Valedictorian and a gift for his deceased mother

Hoang Thi Hong Nga (born in 2001) is the valedictorian of the Agricultural Technology major at the University of Technology - Vietnam National University, Hanoi. She graduated with a score of 3.78/4.0.

I am also one of the 100 valedictorians in the Ceremony to honor outstanding valedictorians graduating from universities and academies in Hanoi in 2024.

Hoang Thi Hong Nga (born in 2001, hometown Thai Binh) represented students to speak at the closing ceremony and graduation ceremony of the second batch of 2023 of the University of Technology - Vietnam National University, Hanoi (Photo: NVCC).

“This is a gift for my family – the people who have accompanied and supported me throughout my 4 years of study. My emotions seemed to explode when I stood on stage and received this prestigious award,” Hong Nga said emotionally.

On the day of the award ceremony, only Hong Nga's brother attended. Due to special family circumstances, her mother passed away last year and her father was in poor health. But that day was a memorable day for Hong Nga when her efforts and hard work were duly rewarded.

What matters is a strong heart.

After three traffic accidents, Hong Nga's father's nerves were severely affected. This led to him losing his ability to work. Since childhood, Hong Nga's mother was the pillar of the family. With her own sacrifice, she shouldered the responsibility of raising Hong Nga and her siblings to attend university.

After some consideration, Hong Nga decided to choose Agricultural Technology. Initially, she faced opposition from her family as many people thought that studying agriculture would be hard and just manual work in the fields.

But for Nga, she understands that: “I chose agriculture because this is the backbone of the Vietnamese economy. Through stories of empty harvests, when the price is high, the crop fails, when the crop is high, the price drops, I understand more deeply the importance of applying modern technology to agriculture.

At that time, I wanted to find effective farming methods and techniques to support farmers. From there, I wanted to help Vietnam's agricultural sector become stronger and reach out to the world."

After a period of convincing her family with good achievements at school, Hong Nga gradually received support and encouragement from her family.

Hoang Thi Hong Nga is especially interested in sustainable agriculture. This is also the reason why she chose the Agricultural Technology major at the University of Technology - Vietnam National University, Hanoi (Photo: NVCC).

In addition to studying in the classroom, the female student also participates in volunteer activities, scientific research and a number of other projects. There were times when Hong Nga felt “overloaded” and could not adapt to the intensity of work and the dense research schedule.

The challenges that Hong Nga had gone through before seemed to be nothing compared to the shock she received at the end of her third year of university. After learning that her mother, who had accompanied, protected and raised her since childhood, had cancer, she felt lost and uncertain about life.

That period was the most difficult period of Hong Nga’s life. From the lecture hall, the research laboratory to the hospital, the female student had to constantly move between three places. At the same time, she had to try to keep her mind stable to become a solid support for her mother.

After a period of fighting cancer, Hong Nga's mother passed away.

“My mother often cooks meals as a way to encourage me when I am in trouble. This is her love language. A language that I can never seem to find again. There are times when I am afraid of forgetting the taste of what my mother cooks. Or of not remembering how sweet or salty the soup she cooks is anymore,” Nga confided.

For female students, that flavor of family love is like a medicine that gives them strength throughout their school years.

Hoang Thi Hong Nga (2nd, from left to right) thesis supervisor at the thesis defense ceremony of the University of Technology (Photo: NVCC).

Understanding that life is about moving forward, the female student remembered her mother's words no matter how difficult it was, when walking on the path she chose, she had to believe in her efforts. Hong Nga quickly returned to her normal life: continuing to study, research and becoming a spiritual support for her current family.

At her graduation ceremony, standing in front of all the students, the female student repeated her mother's advice: "Keep moving forward, no matter how thorny the road is. Faith, perseverance, and determination to do it to the end will help you achieve every goal on the journey to conquer your dreams.

No stone, no matter how big, can stop the resilient steps of those who always nurture hope and never kneel before fate.

If the foot is "hard", any stone must be "soft".

Hong Nga recalled that in her second year, she participated in the project “Growing organic purple sweet potatoes at Kikubara Organic Farm” to learn about practical agricultural farming models. The travel time from home to the farm was more than 20km. Having to attend classes and travel time to experiment with growing sweet potatoes made it difficult for Hong Nga to adapt to the pace of work.

“After adjusting and stabilizing my mind, I was able to organize my time scientifically and effectively. Thanks to the support from my classmates and the help of the farm manager, I quickly adapted to the pace of work. Since then, I have completed my scientific research and classwork well,” Nga confided.

The female student said that arranging time properly can improve the efficiency of the learner. In addition to scheduling and preparing lessons in advance for some subjects, learners need to master the ability to take notes using mind maps.

In particular, Hong Nga shared that she successfully applied the method of taking notes using mind maps and using flashcard applications Quizlet and Anki in her learning process to achieve the above remarkable achievements.

Hoang Thi Hong Nga is a female student with a passion for scientific research. It is known that Hong Nga has 6 articles published in magazines of all levels (Photo: NVCC).

Dr. Ha Thi Quyen, the lecturer who guided the student’s scientific research and graduation project, commented: “Hong Nga is an intelligent, diligent student with the will and determination to overcome difficulties. Coming from a rural area with difficult circumstances, but with good academic ability, she was admitted to the faculty as valedictorian.

With the desire to help farmers reduce the hardships in production by applying advanced technologies to agricultural production to increase the value of agricultural products and bring Vietnamese agricultural products to the world, I am determined to become a technology engineer for the agricultural industry.

I, as well as the teachers of the department and the school, are very proud of you. With your inherent potential and determination to strive and follow the path you have chosen, I believe that your future will be very bright."

Currently, Hong Nga is implementing innovative projects in mountainous cooperatives, focusing on developing sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture. Directly going to the field, the female student trains and guides farmers in advanced farming methods, helping them improve productivity and production efficiency through the application of scientific irrigation techniques and new generation farming models.

Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Hong Nga said that after accumulating experience from working and interacting with cooperatives and real agricultural farming models, she will continue to study a higher program and do more in-depth research on sustainable agriculture.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/thu-khoa-tot-nghiep-xuat-sac-va-mon-qua-danh-tang-nguoi-me-da-khuat-20241223065955190.htm