Le Thao Nguyen graduated as valedictorian of the Southeast Asian Studies major, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-USSH) in 2022. The 24-year-old girl used to work at a non-governmental organization before stopping her full-time job to prepare to apply for a scholarship to study abroad.
Thao Nguyen on her college graduation dayThao Nguyen was accepted into two Erasmus Mundus master's programs, MAiSI (MA in Sport Ethics and Integrity) and GEMMA (MA in Women's and Gender Studies). Loving football, being a die-hard fan of Manchester United and the German national team, and wanting to pursue a career related to these interests, she decided to choose MAiSI.
Sharing with reporters from the Vietnamese Student Page of Tien Phong newspaper, Thao Nguyen said that she will study and experience in 5 European countries, namely Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain, Germany and Greece. In the first country, Belgium, she will study at KU Leuven University, a school in the world's top 20 for sports-related majors according to the QS Ranking in 2024.
More excitingly, MAiSI students will be able to attend the Summer School held at the University of Peloponnese (UoP) and the International Olympic Academy (IOA) in the city of Peloponnese, southern Greece. The location is within the archaeological site of Olympia, where the ancient Olympic Games originated thousands of years ago.
The MAiSI program for the academic year 2024-2026 is not eligible for a full Erasmus Mundus scholarship, but only tuition fee waivers and living allowances. Only 4 scholarships are awarded to students from non-EEA countries and Thao Nguyen is one of them.
In addition to the tuition waiver, she also receives a monthly living allowance from the program. Since the MAiSI master’s program opened in 2017, Thao Nguyen is the first Vietnamese student to receive this scholarship.
Thao Nguyen at the party to celebrate Vietnamese students receiving Erasmus Mundus 2024 master's scholarships organized by the EU Delegation and representatives of member countries
Having been a fan of Manchester United since she was 12, the English team has had a big influence on her. “Following MU helped me realise that everyone’s life has ups and downs. The important thing is to never give up and always move forward because ‘form is temporary, class is forever’.
Currently, the player I love and support the most is center-back Lisandro Martínez. Licha always plays with enthusiasm, dedication and is very solid. Every time he stands in front of Onana's goal, I feel secure watching the club's matches," she shared.
From her personal passion, Thao Nguyen began to read a lot of news and documents related to football in particular and the sports industry in general. She established and managed a small fanpage to support her favorite team and interact with football fans, thereby gaining more understanding and perspective on the king sport.
The girl from Hoai Duc district, Hanoi has cherished the idea of studying abroad since her first days in university. She always tries to maintain the best possible academic scores, conducts scientific research to understand more about the knowledge she has learned, and participates in extracurricular activities and Youth Union movements to improve her soft skills.
Thao Nguyen was honored to receive a Certificate of Merit for graduating valedictorian from Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan - President of VNU-USSH
Although pursuing a master's degree in sports, Thao Nguyen believes that the social science knowledge she has previously acquired will help her a lot in analyzing and researching behaviors and activities related to ethics and integrity in sports. These include the use of doping or the dark side of sports related to betting, inequality or corruption.
During a “gap year” - a period of time off from work to apply for scholarships, Thao Nguyen worked as an English tutor for children near her home. She took IELTS and some related certificates, and took additional courses on data analysis and scientific research methods on Coursera to strengthen her profile.
When researching about studying abroad, Thao Nguyen learned about the Erasmus Mundus Master's scholarship, a merit-based scholarship that prioritizes the academic achievements of applicants. She was once recognized as the valedictorian of Hanoi, so she determined that it was a big plus and was determined to apply.
Received the title of excellent valedictorian of Hanoi city in 2022
Thao Nguyen sent three letters of recommendation to the admissions board. There were two letters of recommendation from university lecturers, Dr. Ho Thi Thanh and Dr. Nguyen Ha Phuong, in the Southeast Asian Studies Department, Faculty of Oriental Studies (VNU-USSH). In addition, there was a letter of recommendation from the direct supervisor at a non-governmental organization on gender equality, who clearly understood her strengths that made her suitable for the program.
The most difficult part was the essay because Thao Nguyen had to draft and edit it at least 10 times to get the most satisfactory version. It took her a long time to find the right match between what she had and what the program needed. From there, she skillfully highlighted them in a unique and impressive way within the allowed word limit.
The MAiSI program had never had a Vietnamese student, while Thao Nguyen was a first-time applicant and had little experience participating in international programs. The journey to finding the scholarship was not easy, but she felt lucky to have her family, mentor, friends and colleagues by her side.
Everyone gave her comments and suggestions on her essay. Sometimes, everyone's questions during the editing process were valuable suggestions that helped her reposition herself, evaluate her goals, and clearly define her future direction.
Thao Nguyen (right) is the organizer of the event sharing about Erasmus Mundus scholarships.
Thao Nguyen affirmed: “The most important thing is to understand yourself and understand the requirements that the admissions board is looking for. From there, you will adjust yourself to become a suitable candidate. I always believe that the person who wins the scholarship is not the best person but the most suitable person.”
Before each interview round, Thao Nguyen carefully reviewed the program’s website and information pages, read related articles on social media or foreign discussion forums like Reddit. She contacted alumni on LinkedIn to ask for advice, experience, and gain a deeper understanding of the program.
She looked up information about the lecturers in the program, to know who they were, what subjects they taught, and what their main research areas were. Thanks to that, during the interview round with the professor who was also the director of the MAiSI program, Thao Nguyen will always remember the comment: “You understand our program very well and show passion for your major. I was very impressed with you.”
Thao Nguyen (front row, 5th from right) and Vietnamese students receiving Erasmus Mundus scholarships at the event in late July 2024
Amid the bustling summer days of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Thao Nguyen has been busy following the Olympics while completing the necessary procedures to fly to Europe. She has started making a list of places to visit in the stadiums of famous clubs in Germany, Spain and England, as well as learning about the operations of international sports organizations.
“Specialized knowledge about sports is still quite new to me, so my top priority is still studying. In the distant future, I hope to be able to do something to help raise awareness and understanding of young Vietnamese people about ethics and integrity in sports,” Thao Nguyen said.
Vietnam Student Newspaper:Female Manchester United fan is valedictorian, wins European master's scholarship in sports
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