USD / month

Ideal Profession To become a government official

Me in 3 Words Caring, Mature, Genuine

My Dream To have a house that rain can not leak through the roof

My College Goal To have good result

Getting to Know Trang

National Academy of Public Administration

Class: Freshman

Major: Public Administration

Hometown: Thanh Hoa

High School: Nhu Thanh

GPA: 7.4/10 , High school exam: 38/60


Achievement: Prize for Provincial Literature Competition

Trang is a very special case that we encountered when doing scholar recruitment in Thanh Hoa. Trang comes

from a family which has nine (09) members and is extremely poor. Out of 09 members: her older brother and

her niece both have bulbar poliomyelitis, her grandmother is already very old, her father has serious pain in his

joints...Everyday these nine people live in one single house which rains leak through the roof easily; “When it

rains, it is like we all sleep under the sky, with no roof above us” – Trang describes her house in a sad voice.

This has haunted her for so long – nights of being wakened up when it rains – that Trang share „my dream is to

have a house that rain could not leak through the roof when we are sleeping‟, when asked about her dream.

Her family has a debt of 1500 USD, which they do not know when and how they can pay the back the Bank.

That‟s why Trang has always known that she will be coming to college on her own. She will need to work part-

time to pay all tuition fee and to cover her living expenses in the city.

Working part-time is not something new to Trang. She has been doing part-time work since high school.

Through high school, Trang has embroidered a lot, earning around 2 USD per piece – and it takes one week to

complete one single piece. This has kept Trang away from hanging out with friends frequently as Trang has to

finish her embroidering work.

At school, Trang has long known for her gift: She has been in various roles in her extra curriculum activities

such as MC, singer, painter etc.

Trang Le

Trang’s story

Hang Ngo

Born 07/05/1995

Parents Father – Martyrs (passed away while on duty) Mother – farmer

Family Income <50 USD/Month

Ideal Profession Businesswoman

Me in 3 Words Genuine, Caring, Matured

My Dream Businesswoman


Getting to Know Hang


Class: Freshman

Major: International Economics

Hometown: Thanh Hoa

High School: Ba Dinh


College Entrance Exams:24,5/30

Achievement: Class President for many consecutive years

Hang is a determined students from Thanh Hoa. Her father passed away when Hang was only 9. From that

time, great burdens of raising a family was put on Hang‟s mother who has been diagnosed with a heart

disease. Having been aware of the importance of studying, Hang went through difficulties and studied really

hard to not let her mother down. Her brother is currently studying in National Economics University. For

Hang, she aspires to be a cardiologist not only to change her family's situation but also wants to take care her

mother by herself. Moreover, she wants to put her effort to bring people healthy hearts so that no one has to

suffer from heart diseases. However, that her family is really poor makes she decided to come to National

Economics University to have conditions to support her family.

Hang is not only excellent academically but also really active. She takes part in many actives in Vietnam Youth

Union to improve her communication skills and to practice other relevant skills. Despite her young age, she

knows how to support her mother by working as a part-time cleaner in a small restaurant every morning. In

spite of her hard life, her dream and aspiration urge her to do her best to make this dream come true.

Hang Ngo

Hang’s story

Linh Mai

Born 12/30/1995

Parents Father – Farmer Mother – farmer

Family Income < 40 USD/Month

Ideal Profession Doctor

Me in 3 Words Humorous, Affable, Direct

My Dream To become an excellent doctor


Getting to Know Linh

Vietnam Military Medical University

Class: Freshman

Major: Doctor

Hometown: Thanh Hoa

High School: Mai Anh Tuan


College Entrance Exams: 28,5/30

Achievement: First prize for provincial math competition / First prize for math competition on Casino calculator

Coming from a four member family which is always full of love, Linh has grown up with a good heart of helping people. But a heart disease has haunted her family for so long, including her father and herself. Her mother has a tumor which is not cured yet due to financial constraint. With a heart disease, Linh is pretty weak and this makes its hard for this small girl to even do anything but study. All the burden thus is on her parents although their health is not any better. As a result, Linh has gradually develops her passion for medical school and for becoming an excellent doctor. She wants to help unfortunate people by her own hands and skills learned from the Medical school. This dream has helped drive Linh forward in her studies. Trang has achieved great accomplishments such as prizes in provincial competitions for top students. These achievements has always been a cure for Linh and her family. The hardship that Linh went through has strengthen Linh and made her determined to succeed and to help her family. In order to help her own family, Linh has worked as a waiter in a restaurant, earning little money to support her family. However, working part-time does not distract Linh from her main responsibility – study. She has made great efforts to balance part-time work and study. Trang also participates in a wide range of extra curriculum activities: She was once a editor for the school newspaper and was regarded as a highly responsible team leader of editor group.

Linh Mai

Linh’s story

Thanh Nguyen

Born 01/13/1995

Parents Farmers

Family Income < 100 USD/year

Ideal Profession Auditor

Me in 3 Words Open, caring and determined

My Dream To become an excellent auditor and have a happy family simultaneously.

My College Goal Ranked in the top

Getting to Know Thanh


Class: Freshman

Major: Audit

Hometown: Ha Tinh

High School: Ha Tinh High School for gifted students.



Achievement: Third place in the National Math Competition for students for two consecutive years / First prize for provincial Math competition for three consecutive years

Thanh was born in a family where all members are purely farmers. For this reason, he became a boy of

maturity and strong will at very early age and always appreciate the family situation for driving him forward

constantly . His parents are both very hardworking. Although there are bad weather days intensifying their

agonizing pains because of working so hard, they still wake up at 3 a.m. to go farming or to make pickled

vegetable, earning money to bring up their children. This has always obsessed him. Feeling sorry for parents

and wanting the whole family full of health and smiles, he tried continuously to become one of the most

excellent students of Ha Tinh high school for gifted students.

Thanh‟s achievements are certainly adorable for many people. Some prizes can be mentioned such as Third

place for 02 successive years at the National Math Competition and Winner or Runner up at the Provincial

Math Competition for several times. Based on his accomplishment, Thanh was granted unconditional

admission to Hanoi University of Pharmacy without having to take entrance exams. However, this young man

once again surprised people by making effort to compete for a seat in National Economics University,

satisfying his desire for working with numeric data. Thanh wishes to go study abroad soon in order to open his

mind, develop his country upon return and simply make his parents happily enjoy life with their sons and

daughters.

Thanh Mau

Thanh’s story

Quang Than

Born 03/25/1995

Parents Farmers

Family Income <70 USD/month

Ideal Profession Automation Engineer

Me in 3 Words Open, humorous, affable

My Dream To have a happy family


Getting to Know Quang

Hanoi university of science and technology

Class: Freshman

Major: Automation technique

Hometown: Ha Tinh


GPA: 8.5/10, High school exam: 50/60


Achievement: Winner for two years and 01 runner up prize in the Provincial Math Competition

Quang grew up in a family where all members are purely farmers. Their accumulated debt is now up to 2000

USD while monthly income is less than 70 USD. Quang‟s parents had to work very hard to bring up their

children. This fact weakens their health days by days, causing illness regularly, especially chronic diseases such

as gastrodynia, spondylolysis, high blood pressure or nerves problems. Feeling sorry for parents and two

younger brothers, Quang was so diligent, determined, and successfully got admission to Ha Tinh High School

for gifted students. Since he started his high school, he has had to become a tutor to earn a little more money to

finance his education.

At first, the new life were not easy for Quang. But he soon perceived the value of studying and he won some

great prizes in provincial competitions for gifted students. These achievements perhaps inspired his parents to

work even harder to raise up their sons.

Since a little boy, Quang had a great passion for soccer and there were times he dreamed of becoming a

professional soccer player. However, family situation did not allow him to do so. He finally choose to follow

another path for which he does have passion: to become a leading engineer with international exposures. Being

admitted to Hanoi University of Science and Technology is a decent first step. Quang would have to take

student loan, which only cover half of education expenses, to finance his tertiary education as it‟s the last resort

Quang Than

Quang’s story

Dat Nguyen

Born 03/10/1995

Parents Farmers

Family Income < USD 100/month

Ideal Profession Businessman

Me in 3 Words Open, active, humorous

My Dream To become a successful businessman and to have a happy family

My College Goal Top students

Getting to Know Dat

Foreign Trade University – Hanoi Campus

Class: Freshman

Major: Economics of external affairs

Hometown: Ha Tinh




Achievement: Third prize in The French competition for gifted students at provincial level for three consecutive years

Since Dat was little, he was a feeble boy, suffering from several illnesses. That‟s the most challenging barrier

preventing him from achieving his goals and doing his favorites. Additionally, his family is not happily

harmonious. His parents usually have serious arguments, creating significant negative influence on his

thinking and mood. One of the turning point in his life was when he got unexpectedly low result in the

entrance exams of Ha Tinh high school for gifted students because of shame and tiredness derived from a

very big quarrel of his parents. But when forced to choose between band A at a normal high school or French

specialized program at the school for gifted students, he insisted on going for his own wants: specialized

program. Then, he became a very active member of the French club at school, contributing to make this

foreign language closer to students in his home province. Active, enthusiastic and have aptitudes in many

other areas, Dat made a deep impression on people as a determined and energetic though being very thin and

small – Dat is also a beat boxer. Currently, his parents still have to work very hard to pay university tuition

fee for his two sisters while struggling to find monetary resources for Dat‟s education.

Dat Nguyen

Dat’s story

Dzung Tran

Born 21/08/1995

Parents Father - Tailor Mother - Clothes seller

Family Income < USD 100/month

Ideal Profession Machine Manufacturing

Me in 3 Words Caring, open and sociable

My Dream Work for parents

My College Goal Have excellent academic performance


Hanoi University of Science and Technology

Class: Freshman

Major: Machine manufacturing

Hometown: Ha Tinh

High School: Ha Tinh High school for gifted students



Achievement: Third prize in National Math Competition; Winner in Provincial Math Competition for three consecutive years

As the eldest among the three sons in family, Dzung always proves to be a mature boy who takes care of

and really appreciate his beloved family. To make the best favorable conditions for their sons and help

Dzung realize his dream, his parents had to work very hard. Seeing his parents leave home early when it‟s

still dark to prepare for a selling day at market and return home when it‟s completely dark, Dzung feels

immensely sorry and worry about them. Especially in recent days, there are many unexpected big debts

because his parents have to take loans to pay for another debts incurred by his depraved uncle. Their

financial burden is becoming heavier as Dzung moves to Hanoi capital for tertiary education.

For Dzung, the most important thing is time. Time flies and it‟s not returnable. For the things we haven‟t

done yet, we must try our best to realize it because the point in time we are standing here will pass by

suddenly. If we want to do something at present, try to get what we want. For that reason, Dzung believes

that success will come to people who use time effectively.

Dzung Tran

Dzung’s story

Dzung Pham

Foreign Trade University

Year: Freshman


Home town: Phu Yen

High School: Luong Van Chanh High School for gifted students

GPA: 8.7 / 10

College Entrance Exam: 24.5 / 30

Achievements: Prize in Provincial English Contest

Born 08/12/1995

Parents Father – Famer Mother – Famer



Me in 3 Words Approachable, Kind, Ambitious

My Dream More stable financially



Dzung was born in Phu Khe I, Ha Xuan Đong, Đong Hoa. Her parents, as farmers, have unstable income. Besides supporting Dzung going to school, her parents still have to provide for her younger brother in high school and her younger sister in primary school. Her parents still owe the bank a lot of money after a shrimp crop failure. Her academic achievement is very good and therefore, she got admitted into Foreign Trade University in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) with a score of 24.5, which is not so surprising. Having spent 3 years of high school away from home and of taking care of herself, Dzung is aware of her family predicament, and her responsibilities to take care of her bother and sister. Hence, she tries very hard both at home and at school - During 3 years she always ranks in the top 5 of the class and achieved a GPA of 8.7 out of 10. Dzung likes to study English and have a passion for entrepreneurship. Therefore she chose external economic majorr at Foreign Trade University athough her parents wanted her to study at a Military University to reduce the financial pressure for her family . She cried a lot when it comes to a choice between Military University and Foreign Trade University, then she convinced her parents and decided to follow her passion because she always believes that despite of difficulty, she will be able to manage to pursue her passion. She planned to focus on learning and adapting to student life first and then she will go find a part-time job as a way to lessen her parents‟ financial burden.

Dzung Pham

Dzung’s Story

Ngoc To

University of Natural Science Ho Chi Minh City

Class: Freshman


Hometown: Phu Yen

High School: Lương Văn Chánh High School for gifted students

GPA: 8.5 / 10

College Entrance Exam: 23.5 / 30

Achievement: Prize in Provincial English Contest

Born 05/31/995

Parents Father – Farmer Mother - Farmer

Family Income < 50 USD/month


Me in 3 Words Hard-working, sociable, approachable

My Dream Her Grandmother‟s and Mother‟s health gets better, and they do not have to work too hard anymore

My College Goal Have scholarship to study abroad

Getting to Know Ngoc

Ngoc comes from Phu Yen province. Her parents got divorced when she was a child, and she had to move to

live on her grandparents while her mother works far away. After her grandfather passed away, her mother

returned and lived with her grandmother and her. She also has a little half-brother in the age of primary school.

The whole family‟s income depends on her mother‟s farm work leading to many financial difficulties. During

her study in Tuy Hoa, Ngoc had to do many part-time jobs to cover her living expenditures, such as making

chiffon flowers and cashew nut shell or private tutor. However, Ngoc has such a great spirit in studying despite

difficult living conditions. As a result of her great efforts, she was honor to receive two merit-based scholarship

from two scholarship foundations….

Ngoc wants to become a doctor to heal patients in need. This dream was nurtured since her grandfather, who

took care of her when she was a little child, passed away. This great pain urges her to be able to take care of and

to heal for her family by herself. Although she did not get admission to the Medical University, she still pursues

Biotechnological Major in HCMC University of Science. Ngoc is very independent and competent. Despite her

poor family background, she possesses a positive attitude and strong determination to succeed. Her university

goal is to strive for a scholarship to go study abroad.

Ngoc shows a great determination in breaking out of poverty. Yet the current burden is still her University

financing. Right after enrolling at school, Ngoc has been actively seeking for jobs in the city.

Ngoc To

Ngoc’s Story

Sen Huynh

Foreign Trade University - HCMC

Class: Freshman

Major: International Finance

Hometown: Phu Yen

High School: Lương Văn Chánh High school

GPA: 8.9/10

College Entrance Exam: 28.5/ 30

Achievement: The First Prize in Mathematics Contest in 2012 and Third Prize in 2013; the Second Mathematics Prize of Phu Yen province through Internet ; the Second Mathematics Prize through Casio Method

Born 06/10/1995

Parents The Father - Huỳnh Tấn Thành(a farmer )

The Mother - Đoàn Thị Nhương (a farmer)

Family Income 150 USD/month

Ideal Profession Becoming a business woman

Me in 3 Words Kind, hard-working and shy

My Dream To study

To contribute for Vietnam‟s development

My College Goal Top 10

Getting to Know Sen Huynh

Sen‟s family has four people including a sister who just graduated from Ho Chi Minh University of Science and Technology, an older brother is a second – year student in Ho Chi Minh University of Science and Technology and a brother – currently a high school student. Because Sen‟s family has many children and her brother and sister have studied at university but her parent could not afford to finance their children‟s education by themselves, they have to borrow money every year. She is a bit shy but always approachable and friendly with everybody around. She likes solving a mathematical problems, going to school and listening music as well as travelling. Whenever she does anything, she tries her best to focus and over-deliver. Sen is academically excellent. In the college exam this year, Sen has achieved a very high score 28.5/30, getting admission from Foreign Trade University in Ho Chi Minh city. Sen also knows about her timidity as a weakness, she really wants to improve this defect while in her university life.

Sen Huynh

Sen’s Story

Thoa Nguyen

Hochiminh City University of Technology

Class: Freshman

Major: Electrics

Hometown: Phú Yên

High School: Luong Van Chanh High School

GPA: 8.3/10

College Entrance Exam: 24/ 30

Achievement: : The Third and Second Prize in Provincial Mathematics Contest in 2012, 2013

Born 06/07/1995



Ideal Profession Robot engineer

Me in 3 Words Genuine, integrity, diligent

My Dream Explore career in automation and to support family

My College Goal Graduate with high distinction

Getting to Know Thoa Nguyen

Thoa lives with her mom and her brother at Hoa Xuan Dong Ward, Dong Hoa, Phu Yen.

Her mother works on the farm to raise the children. Her father died of an accident when she was preparing for

the entrance examination for the high school for gifted students, which she was in.

Life seemed so hard for this young girl who had to suffer a lots at this age. She was so lonely and weak since her

father, who had inspired, encouraged her, went away forever.

But still his images remained everywhere. He had inspired her to math, to the joyfulness of finding out

something new and to the happiness of watching human technology advances.

Afterwards, feeling ashamed of disappointing her father‟s expectation, she did get over her sorrow and turned

to be a stronger and more mature girl. She tried to learn as well as she could to enter the University of

Technology and when the day came, she could be down on her knee in front of her father‟s grave to say that

“Dad, I made it!”.

However, the road ahead of Thoa is beset with great financial difficulty, with all the expensive tuition and living

cost in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thoa Nguyen

Thoa’s Story

Hanh Chau


Class: Freshman

Hometown: Phu Yen

High School: THPT Chuyên Lương Văn Chánh

GPA: 8.6/10

College Entrance Exam: 23/ 30

Achievement: NA

Born 02/28/1995

Parents Father - Farmer Mother - farmer


Ideal Profession Journalist

Me in 3 Words Sociable, humorous, persistent

My Dream Studying abroad, contributing to her country


Getting to Know Hanh Chau

Hạnh is living with her parents and a younger brother in a small house in the village of Phung Tuong I - Hoa Tri - Phu Hoa – Phu Yen province. Their lives are quite difficult since her father, with her mother‟s help, in order to earn a living, has to struggle in the field in the morning then mow people‟s lawn in the evening for extra money. The income of the whole family is mostly benefited from 4 acres of field. Her parents‟ health conditions are not good, they always suffer from pain. Her father experienced a serious sickness 3 years ago which leaves him pain til this day, and her mother has been overworked. Now they also have to take care of their children, specially Hạnh‟s studying requires a lot of money and she‟s got to do part-time job to cover her tuition and living expense in the city. Besides, they have still owner their relatives some money, especially the 15-million loan for her father‟s illness three years ago. This loan is gonna be due very soon and they still don‟t know who they could repay it given the circumstances. Hạnh‟s family has always had to deal with financial burdens. In our presence, Hạnh has shown to be a frank, outspoken student who has good communication skill. She used to run a Facebook page which provides information about the college entrance exam. A great future is lying ahead of her, but the road down there is accompanied with great concerns.

Hanh Chau

Hanh’s Story

Ly Le

University of Finance and Marketing

Year: Freshmen

Major: International commerce

Hometown: Quang Tri

High school: Le Quy Don High school for gifted students

GPA: 8.4/10

College Entrance Exam : 20/30

Achievements: Encouragement prize in English competition in 2012, 2013

Born 01/10/1995

Parents Father - Farmer Mother – Farmer



Me in 3 Words Confident, strong-willed & determined

My Dream To become a successful entrepreneur And to contribute to society


Getting to Know Ly Le

Ly was born and raised in Le Xuyen Trieu Trach Trieu Phong Quang Tri. Her family has 5 children but only her father has ability to raise up 3 children (2 in university and 1 in a far-distance school). Her mother has a heart disease, so she can‟t work to support family. The only income of the family is not sufficient to cover living cost and to finance their educations. Living in rural village and working in agriculture, the income is far beyond from stable. Additionally, nowadays, the farming season doesn‟t go well and agricultural produce‟s price is falling down while the cost is picking up. She is always fearful for her education‟s future because her father is not going to have enough money to finance all three children‟s education. Having lived far away from home, she is always aware of the challenges which she has to overcome and learned to live independently. For her, will is the most important thing in life because it can help people overcome any challenges no matter how hard it is. She learned these life lessons from her own experience and from many other public figures such as Nick Vujiic – a handicap man overcomes all challenges to travel around the world and inspire motivation for everyone.

Ly Le

Ly’s Story

Phuong Le

University of Finance and Marketing

Year: Freshman

Major: Accounting

Hometown: Quảng Trị

High school: Quang Tri high school

GPA: 8.2/10

College Entrance Exam : 22.5/30

Achievements: A third prize for Province‟s Literature Competition in 2011

Born 04/28/1995

Parents Father - No job Mother – Seller


Ideal Profession Professional accountant

Me in 3 Words Good ad numbers, determined & hard-working

My Dream Become a successful businesswoman


Getting to Know Phuong Le

Phương lives with her family in a small & poor brick house in Tiều Khu 1, Ái Tử town, Triệu Phong district, Quảng Trị province. Although her family‟s condition is very difficult, she always smiles and feel optimistic in life. Because of an accident, her father lost 81% working ability and can no longer work since it happened. Her mother can earn up to 5 USD per day, which is not sufficient to take care of family. However, coming to Ho Chi Minh city for studying makes her life even harder. Furthermore, her family is still in debt of VND 40 million and other bank loans with 17% interest, all incurred when they built the temporary small house for living. Studying in HCMC is not an easy decision at all, due to tuition, accommodation, high cost of living etc. This also means that her mother needs to work even harder to support her and her mother also needs to cut off many family budget to finance Phuong‟s education. Phuong could only hope that her education will not create any further burden to the family.

Phuong Le

Phuong’s Story

Trang Nguyen

University of Economics - HCMC

Year: Freshmen

Major: Marketing


High school: Le Quy Don High school for gifted students

GPA: 7.9/10


Achievements: The third prize in Provincial Physics competition in 2012

Born 11/17/1995

Parents Father - Farmer Mother – Worker


Ideal Profession Marketing Specialist

Me in 3 Words Optimistic, open-minded, warm-hearted and helpful

My Dream Become an excellent marketer


Getting to Know Trang Nguyen

Trang‟s predicament is quite bad. Her father left and does not provide her with any support at all and her mother is a worker in Truong Son company, earning around 100 USD per month. She also sells vegetables to earn extra income. Unfortunately, the company cut cost and her mother was laid off. The only and main source of income is no longer available.

Trang and her mother now earns their living by selling veg in the market, and Trang has to support her with this when she has time. However, recently her mother was seriously sick and can hardly sell things to earn money for the family.

Trang studies by herself all the time without the instruction from her parents. She always gets a good result and she has a chance to come to the city to study. She is opened and friendly to talk to everyone but also easily shut herself down in a new environment.

She really hopes that with the support of VietSeed, she can complete her studying and reduce financial burden on her mother, which is already very hefty. She comes to college with the great hope that just a few more years, upon graduation, she can help her mother get away from all hardship that they have been going through for years.

Trang Nguyen

Trang’s Story

Hoa Nguyen

University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City

Year: Freshmen

Major: Accounting


High school: Triệu Phong High school

GPA: 7.8/10,


Achievements: Prize in Provincial Chemistry Competition - 2012 and 2013

Born 03/28/1995

Parents Father - Farmer Mother – Farmer


Ideal Profession Accountant

Me in 3 Words Hard-working, confident & willing to learn

My Dream Become a good accountant to support for her family


Getting to Know Hoa Nguyen

Her parents are farmers with unstable income. Her father was the solider in the war and he returned with a

serious wound and only has a small monthly allowance of 35 USD. Her two big brothers took a student

loan of 1000 USD back in colleges to finance their studies and now they are working far away from home to

repay that loan, so they are unable to support the family. Her younger brother is now a high school

student.

Her father is more than 60 years old without a good health after an accident in 2001. Her mother is almost

always sick and don‟t have capacity to work. Due to the limited health, her family only takes a small area

to plant rice. The entire family has to live on support from the two older brothers. However, her brothers

don‟t earn much money and at the same time, they have to manage to repay their student loans as well as

to cover their living expenses. This, together with some allowance that her father is entitled to, is

insufficient to feed the whole family.

Despite all the hardships and financial difficulties, her parents always try their best to send her and her

brothers to school. That was paid by years of hard work and weakening health. And another younger

brother is going to high school soon. The only comfort that Hoa can bring to her parents is her excellent

academic achievements.

Hoa Nguyen

Hoa’s Story

Hai Nguyen

University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh city

Year: Freshmen

Major: Construction technology

Home town: Quảng Trị

High school: THPT chuyên Lê Quý Đôn

GPA: 7.5/10


Achievements: Third & second prize in Provincial Math competition and Prize in National Math Competition.

Born 01/10/1995



Ideal Profession Architecture

Me in 3 Words Sociable, Hardworking, Mature

My Dream Design and build a cozy house for his own family


Getting to Know Hai Nguyen

Hai‟s father passed away last year, which left a heavy burden on Hai‟s mother because they took lots of

loan to cover medical expenses for Hai‟s father. His mother has to take care of all three children who are at

the ages of studies. His oldest brother is handicapped and can not even take care of himself.

These days, Hai‟s mother has to resort to even a bigger loan to finance his education and to support the

other younger child going to high school far away from home. It is undeniable that only a single mother

could not earn enough to cover living cost and to finance her children‟s education as her only source of

income is from farming work – Not to mention that she has to take care of other stuff of the family on her

own as well.

Hai‟s mother is getting older and soon she won‟t be able to do everything on her own like she did in the

past years and her children‟s education is still way too far from completion. Hai knows best how important

it is for him to finish college but he is fearful of the very possibility that he won‟t be able to do so, even

though he really wants to.

In the interview with us, he leaves a good impression of a thoughtful young man who always gives a lot of

thoughts to important decisions. However, he is a bit shy and lacks of confidence. The bright side is that he

is aware of this and really wants to change and improve himself.

Hai Nguyen

Hai’s Story

My Le

University of Economics – Law HCMC

Year: Freshman

Major: International commercial law

Home town: Quảng Trị

High school: Quang Tri high school

GPA: 8.2/10


Achievements: NA

Born 12/11/1994

Parents Father - Farmer Mother – Seller



Me in 3 Words Mature, Happy, Hard-working

My Dream Become a successful business woman


Getting to Know My Le

My‟s family is beset with a lot of difficulties : 7 children, 2 older sisters are studying at colleges, family‟s income is not stable. Her father doesn‟t have a secure job, he just works around trying to see if anyone wants to hire him for something – it is more on a seasonal basis. When someone asks her father to do something, he gets paid a bit and that could help feed the family, but when he is not, her mother will have to borrow from others to buy foods etc.

Her family encounters most difficulties in winter as no one hires her father. The entire family has to reply upon her mother selling veggies. Moreover, her father gets sick very often – it‟s a heart disease! And every time it occurs, they panic and don‟t really know what to do as they don‟t have money for medical care.

Sadly due to the family‟s abject poverty, she sometimes thought about stopping her education for while, then try to work to earn some money for the family. But when her mothers got to know this, she expressed her absolute objection. She once said: “You should not be worried about how much we owe others, what you should know is that the most meaningful thing for me in this life is being able to send my children through colleges and helping them reach their dreams of higher education”. Since that moment, My has always put forth her best efforts to do well in school and the fact is she was an excellent student for all three years in high school.

My Le

My’s Story

Quynh Pham

University of Finance – Marketing HCMC

Year: Freshman

Major: International business

Hometown: Quảng Nam

High school: Nguyê n Binh Khiêm High school for gifted students

GPA: 8.5/10


Achievements: None

Born 11/10/1995

Parents Father - Divorced (and left) Mother - Worker


Ideal Profession Business woman

Me in 3 Words Confident, Active, humorous

My Dream To become a successful business woman


Getting to Know Quynh Pham

Quynh‟s parents divorced when she was only 5 years old. After that, her mother sent Quynh to her grandparents so that she can go work and earn money. But the labor-intensive job has weakened her over the years. However, every spending in family is relied upon the small allowance that Quynh‟s mother can make. When she got admission into Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for gifted students, her mother tried her best to borrow from everyone that she could, to build a small house, so that Quynh has a place to stay, and does not have to rent a room as it is even more expensive. Tuition fee, food, medical care and a lot of other stuff have become a heavy financial burden on her mother‟s shoulder. Until now, despite of working very hard, Quynh‟s mother has not been able to settle the 1.500 USD that her mother borrowed back in 2010 to build a house. She simply does not earn enough to pay back this hefty amount. With all that said, Quynh still considers herself as approachable, friendly, happy and active. This might explains why is that she always wanted to become a successful business woman.

Quynh Pham

Quynh’s Story

Phuoc Pham

University of Natural Sciences - HCMC

Year: Freshman

Major: Chemistry Analytics

Hometown: Quang Nam

High school: Sao Nam High School

GPA: 8.5/10


Achievements: Prize in Provincial contest in History

Born 01/08/1995

Parents Father - Pham Hung (farmer) Mother - Nguyễn Thị Lộc (farmer)

Family Income 50 USD/year

Ideal Profession Chemistry Researcher

Me in 3 Words Hard-working, endure, patient

My Dream Become a chemistry researcher who works in a lab


Getting to Know Phuoc Pham

Phuoc grew up in a very poor family. Her schooling is so insecure due to financial constraints.

There are Phuoc, her sister, parents and grandparents who live together. Her grandparents are well over 80 years old now, and they can no longer work. It costs them much to keep her and her sister‟s studying at schools. Her parents have to work very hard on the field everyday to earn their living and to cover their daughters‟ tuition fee. The whole family live on the profit from the field which is not stable at all.

The work on the field is very labor-intensive. And lately, her mother is so sick that she cannot support her father on the field as much as she used to. Her father got an asthma and it usually goes bad when the weather changes – he can hardly breathe. When this happens, Phuoc is so full of dreadful fears. To cover living expense, to finance two daughter‟s education and to pay medical expense, they all reply on some money from selling produce harvested from the paddy rice field.

Having seen her father getting weaker and weaker day by day, she continuously feels sorry for him. Sometimes she even think of giving up on studying to help out her parents. But her parents told her: “Even if we have to borrow to send you to college, we will still do. Our lives have been abjectly poor. You must try your best to study and break out of poverty”. These words are the motivating factor that keeps Phuoc and her sister trying hard at school.

Phuoc Pham

Phuoc’s Story

Phuong Vo

University of Pedagogy - HCMC

Year: Freshman

Major: Mathematics

Hometown: Khanh Hoa

High school: Nguyen Van Troi high school

GPA: 7.7/10


Achievements: Prize in Provincial English Competition

Born 10/18/1995

Parents Parents - Passed away

Family Income <100 USD/year

Ideal Profession Maths teacher

Me in 3 Words Hard-working, economical, consistent

My Dream Become a good teacher


Getting to Know Phuong Vo

Phuong‟s parents passed away when Phuong was very young. Since 7 years old, he has been brought up by

her aunt. At that time, Phuong was still too young to really understand this tremendous loss.

Until secondary school, he started feeling lonely, helpless and lacking of love like her peers. However,

Phuong is always in a optimistic mood and enjoys this life. He highly appreciates and feels grateful for the

help, all the love that everyone give him, which is the driving force moving him forward constantly. The

desire to reciprocate those loves enables Phuong to pass two university entrance exams with high band

score, and he is aspired to become an excellent teacher to nourish the soul and teach children to become

useful men for our society regardless of how hard one‟s life can be.

Financial burdens are what Phuong‟s family encounters almost every day. Her uncle and aunt have low-

income and also have to take care of their own family. At present, monthly amount of money that Phuong

receives from his aunt is not yet specified, but it is surely very little. He hopes to be able to receive some

support to continue his education, and he will use the support well, try to learn to become a good teacher, a

good person for society and to make this life more meaningful

Phuong Vo

Phuong’s Story

Tuyen Nguyen

University of Finance and Marketing - HCMC

Year: Freshman

Major: International Business

Hometown: Khanh Hoa

High school: Nguyen Trai high school

GPA: 7.7/10


Achievements: prize in Provincial Contest in Literature

Born 11/04/1995

Parents Parents - Farmers


Ideal Profession Business woman

Me in 3 Words Intelligent, decisive, adventurous

My Dream Become a good business woman


Getting to Know Tuyen Nguyen

Tuyen is a girl born and brought up in Khanh Hoa province. Since her 10th grade, Tuyen has lived in the sadness due to her parents‟ divorcing and her lack of love, but she always viewed it as a motivation to go on and live better. Currently, her mom works as a hired farmer and sells sweet soup in the market in order to afford Tuyen and her younger sister‟s education. However, this source of income is unstable and not sufficient when Tuyen became a student here at Finance and Marketing University. Leading a life full of hardship has made her dream of becoming a student greater than ever. She did make every effort to learn and participate in school activities, voluntary activities with all her heart. All her efforts have been paid off in a rewarding way, she achieved the prize in Provincial Literature Competition in the academic year 2012 - 2013. She passed the graduation exam with a high score and then got admission the Finance and Marketing University. Perhaps, challenges cannot beat her bravery and determination to succeed, and she have considered those challenges a life baggage she has carry to remind herself of the fact that she needs to try harder if she ever wants to succeed. Being an inquisitive person who wants to explore new things in life, she orients herself to follow the path that can help her become a skilled businesswoman. That has been the driving force that inspires her to study hard, train herself over the years.

Tuyen Nguyen

Tuyen’s Story

Long Nguyen

University of Pharmacy - HCMC

Year: Freshmen

Major: Pharmacy

Hometown: Khanh Hoa


GPA: 8.2/10


Achievements: prize in Provincial Contest in Chemistry

Born 21/11/1995

Parents Mother - Teacher


Ideal Profession Pharmacist

Me in 3 Words Hard-working, Decisive, Humorous

My Dream Become a good pharmacist


Getting to Know Long Nguyen

Long was born in Khanh Hoa province. His mother used to be a teacher at a local primary school, in Khanh Hoa. However, due to health problems, she resigned. It is not until 2005 that his mother came back and continued to teach in a secondary school in a town in Khanh Hoa. His mother‟s current salary is about 150 USD per month. There are only two people in Long‟s family living in a house of 75m2. Apart from this source of income, they don‟t have any farm, agrarian land or any valuable property. Since his childhood, Long has been living without father, so he is somewhat not very open up. However, as he grows up, he realizes that this is a weakness, and he wanted to change. In all three years in high school, He volunteered to be the presenter of every group that he was in, to improve his confidence. He also urged himself to attend all school activities as well as Youth organizations from knowledge competition to sport events... This has made a tremendous change for him, from a student who only focused on studying and family and lived relatively inactively, he have completely become a different person: confident, active in social activity. Long likes subjects that are details-oriented or researching work or engineering-related. These occupations always demand conciseness, specificness and detail-orientation as well as require people to have a more structured bird eye view of the issue.

Long Nguyen

Long’s Story

Nhi Nguyen

University of Pharmacy - HCMC

Year: Freshman

Major: Doctor

Hometown: Khanh Hoa


GPA: 8.4/10


Achievements: prize in Provincial Contest in Chemistry

Born 08/28/1995




Me in 3 Words Active, Decisive, Hard-working

My Dream Help poor patients


Getting to Know Nhi Nguyen

Nhi was born in KhanhHoa Province, and is the second child in a poor family. Her father has low and unstable income. Nhi‟s mother works as a seasonal farmer. Her older sister is going to college and doing part-time job at the same time to finance her own education. The family‟s income comes primarily from Nhi‟s mother, and it is for taking care of all three children at school age, so the family has to struggle a lot. As Nhi is going to college, living away from home in a big city, the financial burden just gest heavier on her mother‟s shoulders. Growing up seeing how hard it is for poor people when it comes to health care, Nhi has been dreaming of becoming a doctor and specializing in pediatricians to help families, the poor to have a better life. Nhi also wishes that her university education can help change people's stereotype about the importance and benefits of college education, and what education can actually bring: a transformative change. To make her dreams a reality, she determined to overcome all barriers that she faced and successfully get admitted to a very good medical school in Ho Chi Minh City

Nhi Nguyen

Nhi’s Story

Duong Le


Year: Freshman

Major: Japanese Language

Hometown: Ho Chi Minh City

High school: Chu Van An high school

GPA: 7.5/10

Born 04/05/1995

Parents Father – Worker Mother – Worker


Ideal Profession Obtain a bachelor in Japanese

Me in 3 Words Hard-working, Willing to learn, Determined

My Dream To have a good job upon graduation


Getting to Know Duong Le

Duong is the only child in a poor family in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh city. His father is a construction worker doing labor-intensive work and his mother is a charwoman. Unluckily, Duong was born with blindness. Getting admission to a good college has always been his dream for so long as it is a great example of him standing up and overcoming great obstacles to have a better life by himself. Duong knows best how hard his parents must work in order for him to go to school, and to support her parents, he himself finds a part-time job as a tutor in computer science course, to earn extra money. He used to feel ashamed of studying at a vocational training school – not a public high school, but thanks to his own great efforts, he got admitted to Pedagogical University of Ho Chi Minh City. Although studying university is very difficult for the blind, he is courageous and bold to take on this challenge and he believes he will make it – he will prove that he is blind but not useless. He admires Japanese culture very much. And he thinks that Vietnam and Japan are collaborating closely on many different fields and there might be still many chances to get a good job if he can speak Japanese. Duong also hopes he can showcase Vietnamese traditional culture and learn many good natural virtues of Japanese.

Duong Le

Duong’s Story

Trang Le

University of Social Sciences and Humanities - HCMC

Year: Freshmen

Major: Journalist

Hometown: Binh Duong

High school: Nguyen Dinh Chieu high school

GPA: 7.8/10

Born 07/23/1995

Parents Workers


Ideal Profession Journalist

Me in 3 Words Hard-working, Determined

My Dream To become an excellent journalist


Getting to Know Trang Le

Trang come from 6th Hamlet, Hung Hoa Commune, Ben Cat District, Binh Duong Province. She was born in a poor family. Her mother is a worker in rubber garden; her father is a seasonal worker with unstable income. Most of the family income comes from her mother‟s work but it is again just a seasonal work and thus the income is not that frequent.

Her family has 3 children and she is the oldest child. Her younger sisters are students. Whenever Trang has some spare time, Trang will go work with her mother to earn extra money. Besides, her parents also support a child who is the son of Trang‟s uncle. All expenses of family are dependent on a low and unstable income source – Her mother‟s wage.

Unluckily, Trang is the disabled, she is blind. But she has never given up on her life. Instead she is very courageous to lead a normal life. She took part in a lot of competitions and achieved many good prizes to prove that she is not useless. Interested in journalism, Trang knows that there are many obstacles on the way to achieve her dream, but she always knows she will get there. It should be noted that when Trang submitted her application form to the University (that now she is enrolling in), the school directly and immediately rejected her application form as they were doubtful of her potentials given her circumstances. Trang decided to go meet school faculty and persuaded them that she will make it and she successfully sent that key message out to the school.

Trang has done a great job proving everyone that nothing is impossible as long as we put forth our best efforts in achieving our goals.

Trang Le

Trang’s Story

An Tran


Year: Freshman

Major: Psychology

Hometown: Dong Thap

High school: Nguyen Dinh Chieu high school

GPA: 7.9/10

Born 11/12/1995

Parents Father – Farmer Mother – Retired


Ideal Profession Psychologist

Me in 3 Words Active, affable, steadfast

My Dream Help the disabled and the weak


Getting to Know An Tran

An was born in Dong Thap province. Unfortunately, she is a disabled and always fight against attack of glaucoma. Her brother is a blind student at Ho Chi Minh Pedagogy University. Her father is a farmer, her mother already retired. Even the entire family income cannot afford to send two children to universities and to cover medical expense for An.

Getting admission to a college has been so long An‟s dream. As someone who can not see the world by her own eyes, education and knowledge are the only way for An to see the world in special way. For An, having proper education is the only way for her to lead a normal and better life.

Currently, An is a member of Blind People Association in her school. She usually organizes activities for the blind to help them to mingle and socialize with community more easily. An chose to major in psychology because she wants to help people who have the same situation like her, and because it helps her to connect people to people.

An used to feel ashamed of studying at Nguyen Dinh Chieu school (designed specifically for blind students). However, with her great efforts, An made it to college and reassure herself once more time that nothing is impossible as long as we put forth our best efforts in the things we have passion for and if we try really hard to get what we want.

An Tran

An’s Story

Chien Mai

University of Technology - HCMC

Year: Freshman

Major: Electric - Electronic

Hometown: DakLak

High school: CumGar high school

GPA: 8.3/10


Born 11/21/1995

Parents Father – Left the family Mother – Elementary Teacher


Ideal Profession Technologies

Me in 3 Words Direct, Humorous, Cheerful

My Dream His family gets better conditions

My College Goal Receive scholarship from the university

Getting to Know Chien Mai

Chien‟s father has abandoned him and his mother since Chien was 9. When his father went away, he sold

their house, and his mother had to borrow money to buy new one. Until now, his mother has not been able

to pay back all the money borrowed since then. His mother is a primary school teacher. With such a low

income, she really struggles to send her two kids to schools and to pay back money borrowed 9 years ago.

When he was in 10th and 11th grade, he studied at the high school for gifted schools in Daklak but due to

the unfortunate circumstances where his mother is really sick and financial burden, he decided to move

back home and study in a normal public high school with less expense etc. Though he managed to get

admitted to a high-ranked university in Ho Chi Minh city which is the University of Technology.

Chien appears to be very honest, direct and down-to-earth. His thought process shows a higher maturity

level than people of the same age. He even had his own plans (with detailed step) to study at university.

Chien also showed great interest in social activities and wants to participate in these activities while

studying at school.

Chien Mai

Chien’s Story

Tham Duong


Year: Freshman


Hometown: Quang Nam

High school: Tieu La high school

GPA: 7.8/10


Achievements: 2nd prize in Provincial English Contest

Born 02/02/1995



Ideal Profession A Diplomatist

Me in 3 Words Affable, hard-working, kind

My Dream Become successful in her chosen field


Getting to Know Tham Duong

Tham was born in a big family. As her parents are pretty old now, they are sick most of the time. Tham and her sisters have to take students loan to finance their college education. The family income is totally dependent on produce from the farm – pig, popcorn, chicken etc.

Unfortunately the weather is not in their favor, life just gets worse when a crop does not turn out to be good. It is not very uncommon that sometimes Tham is reluctant not knowing what to do, whether to stop studying and start working to support the family or continue studying with heavier financial burden put on her parents‟ shoulder. However, at these defining moments, she timely and luckily has encouragement from family, teachers and friends to continue to have faith that life will get better one day. With this, Tham became more confident in striving for her dream of becoming a diplomatist.

When looking at her friends with better living conditions, she comforts herself that she must try harder. If she could change something about her life, then she wished a better life for her family. Every time she heard about student life with lots of things to worry about, especially when it needs some money, she is so worried about putting another hefty financial burden on her family, and she feels so sorry for her family, her sisters and herself.

For Tham, the most important thing is to know that everyone in her family can lead a good life with no more hardship. This is exactly why she always wants to go to college as it paves the way to a better life for her family and herself as well.

Tham Duong

Tham’s Story

Nhi Nguyen


Class: Freshman


Hometown: Quang Tri

High School: Trieu Phong



Achievement: 3rd Prize in Provincial Contest in English

Born May 24, 1992

Parents Father – Linh Nguyen (passed away) Mother – Duong Thi Cuc (teacher)

Family Income USD 50/month

Ideal Profession International business

Me in 3 Words Confident, caring, determined

My Dream Successful in economic field


Getting to Know Nhi Nguyen

Nhi’s Story

Nhi‟s father has passed away, leaving the responsibility to take care the entire family on her mother‟s shoulders. Her

mother feeds the family with her only unstable source of income, which is farming work. Her mother can earn from

250 to 500 USD annually. Despite the hardship the Nhi and her family have to go through, Nhi still gets a really good

academic result at school – She was awarded the second prize in the Provincial English Contest for two consecutive

years.

Nhi loves her family so much that she always wants to go to college, have the chance to transform her own life and

her family‟s living conditions. Nhi considers herself to be confident, decisive and more of an action implementer.

Although sometimes she knows she is still a bit shy when it comes to talking to public. Nhi loves Maths and she really

enjoys studying Maths. Nhi wants to succeed in business and eventually graduate and work for an MNC. She also

wanted to be recognized for her efforts in overcoming hardship and challenges that she have gone past.

Nhi’s Story

Trang Le Law University

Class: Freshman

Major: lawyer

Hometown: Quang Tri

High School: Le Quy Don



Achievement: 2nd prize Provincial Contest in Literature

Born 13/08/1992


Family Income USD 50-100 / month


Me in 3 Words Energetic and Consistent

My Dream Have money and health to help the poor who have heart disease like me


Getting to Know Trang Le

Trang’s Story

Trang was born in a family of 3 children in Lao Bao, Quang Tri. Her father passed away and her mother is a vendor acting as a breadwinner to support all 3 children‟s education. Trang was born with a weak heart which needs surgery. Unfortunately, not until the second surgery supported by East Meet West, could Trang‟s heart be cured. Being trapped in a poor health and in an impoverished condition, she did not give up but chose to overcome all the hardship and became an excellent student with a huge ambition, thanks to her mother‟s encouragement.

Trang fiendishly loves reading and expressing her thoughts through pieces of writing. This is where her love for literature had been nurtured and involved. It assisted her to learn about life, to seek for hope, sympathy and become more optimistic and stronger against the hard waves of life. Trang enrolled in the specialized literature class at Le Quy Don - High school for gifted students. She won the third and the second prize for a literature competition in Quang Tri in 2010 and 2011 respectively. During these years, she worked as a private tutor for 8 hours per week. Moving up with tertiary education, she works for “Bup Sen Hong” organization on social projects, fund-raising activities etc.

Trang dreams to be able to become a journalist who travels to different places and helps contribute to the society through writings. However, she decided to go for her second choice – Law University – due to her poor health. “Disregarding of what career I eventually choose, I will be putting my best efforts and great enthusiasm into it once decision is made” – Trang shared. The opportunity to go through college is the cornerstone which will lay a solid foundation for her to obtain knowledge, improve herself and move forward in the coming years. More importantly, she will have the chance to become successful in life. Trang shared that she has received support from many people and organizations, esp. East Meet West and she wants to pay it forward. To that end, she made her best efforts to get college admission and thus have the chance to succeed.

Trang’s Story

Nguyen Pham

Finance and Marketing University

Class: Freshman

Major: Finance banking

Hometown: Cam Ranh

High School: Phan Boi Chau

GPA: 8/10, High school exam: 49.5/60


Achievement: N/A

Born 27/05/1994

Parents Father – Dung Pham (Passed away) Mother – Pham Thi Ngoc Loan (Tailor)

Family Income USD 50-100/month

Ideal Profession Banker/Investment

Me in 3 Words Social, Honest, Eager to learn

My Dream Become a citizen and support my family


Getting to Know Nguyen Pham

Nguyen’s Story

Nguyen’s Story

Nguyen is the oldest son in a poor family where the youngest is diagnosed with slow-development disorder. His father had passed away and his mother has been taking care of the whole family since then. Having understood the hardship his mother had been through, he tried to help her by doing housework, taking care of his younger brothers and sisters. Despite of financial burden, his mother always encouraged him to pursue his education.

Nguyen is an active learner and he loves English. These virtues enable him to write basic software which is very impressive since very few Vietnamese students at his age could do the same thing as he did. He idolizes Bill Gates and he especially loves the adage “University is not the only door to the life”. He strongly believes that with his self-determination and his adept adaptability, he will be successful and will be able to contribute to the community.

Nguyen chose the University of Finance and Marketing as a stepping stone to further goals.

Nhung Ho


Class: Freshman



High School: Nguyen Binh Khiem



Achievement: 3rd prize National Contest in Literature

Born 11/12/1994

Parents Father – Ho Van Thao (disabled) Mother – Hoang Thi Thuy (farmer)


Ideal Profession International business

Me in 3 Words Passionate, Fun, Dedicated

My Dream Change my family’s life


Getting to Know Nhung Ho

Nhung’s Story

Nhung’s Story

Nhung Ho comes from a poor family in a poor sleepy town in Quang Tri province. Her family consists of 5 people, and her two brothers are going to school too. Her mother is a farmer and she is also a worker collecting rubber latex in order to earn little extra income. Nhung has overcome all her hardships and became an excellent student and she has always been able to maintain her top ranking in the class.

Besides studies, she helps her mother with housework, with taking care of her younger brothers. Nhung is specifically excellent at Literature, but she also excels at other subjects especially Maths. She likes English and but is a bit less interested in history.

She is very determined to make college experience a rewarding one and hopes to be able to find a well-paid job to lessen her family‟s financial hardship. “A happy family, no constant worry of monies” is what she has been dreaming of. Having VietSeed‟s scholarship is a huge encouragement for her to focus on studies and to overcome life difficulty. Nhung is very active when it comes to social work. She part-took in activities such as visiting orphanage shelter, cleaning national graveyard etc.

Anh Dong

Ho Chi Minh University of Education

Class: Freshman


Hometown: Khanh Hoa




Achievement: N/A

Born 16/01/1994

Parents Father – Dong Van Do (a guard) Mother – Passed away


Ideal Profession Researcher

Me in 3 Words Happy, Persistent, Determined

My Dream Have a research on Maths and further higher education


Getting to Know Anh Dong

Anh’s Story

Anh was born in Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa and her mother passed away when she was still very small. Her father was

re-married and worked as a security guard so Anh and her older sister have to live on the pension funds of her

grandmother & grandfather. Her family is financially in a bad condition but she always gets the strong self-motivation

to rise out of predicament to be an excellent student. In summer, Anh works as a waitress to gain some income for the

next school year.

Anh loves reading and especially “Chicken Soup” series. She also loves Maths and learning about environmental

solutions. Personality-wise, she considers her strength to be good at planning and goal setting but she also knew that

she is still a bit timid. Anh is aspired to be computer engineer and come back to work in her hometown.

Because of her family background, she is pretty much empathized with orphan and would love to involve in

community work.

Anh’s Story

Khoa Pham

University of Technology

Class: freshman

Major: Engineer

Hometown: Khanh Hoa




Achievement: N/a

Born 09/10/1994

Parents Father – Farmer Mother – Housewife

Family Income USD 100-200/month

Ideal Profession Engineer in oil & gas industry

Me in 3 Words Grateful with parents – Hardwork–Passionate

My Dream Change life and support family


Getting to Know Khoa Pham

Khoa’s Story

Khoa is from Tan Lap village, Khanh Hoa province. His father is working as a farmer with unstable income, his mother is a housewife helping out his father at home but she is diagnosed with high blood pressure and has to rush to hospital quite often which creates more and more financial burden to the family. His family annual income is just around 10 millions. Since high-school, he has to go to the forest to chop down trees and sell it as burning materials. His family has been in abrupt poverty which sometimes could not afford sufficient foods and makes him want to stop his schooling as a way to lessen the financial burden. But fortunately he has been able to realize that the only way to break out of the poverty trap is to continue his study. He is not only academically excellent but also very confident and active. He loves reading and has a strong preference for math's. He is known for his activeness in his school‟s activities. He also managed to get a part-time job as a private tutor since high school to cover his living expenses. Khoa considers himself to be really ambitious and highly responsible. He dreams to work in oil sub-sector as it‟s potential to make good money and support his parents. Getting the scholarship is a huge encouragement for Khoa. He could buy books and cover parts of his living expenses in the city. Khoa also shared that he would love to pay it forward by working for organizations like VietSeed just to assist disadvantaged students to change their lives.

Khoa’s Story

Born 28/8/1993

Parents Father - Huynh Loi (Farmer) Mother - Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet (Farmer)

Family Income 4.5 million VND/ month

Ideal Profession Economist

Me in 3 Words Consistent, affable, brave

My Dream Contribute to the economy of her hometown


Getting to Know Phuong Huynh

Phuong Huynh

Ho Chi Minh University of Economics

Year: 03

Major: International Business Management

Hometown: Khanh Hoa

High School: Ton Duc Thang

GPA: 8.6/10,


Achievement: 1st prize in Casio Princial Maths Contest

Phuong’s Story

Phuong was born and grew up in a poor village of Khanh Hoa province. Her parents are farmers. Phuong has been living with the smell of straw and hay, mud and the smell of hardship. However, when meeting with us, she seems to be a brave, intelligent, self-confident girl with good communication skill and a specific objectives in life.

Phuong applied to the University of Economics of Ho Chi Minh City in 2011 and now she has been studying for 3 years. She has a dream that one day after graduating she will have enough knowledge, experience and expertise to come back and contribute to her own hometown. That day she will be able to bring something new and innovative for the local farmers who live very poor and unstable lives.

Living a poor family, Phuong has to help her parents collect the crops while trying to ensure the study to be always good. In the havest days, she must help her parents in the field. When her brother and sister are not at home, she must look after their baby. In such time, she usually read books to get more knowledge and information and specially to learn English.

Phuong’s Story

Born 25/3/1993

Parents Father - Le Thanh (Baker) Mother - Ho Vu Phuong Tam (Merchant) Toan lives with his grandma and aunt

Family Income 3 million VND/ month

Ideal Profession Marketer

Me in 3 Words Affable, active, serious

My Dream Found a group that can help the poor


Getting to Know Toan Le

Le Bao Toan

Univeristy of Finance and Marketing - HCMC

Year: 03

Hometown: Khanh Hoa

High School: Nguyen Van Troi high school

GPA: 7.5/10,


Achievement: None

Toan’s Story

Toan is a good student with a very high will of overcoming the hardship. Growing up in the lack of love from his parents. His parents divorced when he was only 7 years old and now they both have their own family and children. From that time, Toan lives with his grandma and aunt. His grandma retired and now just looks after the children at home. His aunt graduated from Nha Trang University. She cannot find a job which is relevant to her major so she does tutoring for a living. The three of them leave in a small room.

Toan studies in University of Finance – Marketing in Ho Chi Minh City. He loves communication industry and really has an ability to set this field as his career when havine a very sharp thinking and talent in music. Toan can play the guitar and the organ.

Toan wants to contribute to the society through his Protestant. He is a boy with a very strong belief. In the future, Toan wants to be a good marketer and able to found a charity group that can help the poor and the student with hardship.

Toan’s Story

Born 28/8/1993

Parents Father - Le Van Tai (Fisherman) Mother - Duong Thi Nhan (Farmer)

Family Income 3 million VND/ month

Ideal Profession Aministrator

Me in 3 Words Kind, honest, shy

My Dream Become a police officer but his health is not good


Getting to Know Le Quoc Toan

Le Quoc Toan

Administrative Institute - HCMC

Year: 03

Hometown: Quang Tri

High School: Trieu Phong High School

GPA: 6.7/10,


Achievement: None

Quoc Toan’s Story

Toan‟s family has 7 members living in a small house.

Toan‟s father is a fisherman and he is the one who get the income for the whole family. If the weather is good, he will earn only 3 million VND per month. His job is dangerous when spending the whole day under the harsh and fierce of the sun and wind in the middle provinces in Vietnam.

His mother is a farmer who works in the small field of the family. His grandpa who lives with the family retired and cannot help when his eyes can no longer see. He has 2 younger sister and 1 younger brother who are pupils.

Because of living in a hardship, Toan‟s health is going down. He really wants to apply to the Police Academy but he could not due to its requirement of health.

After school, he has to help his mother cut grass and gather the crop.

Quoc Toan’s Story