Dear Karen and everyone at the Lifestart Foundation,

First of all, I want to wish Karen and everyone at the Lifestart Foundation good health and offer my most heartfelt and sincere thanks for the support you have given me over the past years.

My name is Dang Thi Thanh Tam, and I studied Medical Laboratory Technology at Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy. This past May, I officially completed my university program and graduated with Distinction, achieving a GPA of 3.3 out of 4.0. For many people, graduating from university might feel like an ordinary milestone in life, but for me, it was something I once never dared to imagine I could achieve. That’s why I wanted to write this letter, to offer my deepest gratitude to Karen and the Lifestart Foundation, who gave me not just a scholarship, but the chance to change the course of my life.

In my final semester, I focused entirely on my graduation thesis. It was a period of real pressure, having to finish my research while also preparing to wrap up my studies. The process of working on my thesis brought no shortage of challenges, from gathering data and processing results through to finalising the content. There were long nights when I worked and worked and still hadn’t finished, and in those moments I felt utterly exhausted and under enormous pressure. But I kept reminding myself to push just a little further, because I didn’t want to let down my grandmother, my teachers and most of all, those who had always loved and supported me. Thankfully, all that effort paid off in the end. I completed my thesis on schedule and finished my final semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA. This past May, I officially graduated with Distinction, exactly as I had hoped. When I held my degree in my hands, the first thing I thought was that I had finally lived up to the help, love and trust so many people had placed in me.

I lost both my parents when I was young and grew up in the loving care of my grandmother. She was both the person who raised me and my only source of emotional support throughout my childhood and teenage years. But by the time I started university, she was getting older and was often unwell. Her health declined, and life became harder because of it. I understood my family’s circumstances all too well, so I always told myself I had to work hard at my studies, though I couldn’t help worrying too whenever I thought about the road ahead.

In 2018, when I was in Year 9, I was fortunate enough to learn about the Lifestart Foundation and was awarded a scholarship from them. It brought enormous joy to both my grandmother and me. Even now, I still remember exactly how it felt to learn I had received the scholarship. For the first time, I felt that there were people I had never even met, who were still willing to trust me and give me the chance to keep going to school. At the time, I simply thought the scholarship would help ease the difficulties in front of me. I couldn’t have imagined that the support would carry on right through my high school years and then follow me all the way to the start of university. Looking back on the journey since then, I understand more deeply than ever that the scholarship didn’t just help me get through financial hardship, it also planted in me the faith and hope to keep pursuing my education with strength and to keep nurturing my dreams.

Thanks to Karen and the Foundation’s support throughout my high school years, I found the extra motivation to keep going, gradually overcoming difficulties and finishing high school. In 2022, when I was accepted into the Medical Laboratory Technology program at Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy, my joy came hand in hand with a great deal of worry. I knew the road ahead would still be full of challenges, since my family would struggle to cover the cost of my studies. Fortunately, the Lifestart Foundation stayed by my side throughout my university years as well. That support gave me the confidence to keep moving forward on my educational journey, and it’s why I’m able to stand here today, having completed my degree and achieved the dream I once held so dearly.

The scholarship has never simply been financial support to me. Even though my tuition was waived under a government policy, I still had many other costs to cover, such as rent, daily living expenses, textbooks, study materials and the costs that come with practical training. Thanks to the scholarship, I was able to cover a good part of those expenses, ease the burden on my grandmother and focus on my studies with real peace of mind. More importantly, I no longer had to live with the constant fear that I might have to give up my studies because I couldn’t afford them. Beyond the scholarship itself, I was also able to take part in free English classes. In addition, I received a great deal of warmth from everyone at the Foundation, who would check in on me, encourage me and take the time to listen to whatever I wanted to share. I also had the chance to join outings and experiences, meeting older students and peers, which gave me a broader view and understanding of the world beyond what I had known before. Around holidays and Tet, I always received thoughtful gifts and essential supplies. Even during difficult times, like storms and flooding, the Foundation’s timely support brought real peace of mind to both my grandmother and me. All of this made me feel that I always had someone standing beside me as I grew up.

For my grandmother, the scholarship was also an enormous source of comfort. She often told me how lucky I was to have met such good people, and she would remind me to study hard so as not to let down those who had helped me. Those words of hers became a driving force that kept me pushing forward throughout my university years.

At the moment, I’m completing a six-month clinical placement to obtain my professional practising licence, at a public hospital called the Ngu Hanh Son Regional Medical Centre in Da Nang. Every day spent learning and working in a hospital environment is helping me build up more knowledge and experience. I’m continuing to learn and sharpen my professional skills, and once I complete my placement, I will look for a suitable job. I hope to become a healthcare worker with strong professional skills, someone who works with complete dedication to help care for patients’ health.

I sometimes wonder what my life would look like if I had never received the Lifestart Foundation scholarship. I would probably have had to spend most of my time earning money just to get by and my studies would certainly have suffered a great deal because of it. I honestly can’t say for certain whether I would even have made it into university at all. Thinking about that makes me even more grateful for the Lifestart Foundation’s scholarship. It didn’t just help me stay in school, it gave me the chance to grow as a person, to chase my dreams and to build a brighter future. I’ve always believed that as long as I don’t give up and keep trying, no matter how hard the circumstances, I can gradually change my own life, one step at a time. To me, Karen and the Lifestart Foundation are the people who gave me that chance. I am so deeply grateful that, amid all of life’s hardships, I was shown such profound kindness.

I want to sincerely thank Karen, and everyone at the Lifestart Foundation, for the care, encouragement and help you have given me throughout my university years. What I received was never just the value of a scholarship, it was warmth, genuine care and the motivation to keep striving to do better. I will always cherish and remember the love I’ve received, and I will keep working hard, living with kindness and taking responsibility for myself and for the people around me. I also hope that one day, once my own life is more settled, I’ll have the chance to carry that same love forward in different ways. I hope I, too, can become someone who gives hope to others, just as the Lifestart Foundation has done for me. Once again, I wish Karen and the Lifestart Foundation good health, peace and happiness. I hope the Foundation continues to grow from strength to strength, so it can keep helping so many more students in difficult circumstances take flight and pursue their dreams.

Thank you so much.

Dang Thi Thanh Tam