9X graduated as valedictorian when daughter just entered first grade

Graduating as valedictorian of the whole school, To Gia Can always felt that his own efforts were insignificant compared to the support and sacrifices his family gave him.

“Honestly, for an ordinary student, receiving the title of valedictorian would certainly be a great joy and pride. But in my situation, I always feel that it is something I have to strive for, because behind it is the support and sacrifice of my whole family,” To Gia Can (born in 1993, Hanoi Capital University) shared right after the ceremony to honor the excellent valedictorians graduating from universities and academies in Hanoi in 2023.

Can is a special case of valedictorian this year because he graduated from university at the age of 30, has a wife and a daughter in first grade.

To Gia Can is the valedictorian of Hanoi Capital University.

Born in Hanoi, when Can was in middle school, his parents no longer lived together. Can and his younger brother moved in with their mother. When he was in 10th grade, his mother decided to remarry. Understanding the situation, the two brothers were always proactive in their studies.

As an excellent student at Tran Phu High School (Hoan Kiem), Gia Can passed the entrance exam to the IBD International Bachelor program of the National Economics University. The tuition fee of the program at that time was about 40 million VND/semester.

To help his mother pay for his tuition, he worked as a math tutor for middle school students. However, after the first year, his mother's job had problems. Unable to pay the tuition, he had to put his studies on hold.

During the time he was not in school, Gia Can worked hard to teach extra classes to save money. At this time, his mother had to move to another place, leaving only Can and his brother to depend on each other. Luckily, during his high school years, Can had a female classmate who always accompanied and supported him.

“He and his family supported me a lot, always enthusiastically introducing students, thanks to which I was able to support myself,” Can recalled.

After 1.5 years, Can decided to return to school with the money he had saved. However, the heavy curriculum and the pressure of tuition fees once again made Can waver. This time, he decided to quit school to focus on teaching. At the age of 23, Can married his girlfriend who had been with him since high school.

“At that time, I had nothing in my hands. My wife's family were the ones who supported me a lot.” Can is grateful and affirms that without that unconditional support, he probably would not have been able to overcome the most difficult times.

Gia Can at the ceremony to honor the excellent valedictorians of 2023

After getting married, Can's parents advised him and his wife to move back to live together in Hoan Kiem district to save money. During this time, he and his wife continued to work together to open tutoring classes for middle school students. For 9 years since 2011, although he did not have a formal degree, he was still trusted by parents, introduced and sent to teach their children. Thanks to that, the couple could live on their tutoring salary.

In 2019, when his daughter was 2 years old, his wife's younger sister was preparing for the university entrance exam. Can was the one who supported and guided her to study for the exam.

Seeing that her husband had a “fated relationship” with teaching, Can’s wife tried her best to encourage him to try retaking the university entrance exam. At that time, the university entrance exam was only about 3 months away.

“I thought a lot because I was getting old and hadn’t touched knowledge for a long time. Moreover, the exam format was different from my time because it changed from essay to multiple choice.”

However, Can still systematized his knowledge based on what he remembered. He also studied completely on his own based on online documents. Not confident in enrolling in Hanoi National University of Education, Can chose the Mathematics Pedagogy major at Hanoi Capital University, applying for admission based on block D07 (Math, Chemistry, English). That year, he scored 30.85/40, enough to be admitted to the school.

At first, Can felt shy at school because “he looked much older than his classmates”. But very quickly, he was drawn into the lectures “it had been a long time since I had the chance to study”.

“I go to school with an eager mind, interested in every subject, curious about what the content will be. Because I love studying, I always try to listen to everything the teachers say, and do my own research both in class and at home.”

Thanks to that, Can won scholarships for all 8 semesters, with most of his subjects achieving A and A+. At the end of 4 years of study, Can achieved a GPA of 3.77/4.0, becoming the valedictorian of the entire school.

Immediately after graduating, he took the exam and was accepted as a Math teacher at Viet Hung Urban Secondary School (Long Bien).

After 4 years of university, Can feels lucky because he decided to choose to study again. “I have learned a lot. Studying properly also gives me opportunities, otherwise my life would be very difficult, with no future.”

According to Cẩn, his smooth four years of university were also thanks to the support of his wife and her parents. “My wife is the one who has always accompanied, supported and sympathized with me during difficult times. That is probably the luckiest thing in my life. And my parents-in-law are always ready to support their children with time and taking care of their grandchildren. I always feel that I owe them a lot.”

Because of those sacrifices, Can said his efforts were natural and the results he achieved were all thanks to the help of everyone in his family.

Vietnamnet.vn