The gift of effort

The sitting President of the United States, Donald Trump, once said: “If you are going to be thinking anyway, why not think big? If you are going to be dreaming anyway, why not dream big?” How true that is — a big dream costs nothing, so let the young go on dreaming, go on longing, go on being foolish, and go on failing in exchange for success. I am no exception to that way of thinking. I have a dream, and my dream is to succeed along the road of my studies and, higher still, to become a grown-up, thoughtful person who knows how to love and to share, and who will use rightly the success in life that God will grant me.

Although I was born into a plain farming family in the countryside, God's grace has led and upheld me and my family, so that today an ambitious country girl like me can walk the halls of a university. To be called a “student” was not easy for me. In my kindergarten years my family was still in great difficulty, and I also had to stay home and mind my younger sibling, so I never went to kindergarten as the others did but went straight into grade 1. Because of that I was not as quick as my friends: at singing and dancing and storytelling I would just sit there, and my schoolwork was certainly very poor — in truth I did not know then how I was doing at school. On the day of the closing ceremony for the second term of grade 3, I heard the headmaster read out the list of pupils who were to receive certificates of merit. I listened and listened but never heard my name; I only heard my friend's name, and I asked myself: how is it that she manages it every year and I still do not? I do not know where the drive came from, but in grade 4 I made an effort and was named an advanced pupil — my first certificate of merit — and from then on I received a certificate every year. Entering lower secondary school I was chosen for the school's selective class, and being anxious about it I worked hard and was named an excellent pupil of the district for four years. In the lower secondary school leaving examination I was fortunate enough to score 9 in Mathematics, and of course I earned a seat in selective class 2 of the district.

All of this always made my parents very glad. Through my upper secondary years I held the title of excellent pupil of the district, and once again I reached a score of 9 in Mathematics in my university entrance examination — the highest score in my Catholic village to this day. This is the milestone I look back to whenever I feel disappointed and weary, with the thought: “Do not forget that you once tried very hard and were once the best.” During my school years at home I did not only concentrate on my studies but took a very active part in parish activities: I was a member of the parish's Children of Our Lady group, of the parish's prayer-leading group and of the choir, and I once taught catechism. It was precisely these activities, and the encouraging words of our parish priest, that spurred me on so much in my studies. I also achieved a great deal in my study of catechism.

In my plain farming village all one saw was the same round of farming and carpentry and the like, and the only person who seemed to have work that lived by the written word was the schoolteacher; so whenever I achieved something the neighbouring women would tell me to keep trying so that I could grow up and be a teacher. From then on, without knowing quite when, I took it for granted that I was to be a teacher, and I liked the idea of being one. So I set myself the dream of becoming a good lecturer, and I chose mathematics teaching at Vinh University as the place to study. At university I had the chance to be around books far more, and I came to love reading. A book is a friend I hold very dear, and I always manage one way or another to have something to read, whether borrowed or lent.

Reading has made me more grown-up and more thoughtful, better able to feel and to love. Being around books so much, I no longer limited my dream to becoming a lecturer. When I read a good book, I wish that I could write a good book for young people, so that the young of today might always have a more positive and more humane outlook; when I watch an inspiring video, I want to become successful and to be a speaker who lifts the spirits and moves young people. And one wish I have long cherished is to set up an English centre where I live, to help young people who struggle with English.

Taking part in Catholic student life, I saw that some of the benefactors were women, and I admired and respected them; in my eyes they were an image of the successful woman. I do not mind in what field they are successful, but as I see it now they are successful, and I dream of becoming a woman like that — an independent, strong, successful woman, so as to help others. To make those dreams come true I know it will not be easy at all, and that I must act on them right now, at this present moment. I always remind myself not to catch that ailment of thinking much and doing little, and of losing heart at the smallest failure. It is quite true that the longest and hardest road is the road from the brain to the hand. I think a great deal and then act, but when it comes to acting it is enormously difficult in many ways — money, arranging time for social activities, for Catholic student activities …

But I feel that it starts with money, which is essential. Knowing that my family is in difficult circumstances, I have never dared ask for much. I have had to find work: I have worked at a breakfast shop, waited tables, tutored … Studying and working at once while taking part in activities at the university as a member of the executive board of the Catholic students' group, I could not be easy in my mind about missing a single gathering of theirs. The work kept piling up and my only means of getting about was a bicycle, which forced me to give up my job and only tutor a couple of sessions a week or so. I know what I need to do at present in order to succeed, but it is hard when I look at my parents' income beyond the fields and my brother's meagre worker's wage: I have not dared open my mouth to ask for a laptop for my studies, or to ask to take English courses or courses in other skills …

Those are the hard parts, but I always try to encourage myself to keep going, because if I speak of my dream and am not afraid, then it is not yet a dream and I should dream again. So that my dream may be realised step by step, I very much hope for the help of the Our Lady of La Vang Scholarship. I always hope that the Scholarship will have more benefactors to help children in difficult circumstances, and I always hope that I will become a successful woman after my own image — a strong, thoughtful, grown-up woman who knows how to use her success in life in the truest sense of the word.

Nguyễn Thị Hạnh Vạn Lộc Parish - Vạn Lộc Deanery Major: Mathematics Teaching Vinh University