Graduated with 2 university degrees at the same time with honors

Pham Minh Chuyen is a former student of the 41st class of Management and Law at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law. As a student, Chuyen was famous for her achievements when she won the second prize in scientific research and had the highest score in her English graduation thesis (9.8/10). Notably, she graduated with two excellent university degrees at the same time, Law and Business Administration, from this school.

Graduating in 2021, Chuyen initially worked at a Big 4 law firm (the four largest auditing firms in the world, including EY, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG). She also had the opportunity to work in the legal department at a technology company owned by a Hong Kong (China) enterprise.

Two years later, Chuyen pursued a master's degree at the University of Southern California, USA, and graduated after only 9 months. Chuyen was in the top 10% of the entire course and in the top 25% of students awarded the High Pass Certificate for the highest score in the legal writing skills course.

Pham Minh Chuyen
Pham Minh Chuyen graduated with two university degrees at the same time with honors. Photo: NVCC

Six months ago, Chuyen took the California Bar Examination. The passing rate for this bar exam is only about 50%, meaning that out of two people, only one passes.

Recalling the days of studying for the exam, Minh Chuyen said that California is always among the states with the lowest bar admission rate in the US. Every day, Chuyen spent at least 12 hours studying. She studied continuously for 10 weeks. In the US, the process of becoming a lawyer usually begins with completing a bachelor's degree program, then taking the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) to enter law school. After graduating from law school, studying for 3 more years, Juris Doctors (Doctors of Law) will take the Bar Examination in the state where they want to practice. The California Bar Examination is the final step to be licensed to practice law in this state.

The California Bar exam lasts two days. Candidates are not allowed to use any materials. On the first day, Chuyen completed six essays in 6.5 hours. On the second day, she took 200 multiple choice questions in 6 hours.

According to Chuyen, the knowledge, skills and experience she accumulated from her university studies and work have gradually produced sweet fruit in the bar exam in the US. She feels a bit lucky to have passed the exam on her first try. Currently, Minh Chuyen works at one of the oldest litigation law firms in the state of California.

Love law from movies

Minh Chuyen has been interested in law since high school. At first, she liked watching American legal series such as How to Get Away with Murder, Suits, Better Call Saul... These shows made her daydream about becoming a cool and sharp lawyer like that. Then, she thought more seriously and realized that she liked reading and writing. She also loved debating to solve problems, and realized that law was the right path for her. Moreover, this field gave her the opportunity to use her skills to help others.

Another advantage of Minh Chuyen is that both her parents studied law, so she was passed on their experience and passion for the field. “Throughout my journey to pursue a career in law, my mother was the one who guided and inspired me, and was also the mentor who had the greatest influence on my career journey,” Chuyen said.

Pham Minh Chuyen
Pham Minh Chuyen passed the bar exam in California. Photo: NVCC

According to Chuyen, the ability to focus on a goal is very important to be successful. Trying to excel in every field is not only difficult but also easy to lead to burnout, thereby losing motivation. She believes that you should try to invest all your energy in goals that are truly important and suitable for your strengths. Along with that, writing skills are one of the most important factors when practicing law, even in the era of strong AI development.

“Anyone can write, but writing concisely, with enough ideas, easy to understand and suitable for the audience is a skill that needs to be practiced. I always try to improve my writing skills,” she said. Chuyen believes that, besides knowledge and skills, the most important thing is to always believe in your own abilities, because that is the great motivation to help overcome challenges on the road ahead.

Looking back on her journey, Chuyen believes that without the people who love her, she would not be where she is today. According to her, life is a journey full of steps and each step is a necessary lesson to move towards the set goal. Passing the exam and becoming a lawyer in California was her first sweet fruit.

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