Meeting a special candidate at the Vinh exam center.

(Baonghean.vn) - Suffering from hair loss for the past 7 years, Tran Thi Nhi (18 years old, from Cam Thach, Cam Xuyen, Ha Tinh) has overcome her insecurities to integrate into the community, working tirelessly in her studies to become a special candidate in the Vinh examination cluster in the 2014 university and college entrance exams, with the dream of becoming a veterinarian.

Tran Thi Nhi and her mother were taken to a low-cost guesthouse by volunteers.

Because I suffer from hair loss, a soft hat is always my go-to item.

Having boarded an intercity bus at dawn, burdened with luggage along with dozens of other students, Tran Thi Nhi and her mother looked bewildered by the noisy, bustling atmosphere in front of Vinh University. It wasn't their first time in Vinh City, but for Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (Nhi's mother), the difficult but relatively peaceful life in the countryside of Cam Xuyen (Ha Tinh province) was vastly different from this city, especially since today, the task of taking her daughter to the university entrance exam seemed to weigh heavily on her shoulders. Fortunately, the volunteer team from Vinh University quickly helped, taking the mother and daughter to a cheap guesthouse near Hung Dung Secondary School – Tran Thi Nhi's exam location.

Tran Thi Nhi is taking advantage of the time to review her knowledge in preparation for the university entrance exam.

Still exhausted from the long journey, Ms. Hoa remained as cheerful and kind-hearted as many other women from the countryside. In their small 15-square-meter rented room, furnished with the simplest items, the only "possessions" the mother and daughter brought with them to this year's university entrance exam were a small, old handbag. It mainly contained Nhi's exam preparation books, along with a few sets of clothes and personal belongings. "Our family relies solely on farming for our livelihood, and Nhi has a younger brother to look after; it's so hard! Leaving here, my heart is heavy with worry – whether my daughter will do well on the exam, her health, and then there's my youngest child at home, whose eyesight isn't as good as other children's..."

Sitting beside her mother, Nhi softly continued, "Mom, I love you so much! I have chronic hair loss, and we've tried everything but still haven't found the cause. There's nothing we can do..." With that, the girl with the chubby face and big, round eyes confided about her unusual condition with a sadness she couldn't hide. Born and raised healthy and pretty, Nhi was cruelly afflicted with hair loss when she turned 11. Initially, she lost a little hair, then it gradually faded until she was completely bald.

Sitting beside Nhi, listening to her recount the pain and self-consciousness of those not-so-distant days, my heart ached as I imagined what this 18-year-old girl must have gone through. It's impossible to count how many trips Nhi's parents took, traveling back and forth between the North and South, knocking on the doors of countless hospitals, big and small, even unlicensed doctors, seeking any glimmer of hope for their daughter's condition. For seven long years, no one has been able to tell Nhi and her parents the exact cause of her hair loss. All they know is that one reality remains: Nhi grows up with all the charm of a young woman, with a sensitivity and sensitivity that is heartbreaking to know that someone is "talking about her...", while her hair, which should have been jet black at the age of eighteen, has completely disappeared!

The family suffered immense pain when, before the cause of Nhi's illness was discovered, her younger brother, Tran Van Quang (15 years old), began to lose his eyesight. The family sold everything they could to pay for their son's treatment. The small house in the rural village of Cam Thach (Cam Xuyen, Ha Tinh) seemed to grow emptier day by day! Only at night did the warmth from Nhi's desk lamp in her study corner spread, bringing life to the house with the light of her studies and determination. Nhi studied diligently and dreamed of becoming a veterinarian – a field of study still somewhat unfamiliar to most of her friends in her hometown. But Nhi remained steadfast in her choice: “I love animals. Besides, in my hometown, we live off farming and livestock, so I want to study veterinary medicine well so I can return and help my family, my village, and the people in my hometown.”

However, willpower is one thing, but the immediate difficulty the mother and daughter face is the financial burden of this trip. “To take my daughter to the exam, we had to borrow money from neighbors. Besides travel and accommodation costs, we also need to pay for medicine for her. In the next few days, we'll probably have to arrange to sell some rice to pay them back. Everyone in the countryside is struggling, not just us!” – Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa shared, her eyes welling up with tears. Meanwhile, Nhi is trying to put aside her worries and use the remaining time to review math formulas, preparing for the exam tomorrow.

Phuong Chi - Nguyen Khoa