Scholarship / GLOBAL UGRAD Essay 1: I know what I can change and what I have to do! [2]

Essay 1:
The Global UGRAD Program is for young leaders committed to serving their home communities.

Why would you be a great participant in the Global UGRAD Program?

'Mom! Dad! I did it!' I still remember how happy I was when I got admission to VMU - Vietnam Maritime University and officially became a linguistic student in the Faculty of Foreign Studies. Many people might feel delighted because they could start new journeys in prestigious universities. However, for me, VMU was more than that since it offered its students many opportunities to study abroad. This meant that I was getting closer to my childhood dream of studying in the US!

However, everything seems not to be the same as what I had expected. Due to financial problems, I hardly get any chances to apply fully to any program. It was not until 2021 when I was introduced to the Global UGRAD scholarship by my teacher that my hope was fulfilled again. Since then, I have searched for further information about this scholarship by reading the program description on the website, watching videos of previous year's programs as well as asking former participants about their experiences. The more I dig into the program, the more I realize how crucial the program is to me to bring changes to my beloved country. Additionally, it gave me more motivation to strive for a chance of participating in the program so that I can make the changes I have imagined come true.

My passion to better myself and my community motivates me to spend one year improving myself and enhancing my skills to become a great participant in this year's scholarship. I know that to succeed in life, we need to do more than sit still in a square classroom because there are many challenges and experiences out there to learn. Therefore, during a year of preparation, I have engaged in many kinds of activities to increase my knowledge and skills. To commence with, I opened a free English class for children in my residential area to help them improve their speaking skills. This has made me understand clearly that education in Vietnam is not wholly effective since it is based heavily on theory rather than practice. My students perform well on their grammatical tasks but struggle with proper basic pronunciation. There are still many other problems that need to be addressed, and thus studying in the USA is indeed significant for me to get into one of the best educational systems in the world and learn many things I can apply to my future dream job as a teacher.

In addition I am the monitor of my university class where each member comes from a different part of Vietnam and has their own uniqueness in religion and custom. From the diversity, I have learned to adjust myself to new environments and learn how to work collaboratively with other people. Moreover, my problem-solving skills increase while dealing with problems. Although I have faced many difficulties, I really enjoy working with them as I can also learn interesting things from their culture.

All in all, as I am an active student who is always eager to learn, I can ascertain that if I am selected, I will apply what I will learn from the program to better myself and develop my home country with full potential and effort. Moreover, I will bring my years of experience working with the community to share with other participants and also bring Vietnamese culture to the world to show how amazing it is. Now I'm more than ready to be a part of this fascinating program and looking forward to hearing from you!