Le Nguyen Hai Van's love for Oriental Studies began in the 9th grade, and that love is as simple as Hai Van herself. She confided that after reading the book "I Choose My Profession," her impression was simply encapsulated in three words: Oriental Studies.
Leaving the beautiful city of Da Nang, far from family and friends, Hai Van went to Hanoi to pursue her dream. Indian Studies is a difficult field of study with very few materials in Vietnamese, but Hai Van achieved a perfect score of 10/10 for her graduation thesis, becoming one of the three valedictorians of the Faculty of Oriental Studies this year with a total GPA of 3.67. She also excelled and won a student exchange scholarship at the National University of Singapore.
Hai Van achieved such good academic results thanks to setting her own goals and employing a reasonable study method. “I disagree with the idea of studying without socializing. In my opinion, to study well, you must first create a relaxed mindset, and then, once you sit down to study, you must concentrate,” Van confided. Her experience in scientific research, dissertations, and essays, as shared with students, is: When working on assignments, you must find and translate materials first, then organize your writing logically. This will allow you to be more proactive in acquiring knowledge and remember the material longer. Like many other young people, Hai Van considers herself quite playful, but she puts all her effort into it at the last minute.
When asked, "If you were to describe yourself in one word, what would you say?", Hai Van smiled and said, "Lucky. I feel truly lucky in every way. I have a warm and loving family, full of laughter, and my parents support all my decisions. I don't have many friends, but they are all close friends of mine. Even if we haven't seen each other for a year or two, when we meet again, it's as if there was never any geographical distance."
The four months of her exchange program at the National University of Singapore were the most memorable time of her four years of university. In Singapore, international students are required to participate in volunteer activities to write a report with accompanying photos, and Hai Van was no exception. Hai Van shared that she had also participated in many programs in collaboration between the Faculty of Oriental Studies and various embassies, as well as translating and screening films for students in her first and second years. Hai Van was very happy to return to those meaningful extracurricular activities in her final semester. The biggest "gain" for Hai Van was that she made many foreign friends and learned many new skills.
Hai Van received her Bachelor of Science degree with distinction at the graduation ceremony on July 1, 2013.
When recounting her experience participating in scientific research and writing her graduation thesis, Hai Van said: "The biggest difficulty was the lack of resources for this field of study. I took advantage of the exchange semester in Singapore to find additional English-language materials for my thesis." As a result, with 80 English-language references and her own knowledge, Hai Van astonished the entire thesis evaluation committee that day.
Hai Van's idols are none other than her parents – the people who have directly influenced her personality and decisions. She is currently applying for a Master's scholarship in India and dreams of becoming a lecturer after graduation, just like her parents. In life, Hai Van aspires to be a woman who is both dynamic and creative in her work, while also being capable and attentive to her family responsibilities.