The teacher's lecture had only started for 5 minutes when he came in, breathless: "Sorry teacher, I finished the recording session a bit late." As soon as the bell rang for the first time, he grabbed his bag and rushed out to the garage like an arrow... That was the image that journalism students were familiar with Le Mai Huong Tra. For us, studying while earning money to support ourselves and making our dreams come true had become a way of life.
Launch pad from lecture hall
Huong Tra's schedule is always tight: wake up at 6am, prepare documents and go to Vietnam Television to film reports at 7:30am, contact schools to make programs, prepare music clips until almost 12pm. Must be at school by 1pm. Evenings are for studying, preparing program scripts... Time for rest is always zero even on holidays. A new day starting at 2am for everyone can be a difficult thing. But for visual journalism students like Thu Ha, it is normal. Leaving at 2am with all the things: lights, cameras, raincoats, scripts... "Going through the night" to get the scene in time and returning home at 11pm is not uncommon for visual journalism students.
"I did not pursue a medical career like my father wanted, and even less did I want to settle for a teaching career like my mother expected. I pursued a career in journalism, a path that no one in my family had taken. And I found a way to make a living with this profession. At school, we learned a lot, the teachers were very dedicated, but I was not satisfied. That is why many of us found our own learning methods through our own experiences through practice. I did not want to just sit and listen to theory. I did not think that opportunities would come to me. I sought out opportunities and those opportunities accepted me. Two years of studying in the classroom and practicing right in the studio were also two years in which I grew up, understood more and fell in love with this difficult journalism profession. Journalism students are not simply dynamic as people often say, but rather, they are constantly active and active. And I am just one of them, students who do not want to wait for opportunities to come to them."Le Mai Huong Tra (K49 BC&TT)
The Center for Journalism and Communication, under the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, has long been the second home of students of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication. This is where their first films were born. And from this common home, they became effective collaborators of TV stations right from their time in the classroom. Thu Ha, Li Na (K47), Nhat Minh, Tuan Anh, My Hanh (K48), Thuy Tien, Thu Thao, Chi Kien (K49), Thanh Vu, Thu Yen, Thuy Ngan, Manh Thai, Dinh Minh (K50), Trung Nghia, Hoang Anh, Phuong Hong (K51), Lo Linh, Trung Hieu, Thai Ha (K53)... are MCs, "studio lights" for many programs of VTV3, VTV6. Each person finds their own way to "jump in" to reality. After each compulsory class in the lecture hall, Kap Thanh Long (K46 Journalism and Communication) spent almost the rest of his time wandering around looking for topics to write about. He was about to go to bed when the newsroom announced a fire at Ha Dong market. Sleep was coming, so he had to… put it aside. He got on the motorbike and sped off to get the information in time. At 5am the next morning, he returned to his room exhausted, but his mouth was still smiling because the article was completed. Although it was hard, since his second year, he was able to support himself with royalties and his name appeared regularly in newspapers. “Kap Thanh Long” became a “brand” that his friends admired and the following classes took as an example to follow. Right from the second and third years of university, many student names have become familiar in some major newspapers: Bui Dung (K45), Dinh Nha Trang (K47), Xuan Dong, Dinh Tu (K48), Lam Hoai, Quang Phong, The Kha (K49), Tien Thanh (K51) on Tuoi Tre; Kap Thanh Long (K46), Minh Thuy, Nguyen Ha, Luu Trinh (K49), Pham Hue (K50) on Tien Phong; Le Tan (K46), Van Huyen, Chien Thang (K47), Mai Tuyet, To Nga (K48), Thu Thuy (K50), Nguyen Hoai, Dang Ha, Dang Hau (K51), Nguyen Tuan, Thanh Chung, Tien Thanh (K52)... on many major newspapers. Names such as Le Mai Huong Tra, Thu Trang, Trung Nghia (VTV6), Thu Ha (End of Day News)... have become familiar to small screen audiences.
What our teachers equip us with in university is an extremely important foundation for us to work. But stopping there is not enough. The vibrant life always requires us to constantly refresh ourselves to update social knowledge. That is a vital requirement for journalists. For journalism students, it is even more necessary to accumulate knowledge for future professional skills.Dinh Hau (K52 BC&TT)
Eat fast, sleep fast, talk fast, think fast and make money... fast... That is the "5 fast" of journalists. People still joke when pointing out our identifying characteristics like that. And in that dynamic environment, each class of 2nd and 3rd year students successively forms million-dollar clubs (earning millions each month from royalties) to both support themselves and nurture their dreams. Minh Thuy (K49 Journalism and Communication) confided: "Life does not allow us to passively absorb theory from the lecture hall. We want to assert ourselves and improve our self-worth, we have to act!". After 4 years of hard work in the lecture hall and actively participating in life, after graduating, Minh Thuy worked for Tien Phong newspaper. Currently, he is a resident reporter for Tien Phong newspaper in Ha Tinh after 2 years of graduating.
We act = we exist
“Journalism students are dynamic”, students from other faculties often say. And in fact, Journalism students must always be dynamic people. That is a professional requirement as well as a practical requirement. Kap Thanh Long expressed his point of view: “The information technology era forces us to be dynamic. Just relying on what teachers convey in class will not meet the requirements of life. We must find a way to throw ourselves into reality, that environment will give us a lot of experience for future work”. Currently, Long is the Head of Thanh Nien Newspaper's representative office in the Red River Delta region.
In my eyes, students of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication are always admirable people. They are not only students of the Faculty of Journalism, whose address is always “at the top” of the school’s entrance score, but also extremely dynamic people. Talking to students of the Faculty of Journalism, I always have the feeling that I am facing a person who is much more mature in age and life experience.Thanh Trung (K53 TT-TV)
After four years pursuing television, with what she accumulated from the lecture hall plus 3 years of experience as a collaborator for Vietnam Television, Thu Ha was ready for the rigorous screening of the job after graduation. Ha's graduation thesis was a television work that she filmed, wrote the script and read the commentary for herself. "Specialized knowledge is very important, but practical experience is equally important. The time collaborating with VTV gave me courage and confidence when I graduated. The monthly salary is only four or five hundred thousand, not enough for food and gas, but we learned a lot of experience for the future. At least when we graduate, we will no longer be confused with the job. We must learn to swim so we don't drown later!", Ha confided. After two years of "struggling" with the job of a regular collaborator of the program "Fairy Garden", Huong Tra has decided to "live and die with the profession": "I will follow television and children to the end. My dream is to set up a separate television channel for children in the future. And I will start preparing for that project right now." From "Fairy Garden" to "Golden Bell", then "Do Re Mi", after completing the Master's program, currently, the fairy in "Fairy Garden" is studying abroad in France with a scholarship she got during her work. When the bell rings, Tien Thanh (K52 Journalism and Communication) rushes off like an arrow, 49 seconds for him to get his car and disappear into the bustling crowd. Young people today rush into the crowd, the stream of life and the information highway to affirm their existence in this world. And the car can only stand when it rolls forward. As for us, we act = we exist.
