Vu (born in 2004) was an International Business major at NEU. Four years ago, the English-major student from Vinh Phuc High School for the Gifted in Phu Tho decided to choose International Business after recognizing his early passion for commerce.

During his 10th-grade year at high school, Vu tried his hand at selling storybooks, phone cases, and miniature plants. After about half a year, Vu earned over one million VND in profit.

"Even though the amount was not large, the feeling of making money on my own for the first time made me very excited. It was precisely that experience that made me want to pursue a major related to business," Vu recalled.

Still, university life turned out to be far more difficult than he had imagined.

Originally an English major with strengths in social sciences, Vu felt overwhelmed when exposed to subjects requiring strong quantitative reasoning, such as Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, or Mathematics for Economists.

While many classmates with stronger science backgrounds adapted quickly to those subjects, Vu became insecure about whether he could keep up. He eventually chose to spend more time studying independently.

Vu identified and developed his strengths. He realized he was capable of studying theoretical subjects that demanded diligence, such as Philosophy and Political Economy, or subjects that required business thinking and presentation skills.

Identifying his strengths and weaknesses early on helped Vu regain confidence and make a powerful breakthrough in subsequent semesters. As a result, throughout his academic journey, Vu's transcript did not contain a single B or B+.

Achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA came down to three vital "secrets." First and foremost, one must clearly define the order of priority for each semester.

"Student life has many goals, from studying, scientific research, and participating in competitions to taking part-time jobs. If you bite off more than you can chew all at once, it is very easy to get overloaded. Therefore, I only chose one or two most important goals for each semester to focus on and try to achieve them," Vu said.

In addition, Vu strived to score a perfect 10 for attendance, while setting midterm exam benchmarks customized to the nature of each subject, knowing that the higher the component scores, the lower the pressure on the final exam.

He also harnessed the power of group study. "I was fortunate to have a very close group of friends. Before each exam season, the whole group usually divided the work to summarize materials and systemize knowledge. This method of learning saved a lot of time and was less stressful than 'swimming' alone," Vu said.

Early graduation with the highest score

In his second year at university, Vu set a goal to complete his undergraduate program in 3.5 years to enter the working environment early.

To shorten the study time while still guaranteeing top marks, he registered for 1–2 extra courses each semester.

“Because my strength was not in calculation-heavy subjects, I knew taking too many quantitative courses in one semester would overwhelm me. Instead, I only took two or three such subjects each semester, while the remaining courses were theory or specialized subjects where I could better maximize my abilities,” Vu explained.

He said the most important factor behind his achievement as valedictorian was perseverance.

At one point, he served as leader of five or six study groups, managing content, monitoring assignment progress, preparing presentations and handling tests. At the beginning of his third year, he also started looking for internship opportunities.

However, the more he tried to juggle everything, the more exhausted he became. Realizing he could no longer take on everything, he decided to resign from his internship to focus on his studies. That adjustment bore fruit when Vu entered the top three highest-achieving students in his class.

Once things stabilized, Vu returned to interning because he understood that beyond a strong academic transcript, employers also highly value practical experience.

After completing university, Vu chose to pursue a career in E-logistics in a business development role, believing the industry has enormous growth potential amid the rapid expansion of e-commerce.

Thuy Nga