Lan, born in 1996 in central Vietnam, is a former Urban Infrastructure Engineering student at the University of Transport. Lan's father worked as a construction worker while her mother was a farmer. 

In 2014, when she was admitted to the University of Transport, she again faced the risk of being unable to attend university due to the worry of tuition fees.

“At that time, I felt very sorry for my parents. The day I passed the university entrance exam, my parents also tossed and turned all night worrying that they wouldn't have enough health to support their child's education for four years,” she recalled. 

But at that time, Lan had only one goal: “going out of the village's bamboo ramparts and seeing the world out there”. Most of all, she had faith that as long as she tried her best, her life would surely change.

Determined to go to school, Lan promised her parents she would not become a burden to the family. As soon as she stepped foot in Hanoi, she rushed into finding a part-time job. But due to a lack of skills and poor communication, Lan was repeatedly rejected.

Later, introduced by a classmate, Lan fell into a multi-level marketing (MLM) ring without knowing it, and was even led to take out high-interest loans to pay money to join.

“At that time, I simply thought, just go to work and then I will have money and pay off that debt soon,” Lan recalled.

But during that entire year she faced many deadlocked days. In the beginning, her parents still sent VND1.5 million for expenses each month. After paying for rent and fixed items of about VND1 million, Lan only had VND500,000 for food.

But because she had to bear an additional monthly interest debt of about VND420,000, Lan only had about VND80,000 to manage. She recalled that there were months when she had to eat rice with fish sauce and pickled vegetables because she had no money left.

“When working there, I was ‘brainwashed’ and only tried to work and race for sales, so I no longer had time to focus on studying,” Lan said. As a result, her studies began to decline seriously. Only then did Lan realize she was going in the wrong direction and decided to stop.

Thanks to her efforts, in 2018, Lan graduated according to her goal. Holding the degree in her hand, she was confident she would get into a large company with a high salary.

However, the reality after graduation was not as easy as she expected. Despite owning an honors degree, Lan still struggled to find a job. Finally, she accepted an engineering job with a salary just enough to live in Hanoi.

In 2021, Lan decided to stop to pivot to telesales with the desire to find a new direction in work. But after only working for three weeks, she quit because she felt it was not suitable.

The pressure of life left Lan feeling stuck. There were mornings when she woke up or was riding her bike on the road when she burst into tears because she didn't know what to do next.

Lan decided to return to office work, while at the same time taking advantage of the evenings to learn about business. After a period of research, she began selling goods on e-commerce platforms. 

During the day she went to work, and in the evening she packed goods and operated the online shop. Life was busy but gradually had positive changes.

After a period of persistence, Lan accumulated her first VND600 million. In 2023, she decided to use the entire amount of money to build a new house for her parents before getting married.

Lan has left Hanoi and moved back to her hometown to live. She still maintains her online business, works in logistics, and creates content on many platforms. She also bought her own car, built a house, and has a more stable life.

“I think that the most important thing to escape poverty does not lie in degrees or professions but in life goals. I believe that what you have in your mind, you will eventually have in your hand. When you have a clear goal, you will seriously pursue it,” she said.

Le Huyen