The road to winning 7 foreign scholarships of a female student from Ha Tinh

Ngoc Mai, a 17-year-old female student, is currently studying in grade 12 English 1 at Ha Tinh Specialized High School. She is the youngest child in the family, her parents are small traders in Can Loc town (Can Loc district, Ha Tinh).

Since elementary school, Mai showed her talent and passion for learning English.

For many years in a row, I was an excellent student in all aspects. In grade 9, I won the first prize in the province in English, won the National Gold Medal IOE (online English competition), and in grade 10, I took the entrance exam to Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted and got a perfect score in English.

"With the desire to study and work abroad, I have clearly defined my goal since I was young: to win a scholarship. I try to study English well, improve my knowledge and life skills," Ngoc Mai said.
At the end of 11th grade, having accumulated a comprehensive knowledge base, she confidently sought scholarships to reach out to the world. The female student began to compose her own recommendation letters, essays, extracurricular profiles, and participated in the SAT (American standardized college entrance exam), and the IELTS exam.

Ngoc Mai said: "In Ha Tinh, there are no SAT review classes, while in Hanoi, tuition fees are high, so I decided to study on my own through social networking sites and the experiences of my seniors."

At the same time, the female student connected with her seniors and won scholarships thanks to their advice in choosing schools. In the end, she chose 6 schools in the US and 1 school in Germany.

Mai confided that the time to apply coincided with the second semester exam of the 2018-2019 school year at Ha Tinh High School for the Gifted, and the time to review for the National Excellent Student Team in English, so she was under a lot of pressure, often having to study all night.

Ngo Thi Ngoc Mai, a 17-year-old female student, won scholarships to 7 prestigious schools in the US and Germany.

For the essay, I believe that it is a factor that helps the person viewing the profile understand myself, so I do not choose lofty, macro issues, but I write about personal issues. Therefore, Ngoc Mai chose to write about difficult memories in life when studying high school and valuable lessons, how she overcame them to grow up.
After half a year of submitting her application, on December 13, the female student received a notice that Dickinson College agreed to grant a scholarship of 254,000 USD (6 billion VND) for 4 years of study, along with 5 schools from the US: Augustana College, Hollins University, Truman State University, Drexel University, Ohio Wesleyan University also offering scholarships, the lowest level is 3 billion VND, and 1 school Jacobs Bremen University in Germany.

According to the 17-year-old girl, the sweet fruit comes from a process of constant effort. Of the 7 universities she was accepted to, the most difficult was writing the essay to send to Dickinson College. Mai had to write and rewrite it many times, but was still not satisfied.

Finally, I chose the topic of “virtual life” software when young people use social networks to talk about the standard of beauty that does not lie in one’s appearance but in one’s inner self, personality and attitude. The essay was highly appreciated by the school.
Mai wants to be the one to connect and help you pursue the path of receiving scholarships to study abroad.

Her future plan is to go to the US to study Computer Science at Dickinson College next August. She will learn a third language, Chinese, and participate in many activities to gain practical experience before studying abroad.

Talking about her favorite student, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuong Huyen, the homeroom teacher of English 1 class, could not hide her pride: Ngoc Mai is an intelligent and sharp girl. She is not only good at English but also very good at Math. Mai is the first student of the school to win scholarships from 7 schools in the first round in December.