Le Thao Nguyen graduated as valedictorian of the Southeast Asian Studies Department, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-USSH) in 2022. The 24-year-old worked at an NGO before stopping her full-time job to prepare to apply for a scholarship to study abroad.
Thao Nguyen on her university graduation dayThao Nguyen was accepted into two Erasmus Mundus master's programs, including MAiSI (MA in Sport Ethics and Integrity) and GEMMA (MA in Women's and Gender Studies). Loving football, being a die-hard fan of Manchester United and the German national team, and wanting to pursue a career related to this hobby, she decided to choose MAiSI.
Sharing with reporters from the Vietnamese Student Page of Tien Phong newspaper, Thao Nguyen said that she will study and experience in 5 European countries, namely Belgium, the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany and Greece. In the first country, Belgium, she will study at KU Leuven University, a school in the world's top 20 for sports-related majors according to the QS Ranking in 2024.
More excitingly, MAiSI students will be attending the Summer School held at the University of Peloponnese (UoP) and the International Olympic Academy (IOA) in the southern Greek city of Peloponnese. The location is within the archaeological site of Olympia, where the ancient Olympic Games originated thousands of years ago.
The MAiSI program for the academic year 2024-2026 is not eligible for a full Erasmus Mundus scholarship, but only offers tuition fee waivers, reductions, and living allowances. Only four scholarships are awarded to students from non-EEA countries, and Thao Nguyen is one of them.
In addition to the tuition exemption, she also receives a monthly living allowance from the program. Since the MAiSI master’s program opened in 2017, Thao Nguyen is the first Vietnamese student to receive this scholarship.
Thao Nguyen at the party to celebrate Vietnamese students receiving Erasmus Mundus 2024 master's scholarships organized by the EU Delegation and representatives of member countriesHaving been a fan of Manchester United since she was 12, the English team has had a big influence on her. “Following MU helped me realize that everyone’s life has ups and downs. The important thing is to never give up and always move forward because ‘form is temporary, class is forever’.
Currently, the player I love and support the most is center-back Lisandro Martínez. Licha always plays with enthusiasm, dedication and is very solid. Every time he stands in front of Onana's goal, I feel secure when watching the club's matches," she shared.
From her personal passion, Thao Nguyen began to read a lot of news and documents related to football in particular and the sports industry in general. She established and managed a small fanpage to support her favorite team and interact with football fans, thereby gaining more understanding and perspective on the king sport.
The girl from Hoai Duc district, Hanoi has cherished the idea of studying abroad since her first days in university. She always tries to maintain the best academic scores possible, conducts scientific research to understand more about the knowledge she has learned and participates in extracurricular activities and Youth Union movements to improve her soft skills.
Thao Nguyen was honored to receive a Certificate of Merit for graduating valedictorian from Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan - Principal of VNU-USSHAlthough pursuing a master's degree in sports, Thao Nguyen believes that the social science knowledge she has previously acquired will help her a lot in analyzing and researching behaviors and activities related to ethical and integrity issues in sports. These include the use of doping or the dark side of sports related to betting, inequality or corruption.
During a “gap year” – a period of time off work to apply for scholarships – Thao Nguyen tutored English for children near her home. She took IELTS and some related certificates, and took additional courses on data analysis and scientific research methods on Coursera to strengthen her resume.
When researching about studying abroad, Thao Nguyen learned about the Erasmus Mundus Master's scholarship, a merit-based scholarship that prioritizes the academic achievements of applicants. She was recognized as the valedictorian of Hanoi, so she considered that a big plus and was determined to apply.
Received the title of excellent valedictorian of Hanoi city in 2022Thao Nguyen sent three letters of recommendation to the admissions board. Two were from university lecturers, Dr. Ho Thi Thanh and Dr. Nguyen Ha Phuong, in the Southeast Asian Studies Department, Faculty of Oriental Studies (VNU-USSH). In addition, there was a letter of recommendation from the direct supervisor at a non-governmental organization on gender equality, who clearly understood her strengths and made her suitable for the program.
The hardest part was the essay because Thao Nguyen had to write a draft and edit it at least 10 times to get the most satisfactory version. It took her a long time to find the right match between what she had and what the program needed. From there, she skillfully highlighted them in a unique and impressive way within the allowed word limit.
The MAiSI program had never had a Vietnamese student, while Thao Nguyen was applying for the first time and had very little experience participating in international programs. The journey to find the scholarship was not easy, but she felt lucky to have her family, mentor (scholarship advisor), friends and colleagues by her side.
Everyone gave her comments and suggestions on her essay. Sometimes, everyone's questions during the editing process were valuable suggestions that helped her reposition herself, evaluate her goals and clearly define her future direction.
Thao Nguyen (right) is the organizer of the event sharing about Erasmus Mundus scholarships.Thao Nguyen affirmed: “The most important thing is to understand yourself and understand the requirements that the admissions board is looking for. From there, you will adjust yourself to become a suitable candidate. I always believe that the scholarship winner is not the best person but the most suitable person.”
Before each interview round, Thao Nguyen carefully reviewed the program’s website and information pages, read related articles on social media or foreign discussion forums like Reddit. She contacted alumni on LinkedIn to ask for advice, experience and to gain a deeper understanding of the program.
She looked up information about the lecturers in the program, to know who they were, what subjects they taught and what their main research areas were. Thanks to that, during the interview round with the professor who was also the director of the MAiSI program, Thao Nguyen always remembered the comment: "You understand our program very well and show enthusiasm for the subject. I was very impressed with you."
Thao Nguyen (front row, 5th from right) and Vietnamese students receiving Erasmus Mundus scholarships at the event in late July 2024Amid the hectic summer days of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Thao Nguyen watched the Olympics while also completing the necessary procedures to fly to Europe. She started making a list to visit the stadiums of famous clubs in Germany, Spain and England, as well as learning about the operations of international sports organizations.
“The specialized knowledge of sports is still quite new to me, so my top priority is still studying. In the distant future, I hope to be able to do something to help raise awareness and understanding of young Vietnamese people about ethics and integrity in sports,” Thao Nguyen said.
Vietnam Student Newspaper:Female Manchester United fan is valedictorian, wins European master's scholarship in sports
