Blind student studies at 2 universities at the same time

The journey of blind student Huynh Ngoc Hieu has many interesting things worth learning - Photo: NVCC

Huynh Ngoc Hieu is a former student of Suong Nguyet Anh Secondary and High School (HCMC). Despite being blind, Hieu was always an excellent student throughout his 12 years of schooling. His achievements during his high school years were always at the top of his class.

In 11th grade alone, Hieu was at the top of his class. In the 2023 university entrance exam, Hieu was admitted to the marketing technology major at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH), making many teachers and friends admire him.

I believe that disability is not a big deal. After all, social projects come from the heart. If the heart is big enough, you can overcome difficulties to pursue those activities. Throughout the activities, I always hope that blind people who have difficulties like me will have more opportunities to develop.

Student Huynh Ngoc Hieu

Studying at two schools at the same time

Hieu recently received a full scholarship from RMIT Vietnam. The scholarship covers all undergraduate tuition fees, university English program fees, and other mandatory fees. Not only that, Hieu also received a monthly living allowance of 11 million VND and a laptop.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, the RMIT scholarship selection committee said they were impressed with the activities that Hieu has actively participated in to contribute to the community, especially his efforts towards the community of visually impaired students. Hieu has demonstrated maturity in thinking and action, and has the desire to study further and higher.

So in early October, Hieu began a new chapter in his personal development book: studying at two different universities at the same time. At RMIT Vietnam, Hieu is studying the English program, then planning to study professional communications. At UEH, Hieu has just entered the second year of the marketing technology program.

Hieu himself also finds this a really challenging process, especially in arranging study time. Currently, after the first few weeks, Hieu realizes that he has a pretty good schedule, mainly studying at RMIT in the mornings and studying at UEH in the afternoons. However, to complete all the assignments given by the teachers, Hieu has to sacrifice more study time. Staying up late to study, sometimes until 2am, has become more common for Hieu.

"One of my strategies is to take advantage of the breaks between the two schools. Currently, I see that each school has different breaks during the year. These are the times when I can focus on important content or exams," Hieu said.

Very high independence

MSc. Nguyen Thuy Dung - a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at UEH - once had the opportunity to work with Hieu in a course in the first year. What she remembers most about Hieu is his high level of independence. Hieu always minimizes unnecessary support from teachers and friends if he can do it himself. He also always hopes that teachers can assign assignments, test, and evaluate him like other students without bias.

Ms. Dung recalls that Hieu always had a reader, which could help him read documents. Surprisingly, Hieu could always use the device to understand all the documents his teachers assigned, no matter how much. "He also often searched for other sources of documents. In group activities with his friends, Hieu often came up with many remarkable ideas. He had a great will to learn," Ms. Dung said.

"Why is Hieu so determined to study?" we asked. Hieu said that since middle school, he has always told himself to continuously try his best. He said that many of his friends, blind uncles and aunts, and blind friends are not as lucky as he is to study. So when he has the opportunity to study, he must do his best. "I always consider it my responsibility to make up for their loss. Studying not only creates value for me but can also help them in the future," Hieu affirmed.

Actively participate in community projects

However, it is worth mentioning that not only focusing on studying, Hieu also diligently participates in community activities. Since grade 10, Hieu volunteered to be the content leader for a community project communication group. The project started by introducing good habits in studying and living for students at Suong Nguyet Anh Secondary and High School to participate.

In 11th grade, Hieu and his friends at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Specialized High School (HCMC) received funding from Microsoft to carry out a community project called Neverland.

In this project, Hieu and his friends built a digital resource to help blind students access and improve their knowledge and soft skills. Because the group realized that blind students in Vietnam have very few resources to be guided on very practical things such as how to apply for scholarships, how to apply for jobs, interview skills...

With a large family and not being well-off, there was a time when Hieu’s family considered letting him drop out of school. So Hieu found some online content writing jobs to save up some money. Luckily, Hieu received some scholarships from funds and projects so that he could feel more secure when he started university. When he was accepted into UEH, Hieu returned to these funds and projects to volunteer to be a mentor for younger students.

Hieu mainly guides students in the following courses on how to study some subjects, how to take tests, exams, admissions, and career orientation. Many visually impaired students accompanied by Hieu have been admitted to public universities in the 2024 admissions season.

To make technology accessible to the blind

Hieu shares his passion for developing expertise in the marketing industry, especially marketing in the technology field. Because Hieu realizes that thanks to the strong development of technology, the blind are having more opportunities to integrate. For example, Hieu is using some technology applications, especially AI, to support learning.

According to Hieu, if there is access to such tools, it is important for the visually impaired to get out of their comfort zone, out of some complexes to try and learn new technologies, thereby opening up new opportunities.

"To do this, there is nothing more than needing more effective marketing and communication, so that new technology products can reach the hands of the visually impaired. That is one of the things I really want to do in the future," Hieu shared.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sinh-vien-khiem-thi-hoc-cung-luc-2-dai-hoc-20241015085737621.htm