Disadvantaged DTU students have been able to overcome their handicaps. Despite their appearance and health, they have a strong desire to live like normal students and chose Duy Tan University to help them succeed and make their dreams come true.
Sustained efforts to overcome their difficulties
Truong Le Hoai Trang - Unfortunate health wise but intellectually gifted
Hoai Trang is unable to walk like her friends because her legs were paralyzed as a result of a fever when she was a baby. She has tried her best to combat her problems and prove herself academically. She was ranked in the top five of her school class for twelve years and, at DTU, she was one of the best students in her K15TPM class.
After interning for two months at the DiCentral Company in the Danang Software Park, Trang was offered a job there when she graduated three years ago. Happy with her new job, she said:”I chose well to study at DTU. What I learned there laid the foundation for my current career. I received strong encouragement and support from the Provost, lecturers and classmates, who gave me the strength to persevere in my studies and my life in general. In addition, I was granted free tuition after I did well in the first semester.
Huynh Trong Nghia - With the will and confidence to succeed
Nghia lost his left hand at birth, which challenged for him in various activities. However, he has always believed in himself and tries hard to succeed in life. Since he was young, he had dreamt of going to university. He said: “People think that it is almost impossible for a handicapped person to do well. Personally, I believe that if we are confident and try hard we can overcome all life’s challenges.”
When he passed the university entrance examination, Nghia could have applied to any public university in Quang Nam but, trusting in the quality of education at DTU, he began studying IT there three years ago. He said: “During my studies at DTU, I frequently participate in national and international workshops to gain professional experience and am an active member of the English and Business Start-up clubs. I take part in several competitions, including the DTU Innovation Cup and the Social Venture Plan, which will give the opportunity to apply my knowledge in my future career.”
Kieu Thi Nu - Overcoming a physical deficiency
At less than one meter in height, Kieu Thi Nu was forced to adapt to higher education and was accepted as a DTU IT student.
Nu comes from a poor, rural family of six, in the Duy Xuyen district of Quang Nam. She has been severely disabled in both legs since birth, unable to grow to a normal height. Activities are difficult for her and she always needs help. She knew early on that her physical disability would make heavy work almost impossible and that she would be unable to help her parents on their farm. So she resolved to put all her energy into studying for university, in order to use her brain instead of her body.
“Many times, I found my physique was a hindrance,” Nu explains. “I couldn’t play sports or go out with friends, and going to school was difficult because I couldn’t use many forms of transportation. At DTU, my teachers and classmates give me much help and I am able to tackle these concerns. I can now find happiness in books, and motivate myself to never give up.”
Her lecturers find her a petite and an incredibly hardworking, dynamic student. Nu is fairly quiet but is attentive and inquisitive, always striving to overcome her disability. When DTU learned about Nu’s circumstances, they decided to offer her free tuition to reduce her problems and allow her to study without further worries.
In order to find a good career on graduation to support herself and her elderly parents, Nu is now working to her maximum at DTU. She believes that her challenges are developing her endurance and tenacity and that the easiest way to get through life is always to smile.
Nguyen Ngoc Dung - Where there’s a will, there’s a way
As a result of polio, Dung is paralyzed in his right leg and has to wear a brace. Movement is difficult. He thought about quitting school and resigning himself to fate. But then he thought: “I cannot be a cripple forever!” In 1999, Dung graduated from the Danang Military Medical Secondary school, in Military Zone 5 and went back to Quang Ngai to open a pharmacy. He got married and has two children. Then he decided to resume his studies by enrolling for Bachelor of Pharmacology degree at DTU.
After two years, he is classified as an excellent student. When asked about his decision to apply to DTU, the 38-year-old man said confidently: “I am studying here to broaden my knowledge of Pharmacology, including the metabolism of drugs, adverse reactions to drugs, the interaction between various drugs and how to optimally combine drugs efficiently and safely. I really want to prove to my family that, although their father is disabled, he is still doing his best and that there is no possible reason why they, in good health, should not do well also. In this way I train myself to focus on my studies and convey my willpower and enthusiasm to my children.”
(Media Center)