A mother, a son and one decision
Hải grew up in Nam Đàn, Nghệ An, in a family of just him and his mother. She farmed and took whatever work people would hire her for to support him. With no money for extra classes, Hải mostly studied on his own. In grade 12 he won second prize in the provincial Biology competition, then entered Bách khoa with an admission score of 26.8.
His admission letter came with worries about tuition and living costs in Hanoi. His mother would not let him give up: she moved to Gia Lai to farm and raise silkworms with relatives so she could send him money. From his first semester Hải took part-time jobs, at times spending five hours a day applying vehicle stickers and studying whenever the shop was quiet.
A scholarship at the right moment
In the second semester of his first year, the Student Affairs Office introduced Hải to the “Chắp cánh Bách khoa” scholarship for students facing exceptional hardship. It freed him from worrying about tuition. The programme also found him a teaching-assistant job at a mathematics club, which gave him more time to study and more confidence in front of a class. Hải says the most valuable thing he received was the feeling that someone believed in him, even before he believed in himself.
From shy freshman to valedictorian
Hải changed how he studied: reading ahead before class, asking friends when he did not understand, and forming a study group. He earned academic merit scholarships in 6 of his 7 semesters. In the summer of his third year he joined a two-week exchange at KAIST in Korea, and early in his fourth year he visited Wuhan and Chongqing in China. It was the first time he thought about studying abroad.
Hải graduated in Mathematics & Informatics with a CPA of 3.89/4.0. He now works as a research assistant at VinUni and is preparing applications for master’s scholarships abroad. His most immediate wish is to take care of his mother, so that she no longer has to work far from home.
Source: adapted from “Mẹ đơn thân làm rẫy, nuôi con tốt nghiệp thủ khoa Bách khoa Hà Nội” (VietNamNet, 26 September 2026) and Lê Cảnh Hải’s graduation speech.
