5 failed attempts and the door to the US government scholarship

In the last days of May, 29-year-old Bui Minh Duc was busy arranging work to go to Clark University on a full scholarship from the US government.

Before winning the ticket to study Communication, the Hanoi boy had repeatedly failed government scholarships for three years. “If anyone asks me what I have better than you, I can immediately answer it is the experience of rejection and how to overcome self-doubt. This is one of the decisive factors that helped me conquer Fulbright.” , Germany said.

Graduated in Business Administration and Tourism from Hanoi University in 2015, but Minh Duc chose to stick with the media. After going through the positions of media specialist, editor, responsible for developing ideas and writing articles for the LGBT section of the website, the boy born in 1993 realized that he still had many shortcomings. To go further with the job he likes, he understands that there is no other way, but to go to school.

Germany started applying in 2018 with an Irish government scholarship. Rejected, he twice sought Chevening – a scholarship of the British government, then Erasmus Mundus of the European Union, but was unsuccessful. Germany’s worst failure experience was when he failed the Irish scholarship for the second time. At that time, he was working as a media officer at an NGO.

“I wondered a lot. With the values ​​I can bring to the community and work in the media field, why is the application still not accepted?”, Duc shared and said that it was scary. The most when failure is self-doubt. He feels he is back to the starting point with questions: “Am I suitable for studying abroad?”, “Should I still apply for a scholarship?”.

Mr. Vo Van Nhat Han, “Fulbrighter” (Fulbright scholarship winners) in International Development in 2018, is Minh Duc’s advisor during the application process. Han assessed that Duc has the ability to synthesize information and reflect experiences in an engaging and coherent manner. As for the reason why Germany did not win the scholarship, Mr. Han said that at that time, the highlight in Germany’s work was not special, and the LGBT journalism profession was not seasoned enough.

In order to overcome the period of mental breakdown, Duc learned to look at failure through a different lens. “Every person’s life doesn’t have many opportunities to experience and express themselves in front of a prestigious co-enroller. In this way, I feel more relieved,” he said, understanding that each scholarship has its own criteria. personal preference and being rejected is just an unsuitable candidate.

Duc gave himself one more chance before turning 30, telling himself “if I fail, I will stop applying”. This time, he “played all hands” when choosing Fulbright – a scholarship that he thought was too far out of his reach. After making a decision, the first thing Germany does is delete the entire essay he has written. He does not want to edit on what has been rejected but will write completely new.

Minh Duc’s new essay conveys the message: writing can make things better and more meaningful. Going from his personal story, he realized that words not only help him to release his emotions, but also are a tool to speak up, protect his personal views, and at the same time make an impact on the community. More broadly, he questioned how the media affected and changed society, especially those in the disadvantaged group.

“When researching on the topic of discourse, I see that many media publications still portray the image of poor and backward ethnic minorities. But from real experience, I find this inappropriate and the media need to change,” he shared.

Duc spent two months on the essay and completed the application just a few days before the deadline. Without a long break, he immediately started preparing for the interview round, which took place a month later. Germany believes that this period is much more stressful than when making the application. “I’m already half way there. Failure at this point is scarier than having nothing in hand,” he explained. In addition to preparing the content of the answer, Duc contacted the “Fulbrighter” for a mock interview.

Although he was very well prepared, when he met the judges, Duc was still shaking. When asked about why he wanted to study communication, he told about his experience of training for the disabled people’s association in Hai Duong, instructing them to post information on Zalo to raise capital. After that occasion, Germany realized that media is not only for the masses or those living in urban areas, but is a tool that can change and positively impact society.

After about 30 minutes, the examiner said “the question is over”, Duc panicked. He had heard that a safety interview would take about 40-45 minutes. Below this level, there is a high probability that the candidate will not be accepted. Therefore, when the interview ended and within two weeks of waiting for the results, Duc made a plan for himself after failing the sixth scholarship.

The moment he received the announcement that he was one of 20 Vietnamese people awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2021, Duc immediately thought of his family – the place that gave him strength and motivation during the application period. “Perhaps the word ‘joy’ is not enough to describe how I felt at that time,” he said.

Having accompanied Duc for many years, Mr. Han considers that juniors have the advantage of having rich cultural exchange experience – one of the factors that are said to be Fulbright’s criteria. At this time, Germany has had the opportunity to have more exposure and practice in the profession, thereby cultivating knowledge about gender, human rights and forging policy communication skills.

“I think the maturity in perception and sharp social outlook have helped Germany convince the Fulbright admissions committee. This scholarship promises to open more doors for Germany to develop personally and contribute to the community. LGBT”, Mr. Han shared.

In almost a month, Germany will come to America. He has never been away from home for more than three weeks, so before embarking on a two-year journey in the US, the Hanoi guy spends most of his time preparing mentally. He wrote himself 10 letters with different topics: open when homesick, worried or sick…

Suffering from anxiety disorder, Duc was commented to “put himself in a difficult position” when applying too much and for a long time. However, he believes that if you do not face your fear, you will never overcome it. “I used to think I was sensitive and vulnerable, but when I went through a lot of failures, I was more resilient and courageous than I thought,” Duc said.

Thanh Hang