Dropped out of school due to difficult circumstances
On the evening of June 30, the collection “The Dreams Of Movement” by Le Thi Tu Trinh (35 years old, fashion design student at Hoa Sen University) at the Fashion Creation 2024 show organized by Hoa Sen University, was both a graduation project and a special gift for her 10-year-old son.
Trinh said that this collection was inspired by means of transportation such as cars, planes and spaceships along with her son's dream of becoming a pilot. The designs were recreated on creative shapes through the performances of the child models, creating excitement for the viewers.
Tu Trinh got her university degree at the age of 35.
What makes Trinh different and most impressive to her teachers and friends is that she is 35 years old this year and has a 10-year-old child. After 17 years since graduating from high school, Trinh is preparing to fulfill her dream of getting a university degree.
Trinh said: “When I was in 8th grade, because my family was in financial difficulty, my parents moved from Soc Trang to Binh Duong to work as factory workers to earn money, bringing my younger brother who was in kindergarten, while I stayed at my aunt and uncle’s house. At that time, my parents worked all day and couldn’t find a place to send my younger brother, so I had to temporarily stop studying and go to Binh Duong to take care of him. After a few months, I worked many jobs such as working at coffee shops and restaurants to support my parents.”
During this time, Trinh missed school very much and longed to go back to school, so she asked her parents to let her go back to school. Loving her studiousness, her parents decided to send her back to her aunt and uncle's house, but because Trinh dropped out halfway, she had to go to a supplementary class. After 11th grade, Trinh moved again, returning to Binh Duong to live with her parents and continue her studies, graduating from high school there.
“After graduating from high school, I thought my family was in such a difficult situation that I decided not to take the university entrance exam but to go to work to help my parents. Then I got married and enrolled in college. However, I got pregnant while studying, and every month I had to stay in the hospital for ten or more days, so my studies were interrupted again,” Tu Trinh recounted.
Many days I do not see my mother
In 2019, at the age of 30, with a 5-year-old child and a stable job, Trinh felt this was the right time to pursue her dream. She decided to review her academic records and was admitted to the fashion design major at Hoa Sen University.
Starting from a person with no knowledge of English and computer science (due to studying in the supplementary secondary school system, she did not learn English when she went to high school), and already having a husband and children, Trinh encountered many difficulties compared to her classmates.
Trinh's son (in yellow shirt) had fun with his mother at the collection show on the evening of June 30.
“Every day, I wake up at 4:30 a.m. to review my lessons, then at 6 a.m. I ride my motorbike from Binh Duong to District 12 to study, and in the afternoon I travel back to District 3 to continue studying. During the 4 years of studying, I drove more than 50 km each way. In the evening, after cooking, cleaning, and putting my children to bed, I continue studying. The fashion design industry requires a lot of homework and tests, so I often stay up until midnight,” Tu Trinh shared.
Unlike her classmates who are not tied down by family and are more relaxed, Trinh has to balance her study time with her time taking care of her small family and both sets of parents. “When my child is sick, I have to stay up to take care of him and still have to wake up in the morning to go to school. There are days when I go to extra English classes and when I get home it is almost 10pm so my child doesn’t see me. I just feel sorry for him, he asks me every day, ‘Mom, what time will you be home tomorrow?’” Trinh tearfully recounted.
For Trinh, the price of realizing her dream of getting a university degree was also very expensive. That is, during the 4 years Trinh had very little time to accompany her child, missed out on the stages of her child's development, and did not fulfill her obligations to her child, causing her husband to suffer.
“During this time, I was too busy to go back to my hometown to visit my grandparents. When my grandparents passed away, I was not there to see them for the last time. I missed the opportunity to show my gratitude to them,” Tu Trinh said.
Never thought of giving up
The characteristic of the field Trinh is studying is that she often has to make specific products about fashion and accessories. Students will have to come up with their own ideas, find materials, cut and sew... This process is quite time-consuming, laborious and costly. Many times, after going to the market to find the fabric she likes and then making a sample, but the material is not suitable and the idea is not right, Trinh has to throw it away and start over from scratch.
Most recently, while working on her graduation project - The Dreams Of Movement collection, she had only been working on the project for a week when she had to return to her hometown to mourn her grandfather. Due to staying up late for many days, when she returned to Binh Duong, Trinh had to be hospitalized due to physical weakness and vestibular disorder.
Tu Trinh guides child models to participate in her collection show
After being hospitalized for 3 days and having to stay home for 2 more days, it took Trinh 2 weeks to complete the assignment. She had to stay up many nights to keep up with the progress. Because she was working on a children's collection, the lecturer was very strict about the materials.
"There were days when I went to Phu Tho Hoa market and found 3 or 4 types, went to Soai Kinh Lam market and found 2 or 3 types, then went back to Tran Huu Trang market and found 4 or 5 more types, brought them back and the teacher only approved 1 or 2 types, so the next day I had to go back and find more. It was expensive and I had to travel for many days in the hot sun. I was tired, but I thought that if I wanted to do well, I had to continue," Trinh said.
Trinh's project had a total of more than 70 types of fabric with many materials and was one of the highest rated collections of the course (ranked in the top 5), the result was better than Trinh expected. Not to mention Trinh's GPA after 4 years of study was 3.48, excellent.
"The process of realizing my dream of studying at university had some really stressful and tiring stages due to pressure, but I remembered the reason why I started and told myself to try harder. I never thought of giving up because if I gave up, I would never be able to do it again. I am happy with the results of today. In addition to my own efforts, I also received support, encouragement, and motivation from my husband and family," Trinh confided.
After graduating from university, Trinh plans to continue her studies for a master's degree to become a lecturer. She shared: "When we have a dream, we should try to pursue it. Maybe for some reason we can't do it right away, but let's nurture it until we can. The important thing is not to give up and always persevere, determined to pursue it to the end."
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoc-tre-12-nam-van-tot-nghiep-dai-hoc-loai-gioi-185240702095808546.htm
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