Then, one morning in early July, devastating news arrived from home. Việt’s father, the family’s breadwinner, was injured when scaffolding collapsed at a building site where he worked as a builder’s assistant. The serious injury left him paralysed from the waist down and unable to work at all. In that moment Việt set aside his planned internship at Kaopiz Joint Stock Company and took on a new battle: getting his family through a devastating blow.
Thái Mạnh Việt was born into a family rich in tradition but poor in means. His grandfather was a war martyr who fell on the battlefield in Laos before he could meet his three-month-old son. Việt’s father grew up with nothing to spare, yet carried the responsibility of caring for his elderly mother and his sick wife while putting his children through school. The family farms only a few sào of rice field, and in the quiet season between harvests his father travelled to work as a builder’s assistant for extra income. The accident took away his ability to work, and with it the family’s main source of livelihood.
Worry about hospital bills and daily costs once led Việt to consider suspending his studies. In the middle of that crisis, both material and emotional, the HUST student felt more keenly than ever what the word “companionship” really means.
Late in the evening of 10 August, on hearing about Việt’s situation, lecturers of the Faculty of Education Science and Technology at Hanoi University of Science and Technology immediately reached out to alumni and called on students. They went to the hospital in person to comfort the family, and raised more than 33 million VND towards his father’s treatment. Set against the cost of care the sum was modest, but as encouragement it was enormous, easing the family’s sense of facing hardship alone.
As soon as the Dean of the Faculty of Education Science and Technology shared Việt’s situation on his personal Facebook page, many alumni, staff and lecturers of HUST, along with the Dean’s own friends, sent what they could to Việt and his family. One alumnus from K50 wrote: “Thank you for sharing this so that I have the chance to help fellow Bách khoa students in difficulty. We HUST alumni always want to join hands in the University’s meaningful programmes.”
The Student Affairs Office of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, together with the Faculty of Education Science and Technology, also guided Việt through his application for the Trần Đại Nghĩa Scholarship, a policy for HUST students whose families face exceptional financial hardship. The award can cover up to 100% of tuition.
Assoc. Prof. Lê Hiếu Học, Dean of the Faculty of Education Science and Technology at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said: “Bách khoa is not only a place that teaches knowledge, it is also a community. We want our students to understand that when they come to study here, they do not walk alone. The Faculty and the University will stand beside them and share with them, not only in their studies but in their lives, and with their families as well.”
For Việt, the most precious thing was not the material support but the affection and the sharing of so many people around him. He says he will do his best to finish his degree on time, both to fulfil his own dream and to repay the trust of those who stood beside him and his family at their hardest moment.
Thái Mạnh Việt’s story is not the only one of its kind at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Within its demanding academic environment, HUST has always held up humanity, care, compassion and the spirit of “leaving no one behind”. Here each student learns how to solve a problem, run a production line, carry out practical work and experiments, and at the same time learns how to become someone who shares, and who stands firm in the face of adversity.
Perhaps that is what makes Hanoi University of Science and Technology a place that does not only train good engineers and graduates, but also nurtures decent human beings.
Written by: Gia Hân
