At the graduation ceremony, Dung carried his mother on his back onto the stage to receive his bachelor’s degree.

At the recent graduation ceremony, as students took turns stepping onto the stage to receive their bachelor’s degrees, the hall suddenly fell silent at a special moment. Dung, an outstanding graduate in Pharmacy, carried his ailing mother on his back as he walked onto the stage to accept his degree.

Taking his mother from her wheelchair, Dung leaned down slightly so she could wrap her arms around his neck. He walked slowly onto the stage, retracing the long journey that the two had traveled together through years filled with upheaval.

Dung’s mother was once a pharmacist who worked for many years at a small pharmacy in their hometown of Go Cong (former Tien Giang). Dung's childhood was associated with the smell of medicine and evenings when his mother diligently checked prescriptions and categorized every blister pack and syrup bottle.

"Since I was a child, I saw my mother take her profession very seriously because even a small mistake could affect someone's life. That made me develop a special respect for the pharmacy industry early on," Dung recalled.

After finishing high school, Dung enlisted for two years of military service. Those years in the army helped him build endurance, but returning to academic life was challenging. “There were times when I felt slower than my classmates because I had been away from studying for too long. But once I chose this path, I did not allow myself to quit halfway,” he said.

Dung adopted a steady learning approach, breaking knowledge into smaller portions instead of cramming. He spent long hours in laboratories, observing chemical reactions and memorizing each formulation and testing procedure. Those lessons went beyond textbooks and gradually became crucial tools when his family entered the most difficult period of their lives.

Lecture halls and hospital corridors

Upheaval struck during his final university years. Dung's father suffered from severe memory loss and was no longer able to care for himself; every daily activity required someone by his side. Before he could adapt to that shock, Dung's mother was diagnosed with a serious illness. Prolonged treatment exhausted her, making eating difficult and her spirits fluctuate. 

From then on, Dung's life was split into two. One half was in HCMC with his schedule of classes and internships at hospitals and pharmacies. The other was in Go Cong with rushed meals, taking his father to the restroom, and driving his mother for treatment.

“There were days when I interned from morning until afternoon, then took an evening bus back home. At night I stayed awake to watch over my mother, and in the morning I took another bus back to school. I was so exhausted that all I wanted was one full day of sleep, but I could not allow myself to collapse,” Dung said. 

Thanks to his pharmaceutical training, he was able to care for his own family members. He did not panic when seeing prescription figures and understood what his mother’s body was going through and what to prepare for.

Exactly one month before his thesis defense, Dung’s father passed away.

During those days, Dung arranged his father’s funeral, cared for his mother after treatment sessions, and completed his graduation thesis at the same time. Some nights, he wrote reports beside his mother’s hospital bed, waiting for IV bottles to finish before helping her to the restroom, then returning to his laptop. With all his effort and will, Dung defended his thesis on time, achieving excellent results and officially qualifying for an Excellent degree.

“Dad, Mom, today I have graduated”

Holding his Pharmacist degree, Dung said it was not only the result of years of study, but also a reminder of medical ethics, responsibility, and devotion to the profession. He quoted a sentence he has always carried with him: “Parents are those who accept exhaustion so their children can stand upright in life.” Only now did he fully understand its meaning.

For Dung, the Pharmacy profession does not start with the white blouse but with professional ethics. 

Ha Nguyen