Overcoming the shock of poor grades, Tay female student graduated as Valedictorian in Management Science

Dong Thi Vi Hoan was born in 2001 in Lang Son, grew up in Thai Nguyen and is of the Tay ethnic group. She is a student of class K64B, academic year 2019-2023, majoring in Management Science, Faculty of Management Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi (USSH). In August 2023, she will graduate as valedictorian with an excellent GPA of 3.65/4.0. The young girl revealed to the Vietnamese Student Page, Tien Phong newspaper about her special name: “My father’s family name is Dong, my mother’s family name is Vi, and my younger brother’s name is Hao. The two sisters’ names combined are Hoan Hao. My parents sent positive wishes, hoping that our lives will always be smooth sailing.”
Before entering the school, she studied block A and was an excellent student in Math for many years. In secondary school, she won second prize at the provincial level and was selected for the national competition team. In high school, she won third prize at the provincial level twice. However, she chose USSH - a school with a tradition of training and researching social sciences and humanities, because she loved the school's history, reputation and serious learning spirit.
She commented that when choosing a major or university, people tend to choose majors that have immediate application or that they know what job they will do after graduation. However, she has her own path, focusing on finding majors that can provide general background knowledge and train thinking.
Vi Hoan accidentally learned about Management Science and realized that this was the major she was looking for. Studying this major, students not only learn how to manage others but also learn how to manage themselves. More specifically, in 2019, when she registered for admission with the A00 combination, it was also the last year that Management Science still recruited students with this combination.
During her 12 years as a student of the Natural Sciences department, she encountered countless difficulties in her first days at school. She was shocked when she only achieved a fair score of 2.9/4.0 in the first semester of her first year. She even intended to retake the university entrance exam because she thought she was not suitable for the environment at USSH.
“The inspirational teachers are what kept me going. The longer I study here, the more I admire the knowledge and personality of the teachers here. I also want to become a talented person like that, so I tried hard to study and get the results I have today,” she confided.
After that crisis, Vi Hoan immediately adjusted her learning method. She realized that social subjects also have the same logic and connection as natural subjects. Therefore, in essence, they are the same, learners need to grasp the core of the problem, then whether it is natural science or social science, we can easily absorb it effectively.
She often volunteers to be the monitor of the credit class to help the lecturer manage the class, as well as remind herself to be more careful and serious with each subject. To achieve good results, she often sets goals at the beginning of the semester. She considers the difficulty of each subject in each semester to allocate resources and make different study plans.
Each subject has a different way of learning: some subjects require memorizing a lot of theoretical content, others require group work. But no matter what subject, she always tries to attend class regularly, actively participates in lesson planning and tries to maintain a high learning spirit throughout the semester.
For subjects in the general knowledge of social sciences and humanities, which are known by word of mouth among USSH students as “difficult”, Vi Hoan often takes more careful and meticulous notes. She revealed that to create inspiration for studying general subjects, she invested in buying some study tools such as notebooks, pens, and note paper with bright colors and cute designs.
Before each essay test, instead of buying a set of review outlines, she synthesizes her knowledge herself, then summarizes it to remember the main ideas more easily. When doing the test, from the main ideas she has remembered, she develops her own opinions and writes according to her own understanding.
Her GPA each semester gradually improved, from good 3.32, 3.5 to excellent 3.8 and then to absolute 4.0. Thanks to that, she was awarded the Student with the highest academic score in the department for two consecutive years. She received the scholarship to encourage learning for many semesters and won the Wings Scholarship on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Faculty of Management Science. Passionate about Chinese language and culture, Wei Huan has participated in online summer and winter camps organized by Sun Yat-sen University and several other universities in China. These are cultural exchange courses, usually held for 2 weeks to 1 month, organized by Chinese universities for international students.
The courses she has taken are all taught entirely in Chinese, allowing students to learn more about the culture, traditions, economy, society, etc. of the country of a billion people. Not only do these courses provide a lot of useful knowledge, they also help her make many international friends with similar interests, helping her broaden her outlook on life and the world.
Vi Hoan's memorable memory is the time she completed her graduation thesis. The topic she chose was completely new in the field. Therefore, during the process, she encountered countless difficulties and it took her 6 months to complete. She said she was lucky to always have someone by her side, her supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh, to support and encourage her. In addition, she also wants to thank her family. Her parents have always been a strong support both financially and mentally so that she can study with peace of mind and seek advice whenever she encounters problems in life or work.
She also cherishes the friends who have shared the good times and bad times with her throughout her student life. She feels very lucky to have such high-quality friends, to have studied, worked and experienced together the beautiful and unforgettable days of youth. To focus on her studies and improve her qualifications, Vi Hoan did not work part-time until she started her internship in her third year. Right after completing her courses and while waiting for graduation, she was accepted into a Marketing position at a brand building and development company with 3 locations in Hanoi. This was a job closely related to her major, where she could confidently apply her knowledge from the classroom into practice.
Vi Hoan's current priority is work to accumulate more diverse experiences. She intends to continue her studies in the future and does not forget to affirm: "For me, learning is a lifelong task, so as long as I want, I can study and develop myself at any time."