Olympia contestant graduates with excellent master's degree from top 1% university in Ireland

(Dan Tri) - Trinh Thuy Ngan has an impressive academic record. She is one of 11 representatives of Vietnam to participate in the program "Southeast Asia - Japan Youth Ship 2023".

After a 4-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Program (SSEAYP ) has officially returned. Right when she had just completed her master's program in Ireland, Trinh Thuy Ngan (born in 1998, Binh Thuan ) applied and was selected as one of 11 youth delegates of Vietnam this year (VPY47). For Thuy Ngan, this is a long journey with many emotions. When she was a student at the Foreign Trade University in Ho Chi Minh City, Ngan dreamed of becoming a part of SSEAYP. However, partly because she was caught up in the cycle of studying and extracurricular activities, partly because she did not have enough courage because she saw her friends all had "huge" achievements, she did not dare to try. In 2019, Ngan was selected as a volunteer to welcome the 46th SSEAYP ship in Ho Chi Minh City. Not only participating in meaningful activities, the girl born in 1998 was also strongly motivated by the words of a Thai youth delegate: "You should apply and will be selected to become a delegate!". "At that moment, I imagined myself standing on the deck of the Nippon Maru ship, wearing the Vietnamese ao dai and confidently introducing the country's culture to international friends," she recalled. In 2020, Ngan had the opportunity to make her long-cherished dream come true when she passed many rounds of competition to register for the VPY delegation. But in the end, she still "missed the chance" with SSEAYP because the pandemic caused the plan to suddenly go astray.

Each delegate is a cultural ambassador.

At the end of November, Thuy Ngan and the young people in the VPY47 delegation will depart for Japan to participate in the activities of SSEAYP 2023 , including diplomatic activities, group discussions, cultural exchanges, and art performances. Counting down to "G-hour", she focused on preparing well from knowledge, physical strength to energy. The biggest goal Ngan set when participating in the program is to expand cultural experiences and network of friends in the region. " SSEAYP is an exchange program between Japan and 10 Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, this will be a valuable opportunity for each delegate like me to immerse myself in many diverse cultures for a long enough time to understand each other better," she said.

Thuy Ngan and members of the VPY47 group will go to Japan (Photo: Sseayp Vietnam).

In addition, the 25-year-old girl also wants to acquire knowledge about the economic , social and educational situation of other countries through group discussion activities, contributing the voice of young Vietnamese people to the common forum, thereby finding effective solutions towards the goal of sustainable development. More importantly, for Ngan, SSEAYP is not only a personal experience, but also a story of spreading Vietnamese cultural traditions and human qualities to the world and attracting international friends to her homeland. "Each delegate is a cultural ambassador of the country. Therefore, I will try my best to contribute as much as possible," she expressed.

Passion for "traveling"

Since her freshman year, Thuy Ngan has been passionate about programs on diplomacy, culture, and academics related to English, perhaps stemming from her passion for this language. Over the years, especially the last two years, the girl born in 1998 has had the opportunity to visit many countries and participate in international exchange programs. "There were short trips of 3 days, long trips of up to a year. Each trip was a unique experience and gave me invaluable lessons," she said. Ngan still remembers the time she was sponsored to go to Bangkok (Thailand) by the Young ASEAN Leaders' Policy Initiatives program in 2020. During her 5 days in the land of golden temples, she went through discussion activities, group work, and presentations on the topic ofeducation , feeling that her thinking was greatly expanded, and it was also the first time she worked in a multicultural group.

The girl from Binh Thuan also had many opportunities to learn when she became an ASEAN regional observer at the Youth 20 Diplomatic Forum (within the framework of the G20 program - Indonesia's Chairmanship Year 2022); a delegate participating in the NICE program (The Network for Intercultural Competence to facilitate Entrepreneurship - Network for Intercultural Competence Development to promote Entrepreneurship) at the University of Padova (Italy) this year. Most recently, while studying abroad in Ireland, Ngan traveled alone through 10 countries and 15 European cities. She said that all the Eastern and Western cultural experiences helped her mature in awareness and cultivate compassion. "Looking back, not every trip was part of my plan to become a global citizen. It was these "fateful" journeys that helped shape my global mindset," she shared.

Achievement list of "other people's children"

Last September, Thuy Ngan completed her master's degree in Applied Linguistics at University College Dublin (UCD) - a top 1% university in Ireland - with a maximum A+ thesis grade. She was awarded a First Class Honours overall - the highest ranking in the UK grading scale, equivalent to an excellent grade in Vietnam.

Thuy Ngan received the Global Excellence Scholarship at UCD (Photo: NVCC).

Previously, Ngan won the Global Excellence Scholarship at UCD. She also left the Foreign Trade University in Ho Chi Minh City with an excellent degree in Foreign Economics. Thuy Ngan proudly shared that she participated in the Road to Olympia program in the 16th year, when she was a 12th grade student at Tran Hung Dao High School for the Gifted, Binh Thuan. Passing many rounds of selection of the school, Ngan became the only representative to compete and won second prize in the weekly round. At that time, she had high expectations and thought she could do better, but perhaps she lacked a bit of luck to continue. "For the last question, I pressed the bell in the first seconds to take the right to answer from another contestant because I knew the answer for sure, but the bell did not ring. If I had succeeded, the result might have been different," she said. However, Olympia was still a great experience for Ngan throughout her high school years. It was a launching pad for her to mature and become more confident in later competitions. "Even now, the Olympian community (Olympia contestants) still regularly connect and see each other as a family. I think that is the greatest reward the program brings," the girl born in 1998 shared.

Thuy Ngan is a contestant of "Road to Olympia" year 16 (Photo: VTV).

Hope to help young Vietnamese people reach out to the world

As a student majoring in English, Thuy Ngan has long nurtured a special passion for this language. During her university years, she competed in many English presentation and debate competitions with memorable achievements such as winning the E*con Business English Debate Competition - Foreign Trade University, Campus II 2019 .

Thuy Ngan hopes to support young people to confidently step out into the world and become global citizens (Photo: NVCC).

Ngan is also the founder of the "IELTS for Better Vietnam" project with the mission of improving English proficiency and soft skills for young Vietnamese people in the 21st century, so that they can confidently step out into the world and become global citizens. This project provides quality IELTS and general English test preparation courses at a lower cost than the market, aiming to support students in difficult circumstances who cannot access English education at expensive centers. In parallel, a portion of the tuition fees contributed by students is used to organize non-profit educational activities, typically the "Queriosity" soft skills workshop series to train debating skills and critical thinking; the "English with Culture" talk show series to connect with international students during the closure period due to the Covid-19 epidemic; community course "IELTS With Debating" (IELTS with Debating)... As someone who values ​​education, Thuy Ngan hopes that, through her project, she can contribute to realizing Goal No. 4 - Quality Education (Quality Education) in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. "In the future, I hope to contribute all my intelligence and time to education and empowerment of young people," she shared.

In addition to being a teacher, people can see Ngan appearing in many different roles such as interpreter, speaker, MC, project manager or youth activist... because she is inherently passionate about many things and does not want to limit herself to a narrow field of expertise. Through her own experiences throughout her school, university and career, Thuy Ngan hopes to spread the message to young people: "Go ahead and don't be afraid. The most beautiful things are waiting for you on the other side of the horizon".

Dantri.com.vn

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