Tong Chi Thong is imparting skills and experience to students.
Undergraduate students qualified for postgraduate education
Tong Chi Thong (26 years old) described himself as a person with positive greed, given his job as a chain manager - he is responsible for projects with optimal calculations and flexible backup plans. Four years ago, at the graduation ceremony of the International University (National University of Ho Chi Minh City), the name Tong Chi Thong made many people admire when he was the only student who graduated with honors in two challenging majors: Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Industrial Systems Engineering in less than four years.
According to Thong, one's achievement depends on the effort they made. As his father passed away early, he became the breadwinner of the family and thus has had many contemplations of establishing the right mindset since a very young age. The amazing thing is that having not graduated from university, Thong has been qualified for postgraduate education.
Two years later, Thong obtained two more master's degrees from Vietnam-Germany University and Hochschule Karlsruhe University in Germany. After graduation, he remained ambitious when he worked as both a university lecturer and a technology manager for a company specializing in market databases in Vietnam while supporting a company that was about to be launched in Germany.
With his own effort, Thong managed to identify opportunities for himself and utilize them. There were times when Thong could only sleep 3 nights a week, given the huge amount of study and work, but he always viewed his goal as a source of motivation. To him, self-discipline is a crucial quality for young people to keep pursuing their passion without being lured by other seemingly attractive distractors. The best way to contribute to the community and country is for each person to do his or her best job, making personal achievements beneficial to other people.
Knowledge accumulation for the community’s benefits
Trinh Hai Dang (4th-year student at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City National University) is one of the young people who work hard to bridge the experience gap in their own way. Having just returned from the Global Youth Summit taking place in Korea, the Nghe An girl is eagerly preparing to return to school in time for the final semester. During the 6 months of postponement due to the event, Hai Dang has acquired many valuable experiences.
Trinh Hai Dang at the 42nd ASEAN Summit
She became a guide for PISE Vietnam - an organization that helps young people in implementing community service projects, increasing accessibility for young people in different regions. Simultaneously, she was admitted and participated in four international exchange programs: ASEAN Youth Dialogue, ASEAN Summit 42, ASEAN - China Young Leaders Full Scholarship, and Global Youth Summit. These precious opportunities, according to her, are worth the postponement of education.
Hai Dang became Vietnam's youth delegate to the 42nd ASEAN Summit in May, and was honored to be one of 22 youth delegates from other countries in the ASEAN region to present the "Policy Recommendations on the topic of Digital Development for Sustainable Development" in the meeting with the heads of state.
Facing 11 heads of state, including Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, she was consumed by a feeling of happiness and pride, as she was able to contribute as well as represent the voice of Vietnamese youth in the policy recommendation. From the sharing of the leaders of the countries, the role of young people in the future of the ASEAN community was emphasized and the voice of the young generation has been heard more than ever.
Despite not having graduated, Hai Dang possesses an excellent profile in terms of skills, experience, and foreign languages, making her an attractive candidate to any employer. However, she is embarking on a more interesting path, which is to devote the knowledge she has learned and the experience she has accumulated to serve the community, while finding scholarships for higher education.
Significant milestones
Third-year student Le Nguyen Cong Danh (21 years old) of HCMC University of Technology comes as a typically bold and willful gene Z. Danh chose to engage in art, bringing the social issues of the modern days into film. He chose to portray his homeland in the Mekong River Delta in his first short film named The Salty Drought (Hạn mặn), which helped Danh win two prizes - Best Director and Film with most impressive art design and setting - at the Storytellers short film awards ceremony (USA).
Le Nguyen Cong Danh receives the award at the Storytellers short film awards ceremony, USA.
Danh desires to vividly portray farmers in modern society, as well as the close connection between people and nature, thereby highlighting the beauty of the region. Danh always seizes every opportunity to turn it into life milestones, just like the way he stepped out onto the international stage at a very young age. Danh used to be in charge of countless jobs at the studio, making a series of short films, coming in for numerous rejections, and working all kinds of jobs just to be able to pursue his profession. “Steadfast” is the word he used to describe his attitude towards his passion.
According to Danh, young people have the advantage of learning from their previous generation, thereby clearly identifying challenges and opportunities for themselves. Bringing Vietnamese films and Vietnamese culture to the world is his biggest aspiration, said Danh. This young man used to be an unruly student, yet looking at how fiercely he strived to become an excellent student as he is nowadays, we can firmly believe that, where there is a will, there is a way.
Each of the millions of young Vietnamese is embarking on their own path, but in one way or another, they are developing the country with their own wisdom, efforts and youthful enthusiasm. The personal journey of many young people clearly demonstrates their awareness of the role in controlling their own future. They work restlessly to utilize their youth and contribute to the community, country and, by extension, region. However, every great goal starts with the most basic thing, which is first to fulfill one’s individual obligation.
By Nha An - Translated by Yen Ngan