University of Pomona - Top 6 Liberal Art College (liberal education) - has granted the scholarship to Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong, the class president of the 12 English of Hanoi-Amsterdam high school. The 130-year-old school in California, along with Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology, is a non-profit, world-renowned private university.

"I cried with joy  when I received a reply with the the words “We agreed to accept you” from Pomona. The amount of financial support the school gives to her is over $ 254,000, equivalent to $ 6 billion, "said Phuong.

Minh Phuong received a scholarship of 6 billion VND from Pomona University (USA). Picture: NVCC

In Pomona, one in eight learners will have a faculty member (US news). Minh Phuong will be interacting and receiving the support, attention from the professors because the class only have 10-15 friends.

"Education can only exploit a student’s full potential when they’re divided into small groups. I am happy to study at my dream school, which has a great space near the sea, mountains, and  sunny weather year round, "she shared.

Pomona College is Phuong's risky choice because this university has received very few  Vietnamese students. Including her, there are two Vietnamese students studying at the multi-disciplinary training school,  which is the desire of many of these students.

Major in English but passionate about Physics

At Ponoma University, Phuong plans  to study physics. This is a rather strange choice because English-major  students  tend to choose to study Social Studies. "I am passionate about physics because there are many applications in life, help me in logical thinking, solve many problems in our world. In America’s  advanced education, I want to experience, discover new things in this field, "she explained.

Phuong knows that it’s hard studying physics in American universities. In preparation for that, she studied  AP (Advanced Placement). The program includes courses that correspond to the content of the first year of college, allowing students to get acquainted with the subjects. Next, she will be taking the AP exams developed by the College Board (which organizes the SAT and TOEFL exams), to advance college credit.

Earlier, Duong took the SAT 2 Physics and got 780/800 points. For Chemistry, Maths  she got an absolute 800. Even though  she took the SAT one year earlier than the majority of students who applied for American universities for the first time, she got  1,560 / 1600. "I mostly self-study,  i do not put pressure on my points but try hard to not regret," Phuong shared.

The 18-year-old is not sure whether after 2 years of studying in Ponoma she will change her major or not . However, she affirmed that the chosen major will be something that makes her feel passionate happy to handle the pressure of learning and work later.

In spite of majoring in English , Phuong decided to pursue Physics in uni

Exemplary class-monitor, head organizer in many extracurricular activities

"Anyone else in the class must recognize that Phuong studies very well. The grades for each subject and her GPA is almost always perfect, about 9.8 and it is the top of the class. But what impressed me the most - what I most admired in Phuong is the extracurricular activities. She is the head organizer of many events and devotes herself to each of them. Phuong is a kindhearted classmate, loved by all her friends,"said Ho Anh, a classmate.

The 12th Grade English teacher Le Thu Thuy expressed her pride for her student, describing Phuong as "good at both learning and extracurricular activities". Phuong won the second prize in the national English competition, the first prize in the Hanoi English competition in 2018.

She is the organizer of the Storm Career Fair in 2017 with a variety of career booths, attracting over 1,000 students and parents to participate. In one of the school's major events - Ams Got Talent, Phuong also serves as the head organizer.

Minh Phuong will attend the University of Pomona in August.

Having a lot of concerns when reading stories about children being embarrassed by their parents doing manual labor, when they were in grade 10, Phuong and her friends co-founded the White and Blue project with the aim of raising awareness about occupational discrimination. The group of 5 students came to elementary schools and taught students in grades 2-3 basic awareness of occupations and the reasons for respecting both physical and mental work. A number of seminars and exhibitions showing the need for both these career fields were organized as well.

"Many children are taught not to let themselves become manual workers without being taught that they should do their best to help those people. I want to change that preconception, by giving them access to the right way of thinking, "Phuong said..

The project of the group of students at Ams School then won the Dash For Impact Award in 2015 for high school students in Hanoi.

With excellent academic and extra-curricular achievements, Phuong's scholarship of $ 6 billion at Pomona College, according to many students and teachers is "absolutely worthy and totally not unexpected."

At the end of the national high school graduation exam, the role of the head of content  of farewell school students - Made in 12. Next August, she will go to the United States to study in a reputed university.

Excerpts of Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong's achievements

- EDON course in Pomona College - the top 6 LAC school leading the United States

- 1,560 / 1,600 points SAT 1

- 800/800 SAT scores in Mathematics, Chemistry; 780/800 Physics

- Second best student in National English competiton  class 12

- First prize in English for grade 12 and second prize in grade 11

- Head of the organizing committee of the Storm Career Fair 2017

- Head of Organization Ams Got Talent for the 2016-2017 school year

- President of Leaders Of The Future Organization

- Head of Content Made in 12

- Head of  content : Ams Advisor

-  Head Editor of Ams Writer's Guild

- Dash For Impact 2015 Competition Winner

Translator: Pham Van Khanh