“Mom will no longer be laughed at, because you are already the valedictorian” -Young

Those are the words in the gratitude article to her mother by Nguyen Thi Xuyen – the new valedictorian of the Institute of Technical Physics, Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

The valedictorian of the Institute of Technical Physics, Hanoi University of Science and Technology with her mother (Photo: personal page of the character)

Raising her daughter alone thanks to a meager salary from her job in environmental sanitation, Ms. Dinh Thi Nhan could not hide the joy on her face: “Watching Xuyen grow up, I’m very happy, very happy.”

Xuyen’s family has 4 people, all of whom live on a salary of 4 million/month, not including Ms. Nhan’s overtime pay. However, she always prioritizes saving money so that Xuyen can go to school.

Raising an educated child is never easy. If other families have both parents taking care of and protecting their children, Nguyen Thi Xuyen’s mother has to shoulder the responsibilities of both.

She said, when she was in high school, Xuyen started taking extra classes in the evening and was forced to cross a road through a field with no lights and few people walking. Worried about her child’s safety, the valedictorian’s mother asked to take the night off to pick up her daughter.

In order for her children not to be disadvantaged, Ms. Nhan has never stopped trying to work. Xuyen still remembers the night of the 30th Tet when she was in high school, it was raining heavily, but her mother still went to clean the bathroom until 3 am to come home.

Understanding the difficulties and hardships of her mother, the female student was determined to study, because she believed that studying was the only way for her mother to be proud and everyone would look at Xuyen with different eyes.

Therefore, Xuyen’s mother never had the habit of urging her children to study. She said, there are days when Xuyen only sleeps 3-4 hours, the homework is not finished, the female student has not slept, while telling stories, the eyes of the cleaning mother appear full of emotion.

During her 5 years at university, Nguyen Thi Xuyen received many certificates of merit and encouragement awards from Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the Institute of Technical Physics. Each time, Ms. Nhan is happier and more appreciative of each certificate of merit. This is also the biggest source of motivation to help her put aside the difficulties and struggles to keep trying.

The fruit of the effort

The family is already anchored, no one in the family has ever attended Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Xuyen knew about this university mainly through advice from teachers. The high school girl that day determined to pass the Hanoi Polytechnic exam.

When asked about the reason for choosing the Institute of Technical Physics, she shared that she was impressed with many physicists and their life stories. That inspired Nguyen Thi Xuyen to study this major.

Someone once said she was born without a father. Someone once criticized her mother because of her family situation and her job as a janitor. Xuyen also went through the days when she was a student without a friend. However, Xuyen chose to remain silent. The valedictorian thinks that time will answer for her efforts.

Nguyen Thi Xuyen has shared lines on her personal page that have moved many people

However, in the early days, learning was not easy. Xuyen once burst into tears after finishing the Algebra exam because she thought she could not pass this difficult subject. The first-year student could not forget the image of an upperclassman who ran to her and comforted her: “If you work so hard, you can’t fail. God doesn’t let people down.” That saying is like a philosophy, sticking with Xuyen during nearly 5 years of studying at Hanoi Polytechnic.

After passing the general subjects in the first year, when she switched to basic subjects, Xuyen got used to studying at school. Her GPA in all subjects is always good and is at the top of her class.

Finally, the sweet fruit has arrived. Nguyen Thi Xuyen was recognized as the output valedictorian of the Institute of Technical Physics, Hanoi University of Science and Technology with a score of 3.68/4.0. On graduation day, hugging her mother, Xuyen shared: “Now I can be proud, because I have become the valedictorian”.

After graduating, she plans to apply for a scholarship to study a master’s degree in the country while working to earn money to support her living. “I want to learn as much as possible. If I have a chance, I want to study until I die.” – The fire of passion for learning is always burning in the young girl.

Raise the step of Polytechnic students

Understanding the difficulties of students in the learning process, Xuyen took a job as a free tutor for the younger students, the same age classmates and some seniors had to re-learn basic subjects.

Nguyen Thi Xuyen saved her mother’s graduation day (Photo: character’s personal page)

At the end of year 3, after being known by many people, the number of students who want to be tutored is increasing. At this time, she decided to build an online class with a fee of 150,000 VND/course. Teaching and studying at the same time helped Nguyen Thi Xuyen gain more money to pay for her studies, while consolidating her knowledge and improving her speaking ability.

Since then, every school year, this female student has helped about 400 Polytechnic students “pass the dance” in basic subjects. Whenever you have difficulty or have problems that need help, Nguyen Thi Xuyen always tries to find the most appropriate and useful answer.

For the new valedictorian, kindness and sincerity are the most important things. Education does not completely assess a person’s development process. Nguyen Thi Xuyen hopes that the lower-class students will try their best with what they have chosen, “with humility and hard work, you will achieve what you want.”