Thanks to my strict teacher, I am a good person now.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa (now a company director, fourth from right) met again with teacher Nguyen Thanh Ky - who gave him many lessons to succeed in his future business - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

On the morning of November 16, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa spent Saturday after a busy week to go to Ho Chi Minh City College of Economics to attend the celebration of November 20 and the 35th anniversary of the school's founding.

Accompanying him were many of his fellow students, who had been caught up in the busy vortex of life for a long time and now had the opportunity to gather at their old school.

15 minutes late for school is outside

Mr. Hoa arrived at the event very early and was eager to meet the teacher who taught his class more than 20 years ago – one of the people he believes has had the greatest influence on his current career. That teacher is Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ky – who taught his class some subjects on business administration, and was also the principal of the school at that time.

He recalled that the teacher was very strict and demanding. In each lesson, the first requirement that the teacher asked the students in the class to follow was to be on time. The rule that the teacher gave right from the first lesson was that if the student was 15 minutes late, he would ask them to leave and not be allowed to return to the class until the end of the lesson.

Even for very early classes, like at 1 p.m., the teacher still required students to be on time. Some students gave excuses like forgetting to take a nap or being stuck in traffic, but the teacher did not find them convincing.

“The teacher often said that those reasons can be overcome proactively, set the alarm earlier or leave earlier to avoid traffic jams. The teacher said that if each person cannot control punctuality, how can they control life, which has many surprises and changes later on? And at work, punctuality is one of the highest manifestations of professionalism,” Mr. Hoa recalled.

At first, many students were not used to it and were often late. Some students were asked to leave the class and did not know how to handle it or apologize. Some students thought that the teacher was the principal at that time and used his power to "show off" to the students. But after only a month, the class started to get into a routine and everyone felt fine when they showed up on time. Then, students automatically arrived 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time.

After graduating, Mr. Hoa worked as an employee for a logistics company in Ho Chi Minh City, then opened his own company. Now, he is a successful businessman, currently the director of Trong Khang International Transport Trading Company Limited and the director of Trong Khang Plastic Production Company Limited. The lesson of punctuality has always followed him and he has applied it in every company.

For example, employees in each department are required to be punctual. In inter-departmental meetings, any department that is late will be counted for lateness and accumulated throughout the year. In a year, any department that is more than 120 minutes late will be disqualified. In addition, he also invested more resources in technology to optimize his production and transportation systems.

“Time is also a resource, if you want to be successful in business, you must not waste time. This is what I have learned from the lesson Mr. Ky has taught me over the past 20 years,” said Mr. Hoa.

Students of Van Don Secondary School, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City give flowers to congratulate their teachers on November 20th – Photo: NHU HUNG

The whole class washing cups

Mr. Hong Quoc Trung is currently the director of Mekong Hotel and Restaurant Investment and Management Consulting Company Limited. Nearly 20 years since graduating, from the lowest positions in the F&B industry to now successfully running his own business, he still remembers clearly the time he studied with Mr. Nguyen Huu Nghia at Saigontourist College of Hotel and Tourism (HCMC).

That was in 2007, Mr. Nghia was the head of the restaurant department at the school, and Mr. Trung, after 4-5 years of working, decided to return to college to have a proper major. In every class, the teacher repeatedly reminded his students that they had chosen to study the service industry and had to be honest. Students did not need to show this honesty to anyone, but first of all, they had to be honest to themselves.

For example, when practicing washing cups, students must ensure that each cup is washed according to the correct procedure, through each step that has been taught. There cannot be three steps, but because I was in a hurry, I only did two. I also did not subjectively say that the cup looked clean so I just washed it briefly. Mr. Trung remembers that the teacher once spent an entire session letting a group of students in his class wash a cup over and over again until it met the standard.

Another lesson of honesty taught by Mr. Nghia is about change and tips from customers. If you are a waiter, you must return the change of 1,000 VND from the customer, you cannot automatically assume that it is your tip. Some customers will consider it a small amount of money and not pay attention, but the waiter himself cannot be so arbitrary. At the same time, when receiving tips, you must handle them according to the regulations of each restaurant, you must not cheat.

“Honesty has always been my top priority when building my company’s team. In my employee training programs, I spend a lot of my lectures on honesty in real situations in restaurants and hotels. I pass on the lesson that my teacher always kept in mind to the young people who accompany me that honesty is first and foremost being honest with yourself,” said Mr. Trung.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Tuyen was also a student majoring in restaurant management, class 2002-2004, at Saigontourist College of Hotel and Tourism and was also influenced by Mr. Nguyen Huu Nghia.

Mr. Tuyen recalls that his teacher often told him that one of the hardest things for service workers is to maintain consistency in their service. Often, many people easily fall into the trap of “judging a book by its cover”, seeing that a customer seems to have money, they serve more wholeheartedly, but if they look a little “poor”, they may not give their all. This is a lack of professionalism.

Mr. Tien Tuyen said that Mr. Nghia made his students practice maintaining a consistent caring attitude even in school. They had to maintain that attitude when dealing with teachers, friends, superiors, and subordinates. He even told the students that when they returned home, they had to be caring to their parents and relatives, treating them as big customers that they were honored to serve.

That consistent dedication has always been part of his career journey to become an expert in setting up and operating large banquet and event centers. He is currently the operations director at FnB Director, and the founder and director of the Chay Vietnam culinary ecosystem.

“Without the teachings of my teachers, I would not be where I am today,” said Tuyen.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thien Vu with his mother and father - teacher Nguyen Hao - Photo: NVCC

I think the valuable things that teachers leave for students are often not knowledge, but the person they are when teaching and in life. Because if it were only knowledge, today students have many different ways to approach knowledge. It is the heart of each teacher that will leave students with a lesson on how to live, maybe small but very profound.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thien Vu

Solve math problems without skipping any steps

On the evening of November 15, Mr. Nguyen Van Thien Vu was honored in the program "Ho Chi Minh - Journey of Aspiration 2024" - honoring typical examples nationwide in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style.

The name Nguyen Van Thien Vu is not unfamiliar to many people in the domestic technology startup community, as he is the CEO of Agridrone Vietnam Aviation Equipment Joint Stock Company - one of the first companies to apply drones to agriculture in the Mekong Delta.

Sharing with Tuoi Tre after the event, he said that his success was partly due to his math teacher Nguyen Hao, whom he had studied with for many years. In the past, Mr. Hao taught high school math in Thong Nhat district (Dong Nai), then due to family problems, he brought his family back to Hue and taught at Phu Thanh Secondary School. He is now retired.

As a capable teacher, Mr. Hao was once assigned to review math exams for gifted students at the school. Thien Vu was once a student who attended many of his math tutoring classes. With each problem, the teacher required students to be meticulous in every step and every stage. As gifted students, there were some students who liked to solve problems quickly and skip steps.

However, Mr. Hao was strict and asked his students to do each step in detail, from step A to step B, then step C. The next step must inherit the previous step and the whole problem is a logical synthesis of the smallest steps together. Mr. Vu recalled that the teacher once told young students to learn to go slowly but surely, because young people are often impatient and being impatient will lead to mistakes.

Those reminders were like a compass for Thien Vu when he started his start-up. He and his teammates carefully took each step, carefully preparing everything from human resources, capital to technology.

When faced with opportunities to “jump forward”, he reminded himself not to be subjective and hasty, but to reconsider each previous step to see if it was really solid. Every difficulty, like a problem, has a solution, the important thing is to analyze each step and solve each step logically.

Mr. Vu "revealed" that teacher Nguyen Hao is also his beloved father.

Good habits create a solid foundation

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa and teacher Nguyen Thanh Ky at the meeting on November 16 - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ky believes that punctuality is a sign of professionalism and responsibility, especially in the working environment. If students learn the habit of being punctual early, they will easily adapt to the strict requirements of the job, contributing to building personal reputation.

According to Mr. Ky, punctuality is a habit of successful people. By practicing this habit, students learn to be disciplined and organized, creating a solid foundation for personal and career development.

“In life, many valuable opportunities can be missed just because of tardiness. I teach students to be punctual so that they know that time is an asset that cannot be regained if lost and needs to be used wisely,” said Mr. Ky.

Meanwhile, according to Mr. Nguyen Huu Nghia, the hotel and restaurant industry or service industry in general always puts customers first. Fraud, no matter how small, can lead to serious consequences such as health risks or dissatisfaction, affecting brand reputation.

Therefore, the honesty and dedication that he imparts to students with the expectation of helping them develop themselves sustainably in an industry that is always highly competitive.

Help students do better

According to Nguyen Van Thien Vu, teacher Nguyen Hao rarely gives compliments. He often carefully points out where students can do better, more interestingly or more deeply. In particular, he pays great attention to the presentation of a math problem.

The teacher compared presenting a math problem to presenting a project, a job, or more broadly, a future life. Because according to the teacher, solving math problems or life is not just about having an answer, it is about taking steps to reach that answer.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nho-thay-nghiem-khac-nay-con-nen-nguoi-2024111708280644.htm