Dear Ms Karen and Lifestart Foundation,

First of all, I would like to extend my warmest greetings and sincere wishes for good health to Ms Karen and everyone at Lifestart Foundation.

My name is Nguyen Bui Gia Khang, a fourth-year student majoring in General Medicine at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy. I was born and raised in Quang Ngai Province.

Through this letter, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Lifestart Foundation for your support and encouragement. I would also like to take this opportunity to share a bit about my family background.

My father passed away five years ago due to a terminal illness. My mother suffered a traffic accident nearly a decade ago and now lives alone in bad health, coping with multiple chronic conditions related to aging and past injuries. Despite these hardships, she continues to raise livestock in an effort to support my education. In recent years, however, her work has been unstable due to outbreaks of disease affecting her livestock, sometimes leading to significant losses. When my father was sick, our family had to borrow money from many sources for his treatment. As a result, we are still working hard to repay those debts. My mother, despite her frailty, tries her best to provide for us and often tells me that she does not want me to carry this burden. Her words have been a great motivation for me to study hard and succeed. I have promised her that I will repay all our debts and take good care of her for the rest of her life. While I can partially support her now thanks to my medical knowledge, I have not yet been able to ease her financial burden. In addition to my mother, I have two older sisters who try their best to support my education. However, they have their own families to care for, so their ability to help is limited. Seeing my mother’s sacrifices and knowing that I have only her now, I am determined to pursue my education with all my heart.

When I received an email inviting me to apply for Lifestart Foundation Scholarship, I felt deeply moved. As I learned more about the scholarship, I came to admire Ms Karen and Lifestart Foundation team. I found that the scholarship’s values closely align with my own goals, so I applied with hope and admiration for the organisation. More than just the financial aid, I was eager to meet the people who are part of such a meaningful initiative and to learn from their working style. During the interview, I approached it as a sincere conversation to better understand the scholarship’s mission. When I received a phone call from Ms Nhung informing me that I had been selected, I was completely surprised. However, my first reaction was not joy or pride but a question to myself, How can I give back? How can I ensure I never let them down? After those thoughts passed, I felt very happy and I quickly shared the good news with my family. On behalf of my family and extended relatives, I would like to sincerely thank Lifestart Foundation for creating this opportunity and supporting me wholeheartedly. This scholarship means a great deal to me and my family, as it significantly eases our financial burden and allows me to focus on my studies without the constant worry of increasing tuition fees.

Beyond my own family, I also bear a sense of responsibility for my extended family, aiming to carry on my late father’s role in helping them grow and thrive. More broadly, I feel a sense of duty towards my community and my country in the future. That is why I am striving to achieve my personal goals, starting with maintaining an excellent academic performance. I realize that my long-term aspirations strongly align with the mission of the scholarship program as shared by Ms. Karen; the educational scholarship program aims to nurture and encourage people with kind hearts, particularly in the health sector, contributing to Vietnam’s growth. Once I achieve my personal goals, I will devote myself wholeheartedly to the development of our nation. I hope that every scholarship recipient, like myself, will also fulfill their personal goals and come together to create positive change.

I believe that the best way to show my gratitude in the future to Ms Karen and Lifestart Foundation is to continue your mission and create scholarship programs for the next generation of students who face difficult circumstances yet possess the resilience and courage to overcome failure and the aspiration to contribute.

Finally, I would like to share a quote from President Ho Chi Minh to the younger generation: “Young people must be brave, creative, enthusiastic and resilient in the face of difficulty. They must remain loyal, honest and upright.”

I believe that lifelong learning is of the utmost importance. Though not a new concept, it is constantly emphasized throughout time, as General Secretary To Lam once said: “Lifelong learning fosters courage to think, to speak, to act, to take responsibility and to sacrifice for the common good in order to become a person of value to society. It becomes a rule of life, enriching our mind, shaping our character, and forming our identity. It is also a key to raising intellectual standards and developing human resources.”

Once again, I sincerely thank Lifestart Foundation for this meaningful scholarship. I wish everyone good health, success and fulfillment in all your endeavors.

With deepest respect,

Nguyen Bui Gia Khang