O Du boy writes about his dream of becoming a border guard

Lo Hai Au is the youngest of two brothers in a poor family in Vang Mon village, Nga My commune (Tuong Duong). Both of his parents are farmers, and their main income comes from working for hire. In addition to raising the two brothers, Au also supports his 102-year-old great-grandmother and 87-year-old grandmother. Poverty and hardship have been persistent since in recent years, Au's mother has been sick for a long time and had to undergo gallstone surgery in 2016. In recent years, because his mother has hepatitis and is in poor health, Au's older brother had to drop out of school to work for hire to earn money.

At the age of 16, Hai Au entered the provincial boarding school as a direct student. At first, he was very shy and reluctant to communicate with his friends. Here, the number of times O Du returned home in a year could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Compared to his classmates, Hai Au's academic performance was only average. "Thinking about my family's circumstances and feeling sorry for my parents' hard work, I made constant efforts to study. I wished to set foot in the university gate, only then could I escape poverty," Hai Au shared.

Knowing her academic ability, Hai Au is always eager to learn and improve. If she doesn't know something, she doesn't hesitate to ask her teachers and friends for answers. Every time her teachers correct her homework, Hai Au takes out her notebook to write down the content she needs to remember. Not only that, she is the one who stays up late and wakes up early in the room to study.

Hai Au said that in addition to the help and thoughtful guidance from the homeroom teacher, student O Du and many other ethnic minority students also receive special attention and support from the school's Board of Directors from meals, sleep to daily learning activities. Teachers at the school always consider the students as their own children, trying to create the best learning and living environment.

Ms. Dinh Thi Mung - homeroom teacher of class 12C2, Nghe An province's Ethnic Minority High School said: "When the students entered grade 10, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, and teachers and students had to teach online. It was not until grade 11 that teachers and students had the opportunity to talk more and help them clearly define their dreams. Hai Au is a special student of the O Du ethnic group, where the starting point is low and the family does not care much about their children's education. However, Hai Au has a remarkable determination and will to study. She once shared her dream of studying well to escape from the poor village."

“Previously, there were O Du students in the school who passed the university entrance exam but their scores were not high. This school year, in the class, there are 3 O Du students who all achieved high results in the high school graduation exam. Of these, Hai Au had the highest university entrance exam score for the C00 group of 28 points, while the remaining 2 students, 1 scored 25 points and 1 scored 24.5 points,” Ms. Dinh Thi Mung added.

Not only does Hai Au strive to overcome difficulties in studying, but she also actively participates in extracurricular activities at school. She once represented the school in the Phu Dong Sports Festival of the whole province. According to Hai Au, Vang Mon village, Nga My commune (Tuong Duong) is mostly inhabited by the O Du people. This is one of the ethnic groups with the smallest population in the country. Due to the difficult life, after completing or not finishing high school, many people pack up and go to the city or abroad to make a living. Therefore, the number of people who go to university can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The fact that Hai Au scored 28 points to be admitted to university made the poor O Du village in Vang Mon very proud. They were happy because it had been a long time since someone had scored high enough to be admitted to university.

Hai Au is now returning to his normal life with his family working on the farm with his parents. He said he will apply to the Border Guard Academy to pursue his dream of becoming a border guard officer, while also reducing the financial burden on his family./.