Dear Ms. Karen and everyone at Lifestart Foundation,
I am incredibly fortunate to have received the prestigious scholarship sponsored by you and the Lifestart Foundation to help with my studies and today, I am writing this letter to express my sincere gratitude to you and Lifestart Foundation.
In the second semester, I completed my final subject at university, the Graduation Internship. I had four months to both intern at the People’s Court of Cam Le District and to complete my internship report. During this time, I was exposed to many civil, criminal and administrative case files related to my field of study that occurred in this district of Da Nang City. From there, I researched and chose the topic “Building a Legal Framework for Controlling Artificial Intelligence to Protect Individual Rights Regarding Personal Images” to complete my report. Finally, after four months of effort, I finished the report and defended it in front of the committee of professors on May 15th, achieving a score of 9.3/10 and a GPA of 4.0/4.0 for this semester. Additionally, on May 19th, I also successfully defended the topic at the faculty-level Student Scientific Research Conference and won Third prize. I am extremely happy that after a long period of research, I achieved good results this semester.
My four-year journey of studying at university has finally come to an end. I’ve graduated with a Distinction degree, achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.44 out of a possible 4.0. I am happy and satisfied because I have tried my best throughout this journey. As a student who was very unfamiliar with the new environment, I was unable to achieve high grades in the first semester of first year. However, I made great efforts to maintain high grades from the second semester onwards. In addition, I also participated in several academic competitions and Youth Union activities to improve my soft skills and enhance my personal development.
After graduation, I plan to seek a job related to my field of study. I will work hard to improve myself even more to be truly happy on the chosen path and to help those in difficult situations, just as I have received tremendous help from you and the staff at the Lifestart Foundation.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who has helped me over the past 10 years to achieve my current success. I still recall the hardships my family faced before I received the scholarship. My parents worked hard as farmers and my father, who had lost a leg, could not do strenuous work. The meager earnings from the crops were not enough for my parents to cover their living expenses. At that time, my sister and I were both students, adding more financial worries for my parents. Whenever my sister and I needed to pay school fees, my parents had to struggle to borrow money from neighbors.
Back then, I could only wish for a miracle to happen to ease my parents’ hardships even a little. And luck smiled upon my family, because in year 7, the Lifestart Foundation appeared like a ray of light shining into our lives. I remember the day Ms. Karen and the staff from the Lifestart Foundation came to my secondary school to interview students in difficult circumstances. I answered truthfully about my family’s situation, completely unaware that the Lifestart Foundation would become a second home, helping me overcome adversity, providing me with favourable educational opportunities, and significantly easing my parents’ burdens.
Over the past decade, the scholarship has opened new chapters in my family’s life. Lifestart Foundation not only supported my education by covering all expenses from tuition to books, pens, uniforms and school supplies, but also provided help during difficult times such as floods and pandemics, and offered my family means of livelihood. Lifestart Foundation helped my family repair our old house, making the delapidated kitchen more spacious and fixing the roof so it no longer leaked or became rundown during the rainy and stormy seasons. Lifestart Foundation also gave me a bicycle and an electric bike to make it easier to get to school and gave my father a 3-wheel motorbike so he could move around and do more farm work. Many other forms of assistance have transformed my family, bringing us the stability we enjoy today.
Since I started university, I have been very grateful to Lifestart Foundation for having paid all my educational expenses for the past four years. The cost of my university education was very high, so it was a blessing that, thanks to your help, I was able to study at my dream university and gain knowledge in my chosen field. This support has strengthened my knowledge and skills for my future career. I am deeply thankful to you for your love and care throughout my four years of university education.
Throughout my studies, you and the staff at the Lifestart Foundation have always cared for me, checking in monthly to encourage me and help resolve any academic difficulties I faced. Additionally, the Lifestart Foundation regularly organized day-out activities, career guidance sessions and meetings with other scholarship recipients. During these activities, I had the opportunity to meet and listen to valuable experiences from previous scholarship recipients regarding their studies, work and life, as well as participate in fun activities like games, meals and crafting. I am always happy to take part in these meaningful activities organized by Lifestart Foundation. Your generous support has alleviated some of my family’s financial burdens, allowing me to focus on my studies and pursue my dreams without any worries. My family and I are deeply grateful for the foundation’s tremendous love and care.
I often wonder if I hadn’t received the Lifestart Foundation scholarship, would my parents have been able to afford for me to continue my studies at university? The answer remains uncertain, but even if they could, I know that they would have had to struggle a great deal more, which would have greatly weakened their health. Of course, I also realize that with my family’s circumstances, it would have been impossible for my parents to provide me with the same level of educational support that I have received from the Lifestart Foundation. Therefore, I’ll always be grateful and cherish the time that the Lifestart Foundation has spent on accompanying me on my educational journey.
In closing, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Ms. Karen and the staff at the Lifestart Foundation for your unwavering support for me and my family. I will always cherish your kindness and generosity. I wish you all continued success in your endeavors and hope that the Lifestart Foundation will continue to grow and reach more communities, providing opportunities for underprivileged children to pursue their dreams through education.
Sincerely,
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tham