Carrying on the journey
Every morning when I wake and watch the sunrise over the beach of my homeland in silence, my heart feels calm and at peace. I love the feeling of going barefoot each afternoon, walking softly step by step across the sand and feeling the coolness of those tiny grains. I love watching the sunset, seeing the sun like the yolk of an egg sinking slowly behind the vast water. Oh, my homeland — peaceful beyond words.
I do not know how long my family has lived here; I only know that from the day I was born I have seen the beach of my homeland. And so, for a long time now, the sea has been an indispensable member of my life and of my family's. My parents had five children, but because of our hard circumstances, and because a life bound to the sea is full of hardship and danger, schooling was truly difficult for us. My two sisters and my elder brother have all married and have relatively settled lives, but they cannot help our parents much either. My younger brother left school in grade 5, because back then our family was too poor. Our parents could not afford to send both of us to school. I did better in my studies, so I was given priority to continue. I told myself, "I cannot let my parents down; and besides, I have to study for my younger brother's sake as well." Seeing my parents grown old yet still going out to sea day and night to provide for us, I felt such love for them. And I threw myself into my studies all the harder. The day I received my university acceptance letter, how happy I was; my hands trembled as I took it. I ran straight home to show my mother. She was overjoyed; her thin hands, covered in calluses, held the letter, and she studied it carefully, reading every word over and over. I looked at my mother and suddenly realised that behind those gentle, loving eyes lay a worry. My going to university meant one fewer worker in the house, and on top of that they would have to pay for my studies.
My dream was to fly high and far, to seek out new horizons and new lands, and to conquer new challenges. But then I suddenly realised that I live not only for myself but for others as well. That is why I chose Teacher Education at Vinh University. Studying close to home, I would be able to help my family. University turned out to be far more complicated than I had thought. Away from my parents' warm, sheltering arms, temptations closed in on me as if to swallow me whole. I had to fight hard, very hard, not to fall into those sweet temptations. Every time I went home I would run out to the sea, sit quietly on the sand and watch it. Today the sea is gentle, but who can know whether it will still be gentle tomorrow, or whether a storm will rise. Today the sky is clear, but who knows whether tomorrow the winds and storms will rage. How precarious the lives of the coastal people of my homeland are, with dangers lying in wait for them day and night. Though they know that hardship and danger may strike at any moment, the people here still live, still hold fast to the sea, because it is the source of their livelihood. Someone once said, "without great waves, how could it be called an ocean" — but for my part I hope the waves will not grow too great, for when they do the people suffer so. Watching the little children playing under the sunset light, I feel such pity for them. They are of school age, but because of their family circumstances they cannot go to school as other children do. Perhaps that is why I am all the more resolved to choose teaching. I want to bring letters and learning to the children of my coastal homeland. Studying to be a teacher costs no tuition, but a student's life in the city is so expensive; there is so much to worry about. Perhaps that is why my wish to study more English has been put off. Though I know English is very important for my future work, my family's circumstances mean I cannot yet take extra classes. At present I am looking for tutoring work, partly to help my family and partly to build up experience for my future career.
The above is a little of what I wanted to share with the scholarship fund. I wish the fund ever greater strength, so that it may have the means to help many more students still.
Nguyễn Văn Hậu Tân Lộc Parish – Cửa Lò Deanery Field: English Teacher Education Vinh University
