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 in the audience quickly headed towards the exit. But perhaps few of them knew that behind the stage, in the inner wings, there were people who lingered for a long time afterwards, to give each other tight hugs to celebrate the gala that was more successful than expected. They were the ones who organized this gala.
Annual activities do not mean 100% favorable
“Histoire d'amour” is simply the name of this year's French-speaking evening party. Before 2010, there were many such evening parties held to celebrate International Francophonie Day on March 20, and more importantly, to create a space for exchange among students in general, especially students from French-speaking schools. Based on that idea, once a year, the French-speaking Clinical Psychology Department (under the Faculty of Psychology - University of Social Sciences and Humanities) organizes this activity. Many years have passed, which means that many programs have been developed. Students from French-speaking schools in Hanoi have gradually become accustomed to this activity, considering it an indispensable part of the year. However, only those in the organizing committee understand: “To be able to organize such a large-scale activity is never a simple matter”.
Each class of the French Clinical Psychology block consists of only 10-15 students. That many people run around for more than 2 months, taking care of studying for exams and organizing. All stages such as making the stage, renting the hall, thinking of ideas, writing the script, contacting other schools, approving the performance and testing the program are all taken care of by that many people. Le Mai Lien - Deputy of the Organizing Committee said: "Sometimes we are tired and discouraged, but we still have to encourage each other to try harder, in 4 years of university we can only do a program like this once. Luckily, we receive a lot of help from teachers as well as students from other schools". Lack of people and experience is not an issue, but the financial issue is always the most difficult thing for the organizers. Most of the major activities of the schools such as Foreign Trade Charm or Miss Bank have great support from outside businesses. However, with “Histoire d'amour” – which is only a social program, and is specifically for students of French-speaking schools, finding sponsors is extremely difficult. To cover the costs incurred during the organization process, the Psychology faculty mostly relies on sponsorship from the school, the Psychology Faculty and the AUF. However, these sponsorships are also very limited.
100% success = love + enthusiasm When asked "What motivates you to be able to complete the exams well and participate in so many stages of the program?", most of the students in the Organizing Committee just smiled and said: "Seeing everyone happy and satisfied with what we have shown is enough to make you try harder". Only by seeing the whole process of preparing for the program, attending the meetings to outline the plan and divide the work can you see the enthusiasm of the members of the Organizing Committee. Even in times of urgency, they had meetings during lunchtime, ate and discussed, and after making a decision, they grabbed their bags and rushed to the lecture hall to make it to the first period in the early afternoon. Without a heart full of love and enthusiasm, how many people could try so hard? That love is not simply a love for the French language, country and culture, but it also contains a great sense of responsibility and solidarity.
“Histoire d'amour” has ended, the fatigue and difficulties have been left behind, but the author of this article firmly believes that the story of love and enthusiasm of the people participating in organizing this gala will continue to be written. I wish you all to always keep that heart, so that the following programs will still be 100% successful like today.
