At 10:15 PM on March 18, 2010, as soon as the two MCs said goodbye, most of the students attending the "Histoire d'amour" gala quickly headed towards the exit. But perhaps few of them knew that behind the stage, in the backstage area, there were people who lingered for a long time afterward, to exchange warm hugs and celebrate the gala's success, which exceeded all expectations. They were the people who had organized this gala.
Annual events don't guarantee 100% success.
“Histoire d'amour” is simply the name of this year's Francophone Gala. Prior to 2010, many similar galas were held to celebrate International Francophone Day on March 20th, and more importantly, to create a space for interaction among students in general, especially those from French-speaking universities. Based on this idea, the Francophone Clinical Psychology group (part of the Psychology Faculty – University of Social Sciences and Humanities) organizes this event annually. Many years have passed, meaning numerous programs have been developed. Students from French-speaking universities in Hanoi have become accustomed to this event, considering it an indispensable part of their annual activities. However, only those in the organizing committee understand: “Making an event of this scale is never a simple matter.”
Each class in the French-language Clinical Psychology program consists of only 10-15 students. That many people worked tirelessly for over two months, juggling studies and exams with organizing the event. All aspects, from stage setup and hall rental to brainstorming ideas, writing scripts, contacting other universities, reviewing performances, and running rehearsals, were handled by those few individuals. Le Mai Lien, the Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee, said: “Sometimes we get tired and discouraged, but we still have to encourage each other to keep going. We only get to do an event like this once in our four years of university. Luckily, we received a lot of help from our professors and students from other universities.” Besides the lack of personnel and experience, funding was always the biggest challenge for the organizers. Most major events at universities, such as the Miss Foreign Trade or Miss Banking pageants, receive significant support from external businesses. However, with "Histoire d'amour"—a program exclusively for social science students and specifically for students from French-speaking universities—finding sponsors was extremely difficult. To cover the expenses incurred during the organization process, the Psychology students relied mostly on sponsorship from the university, the Psychology Department, and AUF. However, these sponsorships were also very limited.
100% Success = Love + Enthusiasm. When asked, "What motivates you to excel in your exams while participating in so many aspects of the program?", most of the students in the Organizing Committee simply smiled and said, "Seeing everyone happy and satisfied with what we've done is enough to motivate us." Seeing the entire preparation process, attending planning meetings, and dividing tasks reveals the immense enthusiasm of the organizing committee members. Even during tight deadlines, they held meetings during lunch breaks, discussing and deciding on tasks while eating, then rushing to the lecture hall to be on time for the first class of the afternoon. Without hearts full of love and passion, how many could possibly persevere like that? That love isn't simply a fondness for the French language, country, and culture; it also encompasses a strong sense of responsibility and solidarity.
"Histoire d'amour" has ended, the fatigue and difficulties are behind us, but the author of this article is confident that the story of love and enthusiasm of the people involved in organizing this gala will continue to be written. May you always maintain that spirit, so that future events will achieve 100% success like today.
