Admitted to the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, USA), Gia Minh said that he "changed direction" and decided to pursue Environmental Science - a major contrary to his strengths and talents - by chance.
In November 2019, while walking with his father on the street, Minh happened to see the scene of cleaners eating bread next to dozens of carts full of garbage waiting for cars to transport them to the city's landfill.
"Do you see that while many people are eating and resting in places with good conditions, there are still many people who have to work hard in harsh working conditions?" - the fleeting words of his father at that time are still deeply imprinted in Gia Minh's mind.
Vo Nguyen Gia Minh (12th grade student, Hanoi) has just been admitted to the Environmental Science major at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) - a top public university in the US.
At that time, in addition to studying culture, the female student's passion was for music and painting. She had a hobby of painting and had participated in organizing and working as an assistant curator for a number of art exhibitions. Gia Minh also showed her musical talent when she was able to play many musical instruments such as: piano, violin, viola, drums, ...
The female student can even play 3 instruments in the school's symphony orchestra. As for the violin, Gia Minh can confidently stand in the first part of the orchestra.
“At that time, whether I was performing at the Asia-Pacific Arts Festival with classical piano and drums or playing for fun at home, I found great joy in the diverse musical language. For me, music is a universal language that transcends all boundaries and connects people together,” Gia Minh shared about his passion.
But the surprise came not only to everyone in the family but also to Gia Minh himself. After his father's accidental comment "about the hardships of environmental sanitation workers", Gia Minh was urged and on New Year's Eve that year, decided not to stay at home but to go meet the street cleaners.
That was also the time when Minh saw groups of environmental workers diligently cleaning up all kinds of trash on the empty streets. For them, the work was really hard, the lack of recognition and financial difficulties,... all of which moved him.
Since then, for four consecutive New Year's Eves, Gia Minh has not stayed at home but has gone to many places to meet, chat, give gifts, and share the Tet atmosphere with environmental workers.
“Through those experiences, I not only broadened my perspective on life but also realized that I needed to share more with the people around me,” Gia Minh confided.
It was also through those years of closeness and sharing that Gia Minh gradually felt the desire to contribute to finding ways to solve large social problems.
After many years of sharing with the cleaners, I clearly see that the collection, classification and treatment of garbage in urban areas of our country is not scientifically arranged. Therefore, there is a "chaotic" situation of unsorted garbage, foul smell and loss of urban landscape.
“I feel even more troubled when I see the janitors working hard to clean up trash day and night, regardless of rain or shine, but it seems like there is never a end to the work,” said Gia Minh.
Going deeper, Minh sees that the hardship of cleaners mostly comes from the process of sorting waste at the source, people's awareness and human behavior towards the environment from littering to untreated wastewater being discharged into rivers and lakes; even the policy on waste treatment in particular and the environment in general still has many problems that need to be amended soon.
Instead of deciding to study hot majors such as AI, finance, communications, business administration, etc. in the 12th grade study abroad application round, Gia Minh decided to pursue Environmental Science.
“I want to go to school to find a way to change, the simplest way possible is to optimize the process of collecting and processing garbage,” Gia Minh said about his wish.
Gia Minh also shared his personal journey and experiences over many years and his desire for change in his essay sent to American universities.
In addition to essays with many materials from life, Gia Minh also has impressive academic achievements when he won many international awards in Mathematics and Physics such as Gold Medal in International Math Challenge; Silver Medal in International Youth Math Challenge; Encouragement Prize in Physico Challenge, Stemco Olympiad...
I was also the chair of the Model United Nations conference for international school students in Asia.
Recently, she received good news with the announcement of admission from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) - a top public university in the US.
Gia Minh said that upon receiving the news of his admission, he was extremely happy because his goal of pursuing sustainable environmental development, more specifically changing the environment in Vietnam, was gradually being realized.
Gia Minh meets, shares and gives gifts to environmental sanitation workers on New Year's Eve for many years in a row.
In addition to UC Berkeley, Gia Minh also passed and received admission letters from 5 other universities in the US.
Deciding to pursue a not-so-hot field of study, aware of many challenges, especially job opportunities after returning home, Gia Minh was not shaken:
“I chose this major because I believe that the environment is one of the important factors, even decisive in determining whether a country is developed and rich or not.”
The female student believes that with the changes in thinking and strong determination to protect the country's environment, if she studies well, she will have no shortage of opportunities to prove herself in the future. "I want my path to change the thinking and awareness of the community and bring values to the quality of life in the future."
Gia Minh said he will leave for the US to study in August, hoping to study environmental policies, waste management systems and the impact on human behavior.
At this time, in addition to completing high school, Gia Minh is planning to equip himself with more skills to adapt to an independent life in the upcoming university environment.
Source
Comment (0)