I want and I wish
Huế, 2 February 2018. A special day: twenty years ago it was the very day I was born and cried my first cry, and from then on I came into this life. Thank you, everyone! Twenty years of experience for a naive, impulsive child in the middle of a life kept warm by the love of my mother and father and my relatives... and sometimes it is not only love and affection but also conflict and quarrels, yet I am still happy and I feel truly fortunate to have been born and to have grown up — this is also the wish of so many children who are and will be in their mothers' wombs. Coming into life is not only about enjoying it but also about repaying what we have received. And so, in place of a thank-you, I want to act, and I am determined to carry out my dream and my aspiration: I will be a "traditional medicine doctor who is devoted in the true sense of the word". I want to build a society with human feeling; I want to contribute to this "modern" society in terms of the love between children and their parents, and between the doctor and the patient. I need to know many people, and I want many people to know me as a child of this nation.
In the 15-16°C cold of Huế, looking out through the window frame, my thoughts wandered and I asked myself: "Why is it that the life around us looks so plain and simple, and yet holds such an immense power? It forms in us the thoughts and aspirations for the future, for this life." That is right. For me, coming to the medical profession was not a matter of chance; the dream of becoming a doctor had been nurtured in me for a very long time. When I was in secondary school, in the seventh grade to be exact, I was still an impulsive child, but I had the courage to say my dream out loud, and I realised it was the right thing that I had to accomplish — for my family, for society, and for the future. In those days our home was poor and my parents were busy in the fields; every time school let out, my sister and I would hurry home together on our bicycle to drop off our bags, light the fire, cook the rice and soup, and carry it out to our parents in the fields. After me there is also a younger brother, who lived with our grandmother. Day after day it was like that; week after week it was the same.
After exhausting days in the fields, "faces to the earth, backs to the sky", every time they came home, seeing my mother's weary face and sunburnt skin, my heart tightened and I was moved to tears. I loved my father and mother so much. I ached for my mother's nose, always sniffling, because she has a history of sinus trouble and breathed in the fumes of the mud as well. My father's joints hurt, so he could neither sit nor lie in peace. After a day's work, my parents' bodies had been traded away so painfully that I would slip off and cry — cry for my parents' life of such hardship, cry for my family's circumstances. I knew my parents were very tired, and at times like those I would ask myself: "If only I could heal my parents with my own two hands, how good that would be."
After crying many times, looking at myself, I resolved to commit myself to the path of medicine — not only to treat my parents, but because I want to treat all poor people, all those who have no money for treatment, like my family. That is the great force that drove me to this field.
With that thought lodged in my subconscious, when I finished upper secondary school I did not hesitate in filling out my application, choosing my field and my school, and with a score of 24.85 I chose Huế University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Coming to medicine, I felt that my wish was, in some part, on its way to becoming real. But that was only the thought of a child who had just set foot in medical school. Over nearly two years of study here, I have studied and worked like a "*grown man*". By day I go to class and by night I go to work; my time to rest is very tight, but I am not sad about that. On the contrary, I am glad, because beside my sadness is the joy and the smile of my parents. They are glad because they are proud of me, of how I have grown up, and because I have chosen the right path for myself.
Looking toward the future, in the vast and distant space there is a winding road full of difficulties and challenges, but I always believe in my own effort, and I believe that "every effort will be rewarded". I know that this is not enough, and so, besides my parents and my relatives, I also hope to receive encouragement and help from charitable funds. Those two things will be a firm support for me to keep stepping forward and to fulfil the aspiration I have nurtured. I will always strive to study, to cultivate my character, to train my skills and to enrich my knowledge, so as to turn my dream into reality.
Phạm Thị Mỹ Duyên Traditional Medicine Huế University of Medicine and Pharmacy
