Setting goals from their first year, female students in the Social Sciences and Humanities graduated early and became valedictorians.

Set your sights on graduating as valedictorian right from your first year.

In 2022, Duong Thi Thao Van was directly admitted to the Public Relations major at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities thanks to winning second prize in the Hanoi National University High School Student Olympic Competition. During that year's admissions process, Thao Van only applied for one major: Public Relations – a field she had long desired to pursue.

From the very first days of her university life, Thao Van set herself a special goal: to graduate as valedictorian. This promise wasn't shared with many, but quietly became the driving force that motivated Van to persevere for 3.5 years.

Thao Van (with her mother) receives the valedictorian award from the school.

According to the top-scoring student, setting a sufficiently large goal from the beginning is never a source of pressure. On the contrary, knowing what you want allows you to know what to do at each stage to get closer to that goal. "Doing something without a goal easily leads to a loss of motivation. When you know what you want, you know what you need to do and when to do it," Thảo Vân said.

That motivation was also nurtured by her family. Thao Van said that her parents always trusted and supported all of her choices. This support further strengthened her determination to persevere in pursuing her goals, while constantly striving to repay the trust of those who have always been by her side.

When learning extends beyond the classroom.

If becoming valedictorian was the ultimate goal, what helped Thảo Vân get closer to that goal was knowing how to study in a way that suited her time constraints and personal goals. Throughout her 3.5 years of university, the new graduate not only studied but also worked, participated in extracurricular activities, and competed in numerous academic competitions.

From her third year, Thao Van worked full-time while also scheduling evening and weekend classes to complete her program on schedule. Instead of registering for courses impulsively, Van began planning her entire university journey: proactively researching the curriculum, considering the number of credits, assessment methods, and difficulty level of each course. She staggered the written exams, oral exams, and essays to avoid overwhelming pressure in a single semester; she prioritized taking the more demanding specialized courses in her third and fourth years, when she already had a solid foundation of knowledge and practical experience from her work.

"It's very difficult to maintain good results when you're taking too many courses in one semester. I usually register for around 20-22 credits, and if I add physical education courses, it's up to a maximum of about 26 credits. The important thing is to understand your time constraints and abilities to choose a suitable workload," the top-scoring female student shared.

Besides focusing on grades, Thao Van also proactively dedicated time to extracurricular activities to hone her skills, accumulate training points, and increase her chances of receiving scholarships. According to the valedictorian, the reasonable allocation of academic goals and activities throughout her 3.5 years helped her maintain stability, instead of just focusing all her efforts on each semester.

Thao Van was honored at the "Outstanding Young People at the Grassroots Level" Award Ceremony in 2025.

However, that journey was never easy. There were semesters when she didn't receive a scholarship, and Thao Van doubted whether she still had a chance to become valedictorian. There were also times when she juggled multiple jobs, participated in startup competitions, social projects, and professional activities, leaving her with almost no free time.

"There were times when I worked three jobs at the same time. For some subjects, I only had one or two days to review before the exam, so I was very scared, afraid of getting a bad grade," the top-scoring female student recalled.

However, instead of waiting for the final "crash" days at the end of the semester, Thao Van always strived to maintain good attendance, complete midterm assignments well, and proactively organize her knowledge after each study session. As a result, the exam preparation period was simply a time to consolidate and reinforce what she had already accumulated.

Besides classroom learning, Thao Van always considered practical experience an indispensable part of her studies. According to the valedictorian, the unique characteristic of the Public Relations field is that knowledge is only truly valuable when applied to the job. "If you only learn theory without applying it or keeping up with reality, you certainly won't be able to do the job," Thao Van expressed.

Not content with just classroom learning, Thao Van proactively sought out professional opportunities from her first year. From initial jobs like event organizing and content writing, she gradually expanded into media planning, project management, and various other tasks in the PR field. Alongside her work at the company, she actively built personal content platforms on social media to both hone her skills and share her learning experiences, spreading positivity to young people.

According to Thao Van, the media industry is changing very rapidly under the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and shifts in the labor market. Therefore, students cannot stop at classroom knowledge but need to constantly update new skills and accumulate practical experience to adapt to the profession.

“As AI develops, businesses are also streamlining their workforce more. If you don't equip yourself with core skills, being completely replaced is entirely possible,” Thao Van said. Therefore, for her, learning has never been just about passing exams, but more importantly, about creating value in practice: “I always want to learn while working so that the knowledge gained in the classroom can be immediately applied to my work and I can accumulate practical experience.”

The top student award is a milestone to start pursuing new goals.

Concluding her 3.5 years at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, what makes Thảo Vân happiest is not only the achievements she has made, but also fulfilling the promise she secretly made to herself back in 2022.

After graduation, Thao Van said she will continue working in the media field, while also dedicating time to developing her personal social media platforms to share her learning experiences, career guidance, and personal development experiences with young people who are still struggling to find their way on their journey to adulthood.

"I really enjoy education and social activities. Through TikTok, I have the opportunity to listen to many different stories. If my experiences can help someone become more confident or more motivated, then I find that very meaningful," Thao Van shared.

Thao Van hopes to continue learning and conquering new goals after graduation.

Not content with just her bachelor's degree, the valedictorian said she is continuing to learn new foreign languages ​​and exploring postgraduate programs to prepare for a new promise – a new journey. For Thao Van, graduating from university is not the end of learning, but merely a milestone marking the beginning of her future development.

Looking back, Thảo Vân believes that academic achievements or the title of valedictorian only truly matter when they serve as a foundation for her to continue moving forward. True to the spirit of "Thaovancandoit," Thảo Vân always views every challenge as an opportunity for growth, as long as she is brave enough to begin and persevere to the end.