Nguyen Thi Le Quyen: The "fate" with Korean studies
Nguyen Thi Le Quyen is a former student of K62 Oriental Studies, majoring in Korean Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU. Ever since she was still in school, she had cherished the plan to apply for HBCP and study abroad in Korea. During the 4 years of university and 2 years after graduation, with a great love for Korean in particular and Korean studies in general, Le Quyen has always been diligent and made efforts to realize her dream.
Le Quyen has cherished the plan to apply for HBCP and study abroad in Korea since she was still in school.
What was even more surprising was that Korean studies was not her initial choice when she applied to university. Quyen shared that:“If I had to use one word to describe me and my major in Korean Studies, it would be “fate”. I still remember clearly that time in early 2017, when the People’s Police Academy announced that it would no longer recruit block C students, I was extremely disoriented and quite confused about the future. At that time, I read a book that almost completely changed my outlook on life, which was “There is no such thing as failure, everything is just a challenge” by the founder of Hyundai Group Chung Ju Yung.”. It was that book that inspired in Quyen the love and desire to explore, learn and research about Korea. Finally, Quyen decided to major in Korean Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Currently, she is an interpreter at LG Display Hai Phong. When asked why she decided to apply for HBCP after having a stable job, Quyen shared:“Many people have asked me why I didn’t study for a master’s degree right after graduating from university, but instead just started studying now. In fact, in my personal opinion and thinking, I majored in culture and language. The essence of learning a language is not just about trying to learn theoretical knowledge from books, but also requires experience from a real-life environment. To become an excellent teacher, I first need to become an excellent student. Therefore, for 3 years, I worked as a Korean translator and interpreter at LG Display to accumulate practical experience, improve my foreign language skills, and understand more about Korean culture. Working for 3 years before studying for a master’s degree helped me improve my practical skills and help me orient myself much more clearly about the career I want to pursue in the future.”.
Le Quyen loves learning about culture and language. Regarding language, she shared: "Learning a language is not only about trying to learn theoretical knowledge in books, but also requires experience from a real-life environment."
When asked about the difficulties in applying for HBCP, she shared that the scholarship essay was the biggest challenge:“During the day, I went to work, and at night, I took the time to write two essays, one was a Personal Statement and the other was a Study Plan. For me, these two essays were the soul of my application, so I revised them many times. I asked my friends to read my essays many times and asked for their comments. After that, I continued to revise my essays, and then contacted my seniors to learn more about the major I would study for 2 years. Finally, after a month, I completed the two essays.”.
As a student, Quyen was very active in scientific research, it can be said that she has a talent for research. Quyen received an Asian research scholarship and won first prize in the Student Scientific Research Competition for the 2019-2020 school year. Also in the two scholarship application essays, she focused on scientific research and her graduation thesis to highlight her scientific research ability. Le Quyen said:“If scientific research is one of your strengths, then we should focus on making it the brightest point in our resume instead of listing achievements in a rambling, lengthy manner.”.
Sharing about her plans after completing her master's program in Korea, Le Quyen plans to continue her studies for a PhD. In particular, she hopes that after completing her studies, she will have the opportunity to work at Hanoi National University:“I hope that I can contribute my knowledge and experience to help Korean Studies in Vietnam develop further and become a bridge connecting educational cooperation between Vietnam and Korea.”.
Finally, she affirmed that:“The more I work and stay involved in the industry, the more certain I am that Korea and the Korean language may not have been my initial choice, but up to now, this is what I want, the most correct choice that I have been and will always pursue.”Hopefully, Le Quyen will successfully complete her Master's program at Kyunghee University and realize her dream of becoming a doctor."a bridge connecting educational cooperation between Vietnam and Korea".
Cap Trong Phuc Trang: From wondering "why don't I try?" to a brilliant journey of conquering knowledge
Cap Trong Phuc Trang is a former student of K64 Oriental Studies, majoring in Korean Studies. Phuc Trang is the valedictorian of the Oriental Studies major from 2019-2023, and is also one of the 20 best valedictorians of Hanoi in 2023. During his four years at the University of Humanities, he has always had impressive academic achievements and actively participated in Union-Association and extracurricular activities at the school.
Before becoming a USSH student, Phuc Trang was a Geography major student at Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted. He won second prize in the National Excellent Student Competition and had the opportunity to be directly admitted to many universities and colleges. Faced with many open opportunities, Trang chose to study Oriental Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. For Phuc Trang, Oriental Studies has always been the first choice, the number 1 wish when applying for university admission: “Since high school, applying the knowledge I learned from the Geography major, I realized that "learning a foreign language is like living a new life". I learned about the Faculty of Oriental Studies through the stories of my seniors. The Faculty not only specializes in languages, but students also learn more about the people, history, and culture of Eastern countries.".
With a passion for Korean, Phuc Trang always works hard to improve his foreign language skills. In his third year of university, Trang did an internship at LG Display Hai Phong Company, which motivated him to improve his foreign language skills. For Trang, the best way to learn a foreign language is to“immerse yourself in the environment of that language”After graduating, he worked in an environment where Korean was used frequently.
When asked about the secret to conquering universities, Trang humorously compared: "Scholarship application interviews are like beauty pageants answering questions, requiring us to load the answer before we finish listening to the question."
Phuc Trang also sends a message to students majoring in Korean Studies as well as those who are planning to apply for HBCP:“I think that this scholarship application journey does not last just 2 weeks or 6 short months, but this is the result of a very long journey since I was still in school. Therefore, I believe that if we constantly study and learn, strive to reach the light called knowledge and constantly improve ourselves, that determination will make our lives more brilliant and beautiful.”Phuc Trang's journey to study for a Master's degree at Hanyang University is about to begin. Hopefully, he will always be steadfast and ready to conquer the arduous yet brilliant journey of knowledge.
Winning the Korean Government Scholarship is not easy, but each of us can do it. The important thing is to believe in yourself and dare to try, to overcome your own limits. In 2024, the Korean Studies Department has 4 alumni who passed the Korean Government Scholarship. The Faculty of Oriental Studies congratulates you and hopes that you will study well and have many more beautiful memories in the land of kimchi. I wish that those who have and are planning to apply for the Government Scholarship will continue to be confident and continue to improve their knowledge, skills, experience and experience.
