Left alone, childhood passed by, the male student staying in the hotel warehouse is writing a new page!

NGUYEN CHU TAN PHONG is a new student at Duy Tan University. He has no father, and his mother committed suicide when he was taking his first steps in life. Phong's childhood drifted back and forth, sometimes like a boat without a dock.

Putting aside all the tragedies and grievances, with a score of 25, in 2024 Nguyen Chu Tan Phong chose to study tourism and hotel management at Duy Tan University.

Phong's mother unfortunately got involved in a love affair with a middle-aged man at a very young age. That trap sank her life.

When Phong was born, the married man had already “whipped off his horse to chase the wind”, no longer having any responsibility for the mother and son. Disgusted with life and hatred for love, the depressed young mother jumped into the Tonle Sap Lake, ending her life when her son was only 17 months old.

After Phong's mother passed away, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Yen took her poor grandchild back to take care of her daughter. But ironically, life was hard and she could not provide three meals a day for her grandchild. Mrs. Yen could only raise her grandchild for a while before sending him to her uncle and his wife to help raise him.

Here, Phong was born on his uncle's birth certificate, took his last name and called his father "father". Life with him gave Phong a little family warmth but it did not last long when his marriage broke up. At this time, Phong was in 2nd grade, the boy was like a rock in the middle of the road, lonely and alone.

Unable to bear it any longer, the grandmother and her aunt adopted Phong. It seemed that Phong's life would eventually find a home, but then the family's circumstances became difficult, there were many children, and because the grandmother also had her own circumstances, the relatives could not take care of the little orphan boy...

In 6th grade, Phong was back on the streets, lost and homeless. Seeing that he was a nimble boy, a couple who knew his grandmother asked to adopt him.

They opened a restaurant, and every day after school Phong came to the restaurant to help serve and clean. He lived at the restaurant, went to school and worked to support himself until the end of grade 12.

“Many times I wanted to give up because I was so tired of this life. I wanted to lie down and let it all go. On nights of exhaustion and despair, I also blamed God for making me suffer so much, why God was so unfair to me?” – Phong confided.

Phong said that in the most tired and desperate times, strangely enough, you never thought of dropping out of school to go to work.

Since middle school, Phong's dream was to one day stand on the podium, be a ferryman, a teacher imparting knowledge to students.

“Compared to working hours, or going through the rain and sun on the road, I still feel that going to school is the happiest thing. Maybe for some people going to school is a challenge or something quite tiring, but for me it is a joy and I completely enjoy the moments in class” – Phong shared.

Therefore, Phong enrolled in the tourism and hotel management program but had a clear vision of becoming a university lecturer after graduation, fulfilling his dream of holding white chalk and standing in front of a blackboard.

Phong shared that his determination to bury himself in letters was not only to find a door or a way out of life, but also because of the joy of learning.

New student Nguyen Chu Tan Phong with joy stepping into the university lecture hall - Photo: DOAN NHAN

In the hotel warehouse that he was allowed to stay in, about a few square meters, a folding bed with a thin mattress next to a shelf is where Phong lies down every night now.

The plastic table placed right in the dim light is where Phong studies. The new student is both agile, active, honest and polite, making everyone admire him at first sight.

From the mountain town of Pleiku (Gia Lai) to study, Phong brought with him a backpack, a few sets of clothes and a small amount of money that his neighbors kindly gave him.

Before leaving for Da Nang, Phong stopped by the village to visit his grandmother. They hugged each other, and he sobbed because he felt sorry for his life. His grandmother cried helplessly because, apart from words of encouragement, she did not have any money to send him on his way.

The room at the hotel where Phong was allowed to stay for his studies – Photo: DOAN NHAN

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuong, 51 years old, often called Aunt Ut, a neighbor of my grandmother, said that day Phong was wandering around the neighborhood with a sad face, so she called him in to ask how he was doing. Knowing that Phong was about to go to school far away from home, Aunt Ut quickly took out 200,000 VND and put it in his hand.

“I feel sorry for him because he lost his mother early and had to live an orphaned life. He was polite and gentle, but his life was miserable. Every time I opened a coffee shop, he kept asking Aunt Ut to let him help.

I know he needs a job, but our shop is too small and we don’t make much money. I told him to come over to Ut when he’s hungry. If there are vegetables, eat vegetables, if there are fish, eat fish!” – Mrs. Ut emotionally recounted.

When recalling the past, Phong's eyes were filled with sadness, his stormy childhood was like a nightmare. Every time he thought about the misfortunes of the past, he wiped away his tears, using that as motivation to move forward.

Being allowed to stay by the hotel owner, Phong helps clean the room outside of school hours as a way to repay the favor - Photo: DOAN NHAN

He rarely talks about the past and likes to talk a lot about the future.

“I will find a part-time job to pay for my university tuition. If I drop out of school, I will have to work for hire for the rest of my life, going hungry one day and having enough the next, living an unstable life, and what will I do when I get sick? Only studying is the best way to change my fate, to find a stable job to take care of my future life,” Phong confided.

Knowing that Phong was about to enter school, an old acquaintance of his mother, Ms. Tran Thi Anh Thu, a teacher at Hung Vuong High School, secretly helped and supported him to go to school.

Ms. Thu asked her friends to contribute some money to pay Phong's tuition. At the same time, she asked an acquaintance who owns a hotel in Da Nang to give Phong a place to stay while he went to school. Ms. Thu said she felt sorry for Phong because his determination to go to school was not supported by many relatives.

Worried that with that situation he would not be able to complete his studies and could not help him on this journey. “We can only help him with the first steps, teach him to live gratefully and be a good person, the rest depends on Phong’s efforts!”, Ms. Thu shared.

Phong said he was very grateful to Ms. Thu and her friends. The current accommodation was very good, and he did not know what to do to repay their help, so he volunteered to help them with the chores.

Ms. Ngoc Tam, a housekeeping staff, said that every day after school, Phong helps the receptionists and housekeeping staff clean rooms or do other chores. If the guests here need anything, he will run to help them right away. Phong is honest and hard-working, and when anyone criticizes him, he just smiles very gently.