My name is Vo Thi Huong Duyen, and I am a second-year student at the College of Foreign Economic Relations.
On April 20, 2025, with my senior and fellow students, I was honored to be able to attend the special event sponsored by the Rising Up Scholarship program. This was truly a very special, joyful and meaningful day for me - a day that brought me not only laughter and memories, but also profound human connection.
At the event, I had the opportunity to get to know many new friends from different schools, majors, and backgrounds. Although I had never met them before, thanks to their friendliness and warmth, I felt like we had known each other for a long time. Being able to cook, talk, and play group games such as tug of war, hula hoop, "pick-up sticks," etc., helped me feel the closeness, solidarity, and love among the program members.
As a student who has lived and studied away from home for nearly two years, I realized that it is not always possible to have the instant warm and comfortable feeling like what I experienced that day. The event was like a breath of fresh air; it gave me the feeling that I was returning to my family and my close ones.
After a lunch break, I was extremely fortunate to listen to Mr. Hoe's profound and inspiring speech. I truly admired his strong work ethic, dedication, and burning desire to help the younger generation. Through his life story, I learned more about the difficult journey he has gone through. I understood more about the scholarship program he has created such as the Rising Up scholarships, and the opportunities he offered to students to study abroad in Japan. To me, Mr. Hoe is not only a teacher but also a strong inspiration, a shining example of knowledge and human spirits. That event left a strong impression on me, and I would love to be able to participate in future events like this one so that I can learn, share, and spread deep life knowledge with others
Finally, I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to Mr. Hoe and the respected mentors. for creating the opportunity for me and other students to participate in such a wonderful event. I am very grateful for her care and support, and truly hope that in the future, I will have chances to participate in more events like this.

A personal thoughts after attending the special event sponsored by the Rising Up Scholarship program

On Sunday, April 20, 2025, I was lucky enough to attend the Rising Up Scholarship event in a rural district, Cu Chi. On that day, I had many interesting experiences. I met and got to know several senior students. My first impression was that they were friendly, open, and positive. We had so much fun preparing food together. I was a bit confused in the "pick-up sticks" game, which I had never played before. However, everyone was very helpful. They gave me detailed instructions and encouraged me when I could not complete the challenge. Their encouragement made me very happy. In the hula hoop game, a senior student took the initiative to talk to me, but I forgot to ask for her name. While talking, I learned she was a second-year student at the University of Agriculture and Forestry. She was very charming and friendly. After the games, we had lunch. Everyone was polite and lined up orderly to get food. Lunch on that day was a special Vietnamese fish noodle soup called "Bún Cá". This was the first time I had eaten this dish.
Following the lunch and a short break, everyone gathered in the lobby to listen to Mr. Hoe sharing his personal life experiences. He talked about his years studying in Japan and the difficulties he endured. Through his stories, I had so much admiration for his spirit of community service. He always did what was best for our community, and more importantly, the entire generation of our country. One student asked him, "When we earn a large enough amount of money and have a better life, should we be satisfied, or should we try to earn more?". His reply was: "It does not matter how much or how little we earn, what's important is that we know to give back." Through his sharing that day, I also learned many other important lessons from him. For example, discipline is an extremely important factor to succeed in anything we do. Most importantly, what I learned from Mr. Hoe is compassion, patriotism, and the ability to do what is best for our communities, and not to be selfish or narrow-minded.
Thinking of that day, I felt extremely lucky and grateful to be a part of that event. I want to thank Mr. Hoe, Mr. Toan, Ms. Ngoc Anh, and other respected mentors for giving me a new and extremely meaningful experience. I also want to thank all the attending students for helping me and welcoming me even though we just met for the first time. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for letting me attend such a meaningful event.