Every time November comes, we are filled with emotions about the important holiday of the whole country – the Vietnamese Teachers’ Charter Day on November 20. Somewhere around, we hear these poignant words:"The Teacher"...still quietly go home early morning and noon. Every day, drops of sweat fall and smudge the pages...", and suddenly emotions welled up, wanting to express gratitude and honor to my teachers.
Time flies, that teacher no longer stands on the podium regularly, no longer shouldering the responsibility of a Chairman of the Science and Training Council, Secretary of the Faculty Party Cell, but his image still lingers in the generation of students he taught. That teacher is Mr. Vuong Dinh Quyen - the one who laid the first bricks to build the house of Archival Science and Office Administration.
Associate Professor, Meritorious Teacher Vuong Dinh Quyen
The short meeting with him left us with an unforgettable impression. At the age of "eighty", he was always smiling and telling us stories of the past. Although the memories were still remembered and forgotten, they were still vivid and extremely emotional. He told us that when he was a student, he was elected by his classmates as class monitor for 4 years and was given the nickname "Sukarno" (Bung Sukarno was the president of Indonesia at that time and was honored by the Indonesian people as president for life).
Then there were days when the US waged war to destroy the North, the school and faculty had to evacuate to Dai Tu, Thai Nguyen, which belonged to the former Viet Bac resistance base. I asked if he ever felt scared when facing such difficulties, and he smiled and said: “Difficult but do not feel, youth is happy and enthusiastic”. Speaking of this, the teacher recalled the memories of the years of studying in the evacuation area: living in the houses of the people, the classroom was also located in the houses of the people. His classroom at that time was located in Mr. Phan Tho’s house and had to be dug more than 1 meter deep into the floor to place tables and chairs to ensure safety in case of American planes bombing and shelling. Therefore, Teacher Ha Van Tan had these funny couplets:
"Mr. Phan Tho burrowed into the ground.
Uncle Chu Thien is in heaven"
Despite the difficulties, Mr. Chu Thien's lectures were always uplifting, making the students feel optimistic and enthusiastic even in such a cramped and humid place.
Telling us about the stories, the teacher held the speech he would read at the meeting of the Association of Former Teachers: Discussion on “70 years of tradition of Literature Faculty”, his voice trembled as he talked about his memories with the Faculty of History. In him was a love, an admiration for the quality of training and the teachers of the Faculty of History, especially the Four Pillars “Lam, Le, Tan, Vuong” and the teachers of Course I, Course II, Course III. The teacher confided:“In the context of the country at war, teaching and learning conditions were extremely difficult, but they were still carried out in a systematic and fundamental manner. Many teachers became knowledgeable and erudite mainly through self-study and self-training, which is truly admirable.c”
After graduating from the Faculty of History in June 1968, Mr. Vuong Dinh Quyen was retained in the faculty and soon assigned the important responsibility of Head of the Department of Archival Studies of the Faculty of History. At that time, Archival Studies was a major that was first opened not only at the Faculty of History, Hanoi University of Science but also in Vietnam, so there were many difficulties for these young lecturers such as: programs, textbooks, theoretical and practical knowledge. He always remembers the words of encouragement from the teachers in the Faculty: "Drop into water, know how to swim then live”. That short and meaningful sentence was the driving force for the self-reliance, self-study and research of the new teacher who later became an Associate Professor, an excellent teacher in the field, wholeheartedly taking care of the training career. When it was first established, the Department had 5 young teachers but they were people with high will to strive, enthusiasm, passion and solidarity. The teachers joined hands, united, collaborated and helped each other in training and scientific research. It was this solidarity and mutual support that created the strength to help the Department of Archival Studies develop rapidly. He often told his colleagues at that time: “Whatever we lose in other subjects, we must strive to equal it, and whatever we are better at, we must develop.”. The enthusiasm and spirit of the teachers helped the Department to grow step by step and by 1996 it was separated into an independent faculty, the Faculty of Archival Science and Office Administration - under the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Talking about the formation and development of the Faculty, we saw him moved to tears. Perhaps the Faculty has become a part of his life, because he has devoted all his heart and effort to build and develop the Faculty of Archival Science and Office Management, training cadres with solid expertise and love for the profession like today. And even though he is now retired, he still participates in training Masters and PhDs in Archival Science and Office Management, always following the classes of lecturers and students and hoping that generations of students will continue to promote the tradition, expressing the unique identity of the Faculty of Archival Science and Office Management. In him, we see the depth of a senior, the care and affection of a father, a teacher and the sense of responsibility of a person who has greatly contributed to building the Faculty of Archival Science and Office Management today. In the teacher, talent always exists with the heart, a person who has overcome the difficulties of the times and always wishes for good things to come to the next generation of students. We - the generations of students realize that we need to constantly strive to not disappoint the teachers as well as always hope that the teacher will always be healthy, happy to chat like now. Although we know that time will pass quietly, the teacher will also grow older with the years, but those lectures, the image of the teacher will still remain forever in the hearts of every student.
“The wind blew strong this morning
I suddenly saw my teacher's hair turn white.
Just tell yourself it's chalk dust.
But why is my heart still fluttering?
How many years has it been? How many years has it been? Teacher...
The students leave, but the teacher remains.
Those paddles are white chalk
And the Teacher is the diligent ferryman
Give us direction for the future
Time please stop and don't pass
Let us fold our hands and bow our heads again
Call the Teacher with all your love and trust..."
Author:MSc. Vu Dinh Phong, Nguyen Thi Thanh Tra
