Valedictorian of the school year 2014-2015

Literature is a passion since childhood

Thuy Hien was born and raised in Hanoi. Although no one in her family pursued a literary career, they were the ones who instilled in her a love for literature. She shared: “My parents love classic world literature and Vietnamese poetry, my grandparents often tell me fairy tales, and everyone in my family often writes poetry. Living in such an environment, and being supported by my family in my love of reading since I was a child, I really love this subject.” She decided to major in Literature to continue that love.

Among many universities, she chose the University of Social Sciences and Humanities as the place to pursue her passion. Firstly, because the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is a university with a long tradition in the field of scientific research, it will create the best conditions for her to study and research. Secondly, because of the desire to experience the feelings that her father had for "the ancient yellow buildings, the old but warm lecture halls" when he studied at the Chemistry Department of the University of Science on Le Thanh Tong Street (now the Chemistry Department - University of Natural Sciences), which he often told his daughter about later.

With her efforts and seriousness in studying, Thuy Hien has continuously achieved scholarships such as: Shinnyoen Scholarship for the 2011-2012 school year, AEON Scholarship 2012-2013, Chung-soo Scholarship 2013-2014, and the school's study encouragement scholarship. She also participated in scientific research and won the First Prize for Student Scientific Research at the School level in 2014, the Third Prize for Young Talents in Scientific Research at the Ministry level in 2014. Regarding certificates of merit, she owns a Certificate of Merit for students with excellent academic achievements in all school years, a Typical Young Face at the grassroots level in all school years, and a Certificate of Merit for students with excellent graduation achievements throughout the course from the Director of the National University.

She said that to achieve these achievements, a large part of it is thanks to the dedication of the teachers at the school. She shared: “I am always grateful to the teachers and the school for creating the most favorable conditions for me to study. Especially the teachers in the Literature Department, the teachers who directly and enthusiastically taught and supported me in my studies, scientific research and helped students have useful job opportunities.”

Vu Thien Thuy Hien at the bachelor's degree award ceremony of the 2014-2015 school year (Photo: Hieu Luong)

Study, work and do social activities

As a student, Thuy Hien had a sense of independence from a very early age. She tutored in the evenings and worked as a freelance translator for an online newspaper. She also enthusiastically participated in social activities in and out of school such as the Book Club, Green Summer, Exam Support, etc. Thanks to that, she had the opportunity to meet and get to know friends from all over the country; to exchange cultures and experience many things that were not in books. Despite her busy schedule, Hien did not feel tired. On the contrary, she also said that these group activities helped her relax and gave her a chance to rest after hours of studying and working.

Instinct + Science = Good Learning Method

Sharing about her learning method, she said that she studies in a way that is “both instinctive and scientific”. Instinctive because, with all subjects, she makes the most of her time in class and delves into the issues she likes by reading more books. She often reads books and watches movies in her free time, reading almost anything she likes or topics she comes across. Because she is in a comfortable mood when absorbing knowledge, she remembers what she has read for a long time. She revealed: “In my experience, this is actually the best knowledge accumulation process, because there will be times when you have to use this knowledge in your studies or at work.”

Scientifically, she has a habit of making a study plan. With a tight schedule from major 1 study schedule, double degree study schedule to time for social work, part-time job... arranging a scientific schedule has helped her health as well as her study efficiency a lot. She believes that this "scientific" has helped her maintain such study results and avoid overload and pressure when having to run deadlines or have tight exam schedules.

Because she studies at two schools at the same time, her schedules often overlap, forcing her to accept that she cannot attend all classes, so her component scores for each subject are not high. To solve this problem, Hien revealed: “I spend a lot of time self-studying and reviewing before each exam. I review very focused on each subject, so my exam scores often help my overall subject score a lot.”

Want to stay with the school even after graduation

Talking about her future plans, Thuy Hien shared: “This year I will focus on completing my studies in the second major and after graduation, I plan to work in the fields of publishing, journalism, media, television, etc. I also plan to continue studying at higher levels in the next few years. In addition, although I have graduated, I hope to continue working with the Book Club and participating in activities in the Book Network that the Youth Union and Club organizations in my school are launching because these are very practical and meaningful activities. When I was a student, I participated in these activities, so I hope that when I start working, I will have the opportunity to provide more practical support to expand these models to all students in the school.”