Following a plan, or a passion
“To live is to have a dream.” This is the saying I hold dearest. Surely every one of us has dreams and aspirations to live for. A dream opens up a bright horizon before us. It is the motivation, the purpose that urges us on, that helps us try a little harder each day to overcome the difficulties of the present so that we may reach our dream and succeed in the future. I am no different: I have had, and still have, dreams of my own.
The word “dream” is short, yet it holds all my longing within it. It became the purpose that made me strive in life, that led me of my own accord to push myself further, to overcome so many difficulties and trials in order to reach it. When I was small and had just started school, I loved going to class to hear my teachers explain the lessons and to learn good things. My teachers taught me what was right and good, guided my hand through every stroke of writing, and always loved and cared for me as my parents did. That is why I loved my teachers so much, and I wanted one day to become a teacher myself, to stand at the front of a classroom and teach as they did. Then I could help the students of the next generation learn what is right and good, and gain thoughts and things more useful for life — and could also help them shape their own strokes to be more correct, more beautiful.
But then, when I was in grade 8, my dream of becoming a teacher slowly faded. In its place came another dream. Because I took part in many associations in my sub-parish and my parish — and above all because I joined the parish choir — I met and worked a great deal with the sisters and the priests. Little by little I sensed in them a holiness, a simplicity, a soul entrusted to God. They were always cheerful, patient, gentle and kind. What is more, when I watched them care for the sick and for the elderly who had no one, I saw shining out of them a boundless love for everyone. They looked so beautiful, like angels. And so, little by little, I came to love them more, and I wanted one day to be like them. From then on I tried harder and learned many good things from them, so that I might serve others and help them however I could, especially the poor, the sick and the suffering.
And then time passed again, and my intention changed once more. In grade 10, I once heard my mother tell me about her childhood, and she also told me about my uncle. He was the youngest child in the family, and now he walks only with great difficulty because both of his legs are paralysed. My mother told me it happened because he had a severe fever when he was small. Although my grandparents and everyone else took him to the doctor, he never fully recovered, and that is what left him as he is. Hearing my mother tell it, I felt for my uncle all the more. From then on, every time I thought of him I wanted to become a doctor, so that I could heal people and help many more patients like my uncle. I wanted to share in the pain of the sick, especially those tormented by grave illnesses. To share with mothers in their pain as they give birth. And more than that, I also wanted to sympathise and share in the grief of patients' families over their loss when a loved one passes away. I wanted to be able to treat my own family and the people around me myself. So I strove to study well and to learn what I needed in order to sit the entrance exam for the university I wanted and reach my dream. I resolved: I must truly try my best to become a good doctor.
And so time kept flowing swiftly by, until near the end of grade 12. This was the crucial time for setting the direction of my future. And the university entrance exam drew near. All my friends assumed I would sit for some medical school, in keeping with what I had wanted for so long. But no — I did not register for any medical school at all. Once again I changed my intention. More than ever, my passion for music burned fiercely in me; it would not let me think of anything else. It overcame every other thought within me. And then the moment came when I had to decide. I decided to sit the exam for an arts school: the Huế Academy of Music. All my friends were astonished at my decision, but it was passion itself that made me choose it. I practised a great deal, and I was also very fortunate to have long been part of my parish choir and my school's performing group, which gave me plenty of contact with music and so made me somewhat more confident in my own aptitude. Moreover, with much help from my teachers and from the older students, I did well in the exam and was admitted. I was very happy about that, and I have tried to study well, learning without pause and developing my knowledge and ability through the school's and the students' exchange events and through music competitions.
As long as there is an opportunity, I will take part and learn more. My passion is fulfilled in the songs and in the piano accompaniments, and it makes me more cheerful and more in love with life. I can immerse myself in music more naturally, and express for myself the feeling of the many songs I love. Now I hope I can master both the theory and the practice of my field, so that later on, besides finding work that suits my ability, I would also like — if the chance arises — to pass on what I have learned to others who share my passion for music, and to help them understand music better. What is more, I love singing hymns very much, and so I want to be able to bring my ability to bear in serving my parish, my diocese and my Church. To do so, I will have to try much harder in everything, so that I may better fulfil what I hope for
Having a dream is not hard, but how to reach that dream is what matters. And so each of us, besides having a dream, must also strive to study, to work with all our heart, to persevere each day, to learn without pause and to develop ourselves further still. A dream is not something easily attained, but through each person's effort we must be truly resolved and must always nurture ourselves; only then can we fulfil what we hope for and the purpose we have set.
Hồ Thị Hồng Vĩnh Giang Parish – Phủ Quỳ Deanery Field: Vocal Music Huế Academy of Music
