Tuong Vy: "Life is what you create, it always has been, and it will always be!"“

I don't remember exactly who said this, but I like it and have always followed it, at least until the time you read this article. I'm 26 years old, I've been to school, graduated with honors, and had a job with a salary that many recent graduates would envy. But life is unpredictable. When you have everything and are waiting to be old enough and experienced enough for a higher position, sometimes you lose the motivation to try. And so time passes meaninglessly. Until one day, I decided to change things, much to the surprise of my family and friends. I told myself, "I want to go to school, and I need a place where I can understand, strengthen, and further develop my skills." And that's how I met "Viet My."“

Let me tell you a little about myself and my past. Back in my wild youth, I was an IT student at a major university in the city. I don't know if you can understand what it felt like sitting in a class of 35 people with only 3 women, and having to find a reason to go to school every day. "It was really awful!" You might ask why I didn't give up at that time and instead persevered. It's simply because, whether I studied this major or not, I didn't want to go to school anymore. At that time, I was a manager at a well-known coffee chain, and all I wanted was to make money. Another reason was that my family was struggling financially, and I understood how hard they worked so I could go to school. My parents and I rarely had serious conversations. The only time we could see each other was usually after 9 PM. So, from a young age, I was often alone. After school, I mostly stayed in my room and rarely went out. However, they were wonderful people. From childhood to adulthood, they rarely forced me to do anything. My parents taught me independence, to accept my mistakes, and of course, to correct them myself. They let me choose my school and my major, and all they asked was that I do my best in my studies. You know, when you're young, you have the right to make mistakes, but you should still take responsibility for them instead of avoiding them.

Three years later, I graduated with honors but with an empty head, and now I don't even know where that degree is anymore. That's the thing, while my peers were busy building families, finding high-paying jobs, or starting businesses to fulfill their dreams, choosing to go against the grain was never easy. It took me almost a month to convince my parents to let me go to school "one last time." Along with that, even without working, I had to support myself because my parents only gave me tuition money. But for me, that was enough.

Returning to our main question, it's safe to say that my feelings for Viet My have grown and strengthened over time. From the very first days of October 2015, Viet My was quite unfamiliar to me. To be honest, I'm quite concerned about appearances, so my first impression of Viet My was that it was a place with many "handsome men and beautiful women," especially the lecturers. On my first day of classes, I was captivated by the tall, over 1.7m-tall professor whom everyone affectionately called "Uncle Hai," not only for his good looks but also for his witty and empathetic way of speaking. And there's more! At Viet My, there's also an extremely empathetic person whom I jokingly call "Mom," Dr. Nga. "Mom" Nga is a lecturer specializing in human resources subjects and also provides counseling for adults. Every lesson taught by "Mom" is lively with many games that, deep down, are based on things we often see in our daily lives, from which we can clearly and specifically analyze what should or shouldn't be done.

Another factor that made Viet My an unforgettable part of my student life is that instead of forcing you to do this or that without ever knowing the reason, people usually explain and analyze why you should do it and how it benefits you. Whether you do it or not depends on whether you want to change yourself. It's safe to say that few places have such a close relationship between students and lecturers. If you were to ask me right now, "What does Viet My mean to me?", I would say I consider it a family. Because it's a place that not only provides education but also allows you to freely develop in the direction you desire. From the very first classes, I was taught how to use the elevator politely, how to use equipment efficiently, and even how to use the restroom to maintain personal hygiene. I don't know about you, but for me, it was incredibly interesting. Because this place makes me feel like I'm a child again, when my mother taught me how to organize my things or how to wash my hands properly so that germs wouldn't "eat me up.".

Perhaps it's because I'm getting old, but everything I see seems joyful and interesting. Nearly a year here, I've never felt or considered giving up, even though the BTEC program I'm studying was warned to be quite demanding. For me, every day here is a day I gain more valuable knowledge in each subject, and especially from the experiences of the instructors. Besides the lectures, we are allowed to ask questions about things we're interested in or worried about. Here, the distance between students and instructors is almost completely eliminated. Everyone is sociable, cheerful, and supportive of each other in their studies and in their lives outside of school.

There's actually so much more about my Vietnamese-American family that I'd like to share with you, but I think no matter how much I say, it will ultimately only be my personal experience. If you want to know more about me and my Vietnamese-American family, why don't we get to know each other and experience things together? I'm sure you'll have even more interesting things to tell me then.

Author: Viet My College - Date written: November 2, 2016

Category: Student life, News - Events