My mother sells rice, nurturing her dream of her child becoming a doctor.

(Baonghean) - “That day was very sunny. Just as I returned from the market and reached the entrance of the Green Hotel, I received a phone call from my daughter: ‘Mom, I’ve been awarded full scholarships to eight universities in the US. I’m going to America to pursue a PhD.’ I was so happy I cried. In over twenty years of being a wife and mother, I’ve never been so happy,” said Ms. Thai Thi Ha, the owner of Dung Ha store, as she began to recount her life story of raising her children to be successful through their education.

As the daughter of a civil servant in Vinh City, when she met and fell in love with Ta Quang Hung, the son of a large family in Nghi Phu commune, her entire family objected.

However, despite all the reproaches, she still decided to marry him even though she was only 20 years old at the time.

She got married early, then became pregnant, and accepted a job as a cleaning lady in the unit's canteen... The young married couple's life hadn't even settled down when the company where he worked suffered financial losses, and he resigned from company 176. Feeling sorry for her husband, a "government" employee suddenly unemployed, she also quit her job and together they opened a small eatery. Their eatery was just a small, makeshift shack in a corner of Nghi Phu market.

Besides selling food, she also sold black bean sweet soup at the market, while her husband helped her and repaired tires for passersby. This arduous life continued for over five years, until she gave birth to her third child. When the government implemented a policy of allocating land to long-term residents along National Highway 1, she was able to buy land thanks to her mother-in-law's "quota." With a stable business location, the couple began expanding their restaurant. Their most successful period was when they introduced clay pot rice and braised fish to the menu. The Dũng - Hà restaurant brand rose to prominence from then on.

They had some savings, but unlike other families who were solely focused on investing in real estate and buying cars, she saved all her possessions for her children. Over a decade ago, even though their family was still poor, they enrolled their children in activities at the city's Children's Center to hone their skills in music, art, and foreign languages. Her husband, despite living far away and not owning a motorbike, diligently drove their two daughters to Vinh for extra classes every week, rain or shine, without missing a single session.

Ms. Ha and her daily work as a chef.

Regarding their eldest son, Ta Quang Dung, from a young age he showed signs of intelligence and a love of reading and learning, so whatever books he needed or whatever tutor he wanted, his parents invested in him. To save money, they decided not to hire outside help, and instead, both husband and wife worked together in the restaurant, from cooking to washing dishes and serving customers. Out of love for their parents, all three siblings encouraged each other to study hard.

Their first sweet fruit was their son's third prize in the National Informatics Competition and his second-place finish at the Hanoi University of Technology with 29.5 points; then, their two younger sisters, Ta Thi Huong and Ta Thi Huyen, followed in their brother's footsteps and were also admitted to the Banking Academy and Hanoi University of Business and Technology, respectively.

During his five years studying in the gifted student program at the University of Technology, Dung participated in the ImagineCup Vietnam competition twice and won both times. He also represented Vietnam twice at the global technology competition for students - ImagineCup, in France in 2008 and Egypt in 2009. Also in 2009, Dung was honored to be one of the 10 outstanding young Vietnamese people to receive the Golden Globe Award for Information Technology.

Speaking about her son, Ta Quang Dung, Ms. Ha has often shed tears because, right from the moment she gave birth, she almost lost her child due to a difficult delivery and the baby suffering from asphyxiation. Yet, despite being born prematurely and underweight, Dung is an excellent student. Even as a child, before knowing where America was, Dung said, "When I grow up, I will go to America to study," and he cherished that dream until he entered university.

Out of love and support for her son, she saved all her earnings in a separate account, waiting for a suitable opportunity to send him abroad for his studies. She also didn't hesitate to invest nearly 1 million VND a day in his English lessons with native speakers and preparation for TOEFL and IELTS exams. During his time at the Polytechnic University, Dung had many opportunities to study abroad, but he declined because his biggest aspiration was to go to the US and intern at Microsoft, the world's largest software company.

After her son graduated from university, despite not having much money, she still spent nearly 200 million VND to send his applications to universities in the US for scholarships. She still remembers the day her son received the results: “It was a very sunny day. I had just returned from the market and was nearing the Green Hotel when I received a call from my son: ‘Mom, I’ve been awarded full scholarships from eight universities in the US. I’m going to the US to do my PhD.’ I was so happy I cried.”

Now that her son has been in the US for three years, besides doing his PhD research at the University of Maryland, Dung also works as an assistant to professors and is a Microsoft technology student partner. Her second daughter just graduated from university, and her youngest daughter is in her fourth year of university. Life is stable, and the children are starting to earn an income. When asked, "Now that the children are grown, have you and your wife thought about retiring?", she happily replied, "Not yet, dear. I still have to worry about their work, creating opportunities for them to pursue graduate studies. I still love my job very much and am planning to invest in expanding the restaurant..."

My Ha