The orphan boy became a good teacher to repay his debt to life.

((Baonghean) - Now that he has become a teacher, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tu still never forgets his difficult and arduous childhood years. Orphaned by both parents, having to drop out of school and struggle to make a living, the boy from Luong overcame everything to enter university and then become a young teacher with many achievements.

"A violent childhood"

The teacher turned his eyes to each page of the notebook, following each stroke of the student's pen on the journey to find answers and unknowns. The class was first established in Lang Mo, Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong), students came to gain knowledge, the teacher imparted without taking a single penny of salary. That teacher's name was Nguyen Dinh Tu - a Math teacher at Tuong Duong 2 High School.

Teacher Tu shared: “I came from poverty, so I feel so sorry for poor students, I want to do something to help them. After much consideration, I finally decided to open a free tutoring class for poor students who love to study, hoping they will succeed in exams to have a bright future.”

Teacher Nguyen Dinh Tu prepares lesson plans on the computer.

Teacher Nguyen Dinh Tu was born and raised in Tru Son commune (Do Luong) - a rural area that was once famous for its poverty. The family had 4 siblings, he was the youngest, his father unfortunately passed away early, his mother suffered from a serious illness, life was extremely poor. A pot of white rice and a plate of braised meat was always a dream, only a few times a year. The boy Tu was as skinny as a dry stick, after school he had to go to the fields to catch crabs, snails, frogs, eels, fish and glean rice, corn and peanuts to earn money to buy rice and medicine for his mother. At that time, eels and frogs were not a specialty dish, so 2kg of eels or 20 frogs could only be exchanged for 1-2kg of rice. With that much "spoils of war", he had to brave the cold, his hands and feet were numb and then turned purple, he had to pick up dry cow dung and burn it to warm himself up.

In the fourth grade, his mother's illness became more and more serious, he had to drop out of school to focus on making a living and supporting his mother in her final days. A regular customer who often bought eels helped by introducing him to babysit and herd goats for a family in Van Dien commune (Nam Dan), the work was not as hard as catching crabs and eels, and the wages were higher to send back to take care of his mother. A year later, his mother passed away, the pain, unhappiness and the struggle to make a living made the boy become quiet, alone all day.

Teacher Nguyen Dinh Tu provides knowledge for poor students to overcome difficulties.

After his mother passed away, Tu went to Khe Bo (Tam Quang - Tuong Duong) to live with his sister's family. His daily job was to take care of the fish cages on the river. At this time, his desire to go to school flared up again, because he knew that only through education could he change his fate. But his sister and her husband were also very poor, and they lived with their father's family, so he did not dare to speak up. Only when his brother was accepted to work as a coal mine worker did Tu share his wish and receive support.

So, after 6 years of "broken burden", Tu was able to go to class again, not to repeat grade 4 but to go straight to grade 5, 5-6 years older than his classmates. Being intelligent and aware of his circumstances, he was always diligent and hardworking, so his academic results were always at the top of the class. During his junior high school years, he was always an excellent student at the district level in Literature and Math, recognized as an Excellent Advanced student, and in grade 9, he was honored to be 1 of 5 students in the whole province to receive the "Poor students overcoming difficulties" scholarship.

Pay back life

The joy was multiplied when entering high school, Tu was able to return to Vinh City to study at Hermann Gmainer High School. “From here, my life started a new page, everything seemed easier and more favorable. Because the hardships and difficulties in life were reduced, I just had to focus on studying and nurturing my dream of becoming a teacher” - Mr. Tu shared. During the 3 years of study, Nguyen Dinh Tu achieved the title of Excellent. And more importantly, he passed the entrance exam to the Faculty of Mathematics - Vinh University, his burning dream of the past is gradually becoming a reality.

Once again, Tu struggled to make a living and pay for his studies. Every night, while his friends had time to hang out or watch movies, he was busy with his bicycle and practicing his lesson plans. Once, a parent brought 3 of her child's tests (1 with a score of 4 and 2 with a score of 5) and asked Tu for help, because her child was quite diligent but often had low scores. When testing his knowledge and skills, Tu saw that this student was always confused in how to present and gave instructions to overcome them.

Just 1 month later, he got a 9 on his test, his mother was overjoyed and voluntarily doubled his tuition and introduced him to relatives and friends so that Tu could tutor him. Nguyen Dinh Tu is also known as an active student, an enthusiastic Youth Union cadre in volunteer activities, was commended by the Provincial Youth Union, and awarded the "January Star" by the Vietnam Student Association. More honorably, when entering his final year of university, Nguyen Dinh Tu was admitted to the Party.

Knowledge enrichment class for poor students overcoming difficulties by teacher Nguyen Dinh Tu.

The student years with all the hardships and worries passed quickly, Nguyen Dinh Tu was accepted as a teacher at Tuong Duong 2 High School. This rural area still had many difficulties, many students had to drop out of school. Whenever he heard that a student had dropped out of school, Mr. Tu would visit their homes to encourage them to continue going to school, using his own example to advise them. For poor students who were eager to learn, he opened free enrichment classes, helping them master knowledge and skills to confidently enter competitions.

10 years is not a long time for the teaching profession but it is enough to see the capacity and dedication of a teacher. Teacher Nguyen Dinh Tu was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of the District People's Committee for his achievements in training excellent students at the provincial level, achieved the title of grassroots emulation fighter and had level 4 experience initiative. Along with that is a happy family with a wife who is also a teacher and 2 healthy, well-behaved children.

Teacher Tu confided: “My biggest dream is to nurture many excellent students, help many children with difficult circumstances to rise up, not having to drop out of school halfway. Fulfilling that wish is the way for me to repay the kindness in life.”

Cong Kien