"My diary is for you, Mom!"

Hanoi, date…month…year 2015

Dear Mom! So I have been a freshman for 7 months. I left my mother, my family, and went to Hanoi alone to pursue my youthful dream, carrying with me the hopes of my whole family. I stepped into the University gate, set foot in the University of Social Sciences and Humanities that I had dreamed of. Perhaps fate arranged for me to come to the Social Work major. The moment of confusion with new friends, new school, new teachers and a new social environment is now over. I have gotten used to my friends, teachers, the teaching environment at the University and I am also used to the bustling life of Hanoi's streets. On sad afternoons after school, I walk slowly on the schoolyard, listening to every sound, every noise. I miss home, I miss my mother so much. I often wander on the overpasses, watching the bustling traffic, I want to return to my peaceful homeland. Sometimes I am really tired of life here, because of the worries about money, studying practice... I practice how to stand up after failure, learn how to face loneliness alone. I know my family is in the most difficult time so I dare not say anything when calling my mother because I know my father has passed away, my mother still has many worries, my mother still has to take care of her sick grandmother. Sometimes I just want to run home quickly to fall into my mother's arms, to be caressed and caressed by her, and to cry in her arms. But I cannot be weak like that, I am your beloved daughter, I have to stand firm so that you do not have to worry about me. Mom! Here, in addition to studying in the lecture hall, I also participate in clubs and volunteer groups. I get to travel a lot, communicate a lot, and help people in difficult circumstances. I passed 2 rounds of volunteer recruitment of the Hoa Da club, and became a volunteer student of some volunteer teams in Hanoi. My work increases day by day, I almost go all day, sometimes I am tired, worried about the volunteer programs of the school. We are successful, I am thinner and darker than before. But I love volunteer work, Mom. I cannot give up the habit of volunteering. With each trip, I grow up more, gain more new experiences. I encounter many difficult and unfortunate situations, Mom. There are children who are born disabled, abandoned by their parents, with no one to take care of them. There are old men and women with leprosy, their children have neglected them for decades without visiting them, they miss their children very much, longing to see their children and grandchildren once, but the more they miss them, the more they wait, and their children are still missing. There are children who are affected by Agent Orange, the wounds of war left in them, causing them pain every day. Or little girls and boys in the highlands, the cold winter weather, the monsoon blowing, but still wearing a torn shirt, no pants, no sandals. I feel sorry, I feel happy, I feel I need to contribute more to be able to help many people. moreover. Looking at the bright eyes of the children, receiving small gifts from the volunteer students, I feel very happy, very happy. I have understood that happiness is not only receiving but also giving. There is a bareheaded, barefoot, pantsless boy running after me to ask for more milk, looking very cute. I just long to go everywhere, bringing small joys to help those in difficult circumstances, the disadvantaged in this society. Hoa Da Club is the home of many disabled members studying at the school. Each person has a different situation, but they always burn in their hearts a heart of love to share, and a determination to go to school to learn. Society looks at them with contempt, but they look at life with youthful eyes, and as for me, I admire them very much. The Hoa Da family is always full of vitality, joy and happiness. The enthusiasm of youth will bring me to difficult circumstances. It is this environment that has taught me love and protection, engraved in my heart the proverb "The whole leaves cover the torn leaves".

For me, Hoa Da is home, volunteering is the blood flowing in my body, and my volunteer brothers and sisters are my relatives.