On July 25, 2012, VnExpress published a Vietnamese article titled “Những thủ khoa nghèo ở Quảng Nam” (“Poor valedictorians in Quang Nam”). The article was about several students from Quang Nam who achieved high university entrance exam results despite difficult family circumstances. One part of the article was about me, Khuynh Van Nguyen.
At that time, I had just learned that I was the valedictorian of the Medicine and Pharmacy program at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, with a total score of 28. It was a very happy moment, but it also came with a real concern: my family’s income depended mainly on rice fields, and I was worried about how we could afford university enrollment, living expenses, and the years of study ahead.
The article captured a part of my childhood and school years in my hometown. I went to school for one part of the day and helped my family with farm work during the other part, including preparing the fields, clearing weeds, harvesting rice, and helping care for my grandmother when she was ill. At that time, my hope was simple: to keep studying, find a way forward, and eventually be able to do something useful for my family and my community.
Looking back now, I see this article as a meaningful milestone in my life. It was not only about an exam result. It also recorded the circumstances I came from, the worries my family carried, my parents’ sacrifices, and the hope they placed in me. It reminds me not to forget where I started.
The original article is in Vietnamese and can be read on VnExpress:
Những thủ khoa nghèo ở Quảng Nam
Source: VnExpress, written by Tri Tin, published on July 25, 2012.