Han Bang Thanh (born 1996) was born in Wuhan, Hubei (China) and is the eldest brother in a family with a younger brother 14 years younger. His parents worked in engineering and construction before switching to business.
Wake up from your criticism
When he was young, he often heard his mother talk about his uncle, who was the valedictorian of Wuhan University and entered Tsinghua University. " At that time, I was in first grade and didn't understand anything. I just thought that if my uncle could do it, I could do it too. My mother talked about my uncle's glorious achievements, but didn't mention his education process," Han Bang Thanh recalled.
In middle school, while his friends were focused on studying to prepare for the high school entrance exam, he played games day and night. "My parents knew I liked playing games but didn't stop me. They even registered an account for me to buy props. Later, I realized that this was the lesson my parents taught me."
Han Bang Thanh, 27, is the only double master's degree holder from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). (Photo: Baidu)
As a result of the high school entrance exam, he passed the East China Normal University's affiliated High School No. 1, but his score was at the bottom of the class. On the day of admission, Han Bang Thanh recalled being laughed at by his classmates for having the lowest score in the class: "At this moment, I had to admit that I was bad. If I hadn't been so busy playing, the results would have been different. Calm down, I think I need to study hard."
This source of motivation urged the male student to study seriously from grade 10. After 11pm, the dormitory lights were turned off, and Han Bang Thanh went out to the balcony to study. By the end of the year, the male student's academic performance rose to the top of the class. With this momentum, he believed that if he could not get into Tsinghua University, he could still get into Shanghai Jiaotong University.
During the summer break of 10th grade, his parents announced that Han Bang Thanh would study abroad after 12th grade. At that time, his friends criticized him for not being qualified enough to take the university entrance exam, so he had to "run" abroad. Not paying attention to the gossip around him, the male student "plunged" into learning English: "I studied very enthusiastically, even when I was eating, I brought my vocabulary book with me."
Han Bang Thanh's efforts were rewarded with his admission to the Mathematics Department of New York University (USA) with a TOEFL score of 112/120, SAT score of 2260/2400, perfect SAT II score and 5 AP subjects (Advanced Placement Program).
Starting his college life in the US at the age of 18, he was in culture shock because he couldn't find a connection with his friends. At class reunions, everyone only mentioned how much money their family had. "Although my family's conditions were quite good, compared to my friends, I was qualified to talk. At first, I felt lonely and depressed," the male student confided.
To relieve his mood, he returned to his hobby of doing magic to help him balance his emotions. At first, he invited 5-6 close friends to his house to watch. Later, more people knew about him, so on Saturday nights, about 30-40 people sat waiting for him to do magic. Among them, there were people who later became both friends and partners of Han Bang Thanh.
23 years old founded an online study abroad company
Not allowing himself to relax his requirements, in the US, Han Bang Thanh still studied hard. In 2018, the male student graduated with excellent grades with a GPA of 3.95/4.00.
This result helped him receive invitations to study for master's degrees at Columbia, Cornell and New York University. However, after consideration, he decided to study for a dual master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Business Analytics and Finance.
Giving up his position as a Senior Manager at a leading US corporation to return home to start a business, at the age of 27, Han Bang Thanh's income is about 20 million NDT/year (more than 68 billion VND). (Photo: Baidu)
His friends called him 'the invitation harvester' because of his outstanding achievements, which attracted the attention of many prestigious universities. After that, secondary school students started to seek him out, asking about how to prepare documents and admission procedures to American schools. Because of the demand, Han Bang Thanh came up with the idea of providing paid online study abroad consulting services.
In 2019, after posting this service on Tweet, the first customer came to him. This person said, believing in Han Bang Thanh's real-life experience: "Hopefully, you can help me get into a prestigious school." In response to the customer's trust, he wholeheartedly guided him from writing a resume to answering interviews. As a result, Han Bang Thanh's first customer got into MIT.
"Although the initial transaction fee was low, it was an important boost that helped me establish an online study abroad consulting and service company. My target customers are students who wish to enter prestigious universities in the UK and the US."
Talking about the initial difficulties, he said that most customers did not understand clearly, but wanted to skip the stage. Having established his own company at the age of 23, Han Bang Thanh lacked management experience and wanted to join a large corporation to learn. In 2019, after graduating with a master's degree, he submitted his CV to large corporations in the US.
24 years old earns millions of dollars/year
As the only dual master's degree holder from MIT, he was accepted by McKinsey as a Data Specialist. Han Bang Thanh decided to stop at the world's largest consulting group, which owns a complete management system. This is also what he still lacks when running his own company.
The pressure of work was so great that he felt suffocated. In 2022, after 3 years working at McKinsey, he left his position as Senior Manager with a salary of millions of dollars/year and a green card to return home to start a business. His family opposed Han Bang Thanh quitting his job. They thought that graduating with a master's degree from MIT just to run an online company was a lowly side job.
Despite his parents' words, he still returned to Vietnam to run the Online Study Abroad Consulting and Service Company - PH Education. His daily job is to teach, correct essays and guide international students in answering interviews.
"My helping students get into the world's top universities is a great achievement that cannot be compared to the glory at McKinsey. Students say their family's lives have changed thanks to me. With this affirmation, I am more certain about my choice," said Ha Bang Thanh.
27 years old salary 68 billion VND/year
The company's main customers are students from North America and a few from China. Up to now, the company has been operating for 5 years, helping thousands of students get into top universities in the UK and the US: "PH Education is the only online study abroad company that has had many students get into MIT for 5 consecutive years and master's graduates can join the world's leading companies".
Revealing his salary, the 27-year-old master's degree holder said: "I was lucky to achieve financial freedom at the age of 20. Currently, my annual income is about 20 million NDT (more than 68 billion VND)" . Sharing his plans, the young CEO said that in the near future, the company will switch to direct operations, instead of only providing online services as before.
For Han Bang Thanh, this is a new challenge, because managing an offline company is more difficult than building a course roadmap and connecting with customers. However, he is not shy and still feels excited about this experience. Thanks to the years of studying, applying for jobs and starting a business, he realizes that difficulties help him reveal many of his abilities.
Always staying on the path he has chosen is the motto of the 27-year-old CEO. This is evidenced by his journey from a student in Wuhan, graduating from New York University and having a double master's degree from MIT. Later, he held the position of Senior Manager at McKinsey Group, to the current CEO of a high-revenue study abroad company.
(Source: VietNamnet/Sina)
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