Among the many students of intake 26 who came for the admission at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), Nguyen Thi My Hoa quietly came alone without relatives’ company like other freshmen. She has a recognizable appearance with a small stature due to severe motor disability since childhood, and a slightly worried face of one who was away from home to the city for the first time.

My Hoa said: “I took a bus from Daklak last night so that I could reach the university this morning. I knew that admission applications have been accepted since September 19, but I waited a bit longer so that my mom could prepare some things, and today, I still had time to complete the admission on the last day.”

My Hoa was admitted to the Accounting major, the standard program of TDTU, by the method of reviewing high school academic transcripts. The excellent academic performance of a person with a disability like her is admirable: being a good student for 12 consecutive years, and the average score of 12th grade is 9.1!

While waiting to have her photo taken for student ID card, she shared more: “My family used to live in Khanh Hoa. Since my parents broke up, my younger brother stayed with my dad, I moved to Daklak with mom and stayed at grandmother's house. My mom does all kinds of jobs, and the only thing I can help her is doing the housework and trying hard to study.”

She did not talk much about difficulties or obstacles. Her face was lightened up with confident smiles and affirmations “I can do it” when being asked about her coming days: “I can walk because I live near the university; I can cook and do the laundry because I usually help mom with these; I will try my best to fulfill my mom's and grandma's dream, ...”

To encourage her, the Presidential Board of Ton Duc Thang University decided to grant her a scholarship of 100% tuition fee for the first year of the standard program.

Many hands are reaching out to give her more courage!