Blind boy wins Australian scholarship: "Apart from my mother, no one believed I could do it"
Báo Dân trí•11/01/2025
(Dan Tri) - The journey to win a scholarship lasted three years, with two rejections, but the blind man Hoang Nhat Minh did not give up. The third time he succeeded and received an Australian Government scholarship.
The moment Nhat Minh received the scholarship (Photo: Quan Dinh).
Apart from my mother, no one believed I could win a scholarship. Born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang Nhat Minh studied at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special School for the Blind. The person who always supported him every step of the way was his mother. She instilled in Minh the belief that university education was always within his reach. At this special school, Minh was inspired by two friends, Nguyen Tuan Tu and Nguyen Thanh Vinh, who had excellently won scholarships to study at a prestigious international school. Their success ignited in Minh the dream of winning a scholarship of his own. After graduating from high school, Minh applied to 5 universities but was rejected by 4 of them. These schools believed that a blind student would find it difficult to succeed in fields that require high creativity such as languages or communications. RMIT University Vietnam decided to award him a full scholarship to study Professional Communication. The major Minh chose to study at school required practical skills such as filming and photography, skills that many people might think a blind person cannot do. "I used to think I couldn't do it, but the encouragement of teachers and friends changed my perspective," Minh said. While studying was challenging, overcoming social prejudice was even harder. "When I won the scholarship, no one believed that I could do it except my mother," Minh recalled. His mother's belief became a beacon of light, helping him overcome all difficulties. Nhat Minh has proven that people with disabilities can achieve more than society thinks. (Photo: Quan Dinh)Rejected twice but still not giving up After graduating from RMIT, Minh took on the role of Child Development and Special Education Specialist at Saigon Children's Charity. Here, Minh was in charge of projects on cyber safety and managed the communication channels of the Special Education Program. In addition to his work at Saigon Children's Charity, Minh also took on the role of a mentor for students at a vocational training center for autistic youth, and taught Aikido to students with Down syndrome at PEAWIL. Determined to overcome his own limits, Hoang Nhat Minh applied for the Australian Government Scholarship, one of the most prestigious and competitive scholarships. The journey to conquer the scholarship lasted three years, with two rejections, but Minh did not give up. Instead, the young man constantly improved his profile, learned from failures and came back stronger after each attempt. Minh dreams of building a more inclusive society where everyone is empowered to reach their full potential (Photo: Quan Dinh). On his third attempt, Minh succeeded and officially became the recipient of the Australian Government Scholarship. He was particularly impressed with the program’s person-centered approach, which allows students with disabilities to bring a support person with them throughout their studies. This year, Minh will begin his Master of Education at Flinders University (Australia), focusing on three main areas: Special Education and Inclusion, School Counselling and Educational Management. Minh hopes to use this knowledge to promote inclusive education policy reform in Vietnam. After completing his master’s program, Minh plans to spend two to four years working in Singapore or Malaysia, countries known for their advanced inclusive education systems. He hopes to learn from modern inclusive education models and build relationships with global experts in the field. Minh also plans to return to Vietnam and establish a "Circle of Support" for people with disabilities, focusing on support resources from family, community and society. Minh's goal is to develop inclusive education programs and implement a model of individualized learning plans for students with disabilities at Vietnamese universities.
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