A female student from Thai Nghe An overcomes difficulties to be admitted to the Military Science Academy.
Facing numerous family hardships, Thai ethnic minority student Lo Huyen Trang had to persevere to pursue her dream of going to school. That remarkable determination culminated in joy when, in the recent high school graduation exam, Huyen Trang was admitted to the Military Science Academy (D01 group) with 27.72 points.
We met Lo Huyen Trang while she was busy preparing lunch for her family. The house where the four-person family lives in Hoa Son village (Ta Ca commune, Ky Son district) is makeshift. In front is a small general store, while the back is completely open, covered with black, smoke-stained corrugated iron sheets, serving as the family's living and sleeping quarters.
Huyen Trang took a basin of water from the floor and poured it out into the yard, saying that it had rained last night, the house was leaking, so no one could sleep. In this Thai village, everyone is anxious whenever there is heavy rain. The haunting memory of the flash flood in October 2022 still lingers.
Mr. Lo Van Nam, Huyen Trang's father, shared that: His family has two children, and although their circumstances are still difficult, both Trang and her younger sister are well-behaved, have good academic performance, and especially know how to take care of their parents. Huyen Trang, thanks to her efforts, was even admitted into the Party while still in high school.
In the past, the couple had a comfortable life, but unexpectedly, a series of misfortunes struck. In March 2022, the stilt house they had saved up for years to build suddenly caught fire in the middle of the night, causing nearly 1.8 billion VND in damage. That same year, both of his parents passed away.
Unexpected difficulties significantly impacted Huyen Trang, a young woman who had just left Ky Son to enroll at the Nghe An Ethnic Boarding High School. “From my school days until I entered high school, I always achieved excellent student status at the district and provincial levels. However, when I entered 10th grade, so many family problems severely affected my mental state. At times, I felt so discouraged that I just wanted to drop out of school and go home to help my parents. Because of this, my academic performance that year suffered greatly. Luckily, my homeroom teacher frequently visited my room to encourage me, which helped me overcome it,” Lo Huyen Trang confided.
In her new learning environment, Huyen Trang's favorite subjects are English and Literature. However, according to her, keeping up with the foreign language proficiency of other students in districts like Con Cuong, Quy Hop, and Que Phong is not easy. Recognizing this, in addition to classroom lessons, Trang independently searched online for information to learn. “I had to practice pronunciation, review sentence structures, and learn new vocabulary. Each time, I practiced repeatedly, gradually becoming more confident. Later, when my family had a bit more financial resources, I asked my parents to let me take an IELTS course to improve my skills. Thanks to that, my English score in the recent exam was the highest among all subjects,” the Thai-born freshman shared.
On the day she received the acceptance letter to the Military Science Academy with 27.72 points, Huyen Trang hugged her parents and cried. Trang said that she didn't want to add to their burden because she saw how much her parents had worked for her. Trang chose to apply to a military school because it was tuition-free, didn't require her to worry too much about other expenses, and was also her dream.
"My only dream is to finish my studies and return to my hometown to work and help my village. I also want to establish a volunteer club in Ky Son district in the future. That way, I can bring happiness to many disadvantaged people in the area," Huyen Trang confided.
