Born in 2006, Tuan, a student at Hanoi Law University, is a San Chi ethnic minority from Thai Nguyen. From a young age, he accompanied his parents to pick tea and help with farm work. Growing up with the tea plants made him deeply understand the hardships his family faced.

At that time, Tuan began to develop the conviction that he had to study well to change his life and escape the daily routine on the hills. “Only knowledge is the key to changing one’s destiny,” he said.

Despite being farmers, Tuan’s parents always guided their children to study hard to have the chance to step into a wider world.

While studying at Thai Nguyen boarding school for ethnic minorities, Tuan achieved two provincial awards in grade 10: excellent student in literature and third prize in the science and engineering contest.

In grade 11, he won the provincial excellent student award in History, third prize in the provincial science and engineering contest, and first prize in the Thai Nguyen youth innovation awards. In grade 12, he continued to win the provincial excellent student award in History.

At the 2024 high school graduation exam, Anh Tuan scored 29 points, becoming the top scorer of C exam group (literature, history, geography) in Thai Nguyen Province. Thanks to these achievements, he was honored at the 2024 national ceremony recognizing outstanding ethnic minority students and youth.

After that, Tuan chose to study at Hanoi Law University. Explaining his choice, he said that even in high school, he realized many legal issues made life difficult for people in his hometown. He wanted to gain legal knowledge to help change perceptions and assist his community in resolving legal matters.

With clear goals, Anh Tuan pursued university study with discipline and initiative. “I think studying is not a battle. When you have clear goals, you can stay focused and make your efforts most effective,” he said.

In class, he listens actively instead of taking excessive notes. He shared that the content in class is extensive, and lecturers often move quickly. Without focus, students can easily miss important knowledge.

At home, he reviews textbooks and studies in groups to consolidate and expand what he has learned.

“Having a study group is important because classmates can fill in the gaps in your knowledge. I also often volunteer to be group leader in assignments to understand the subjects more deeply,” he shared.

Being honored as an outstanding ethnic minority student has also motivated him to keep striving to meet expectations.

During his first year at Hanoi Law University, Anh Tuan achieved excellent academic results and outstanding conduct scores. He participated in professional clubs and is a member of the management team of “Cong dong 54 dan toc Viet Nam” (the community of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam), a project sharing information about ethnic minority groups in Vietnam on social media.

This work helped him spread the cultural values of his own ethnic group, learn about others, and help ethnic minority communities have a stronger voice.

Tuan said that since high school, he had taken part in two research projects related to preserving and promoting ethnic minority cultural identity, including preserving San Chay culture through the Tac Xinh dance and traditional costumes and language.

At university, he continued a research project on providing legal information to ethnic minority communities that aims to narrow the legal gap and help people access legal information.

For Tuan, being an ethnic minority is not something to feel insecure about. He believes every ethnic group has its own cultural identity, which is a foundation and “a springboard” for further development.

“There is no reason to feel inferior for being an ethnic minority. Anyone can rise as long as they persist, keep learning, and remove self-doubt, the barrier that prevents us from stepping into the world,” he said.

In the near future, Tuan aims to complete his bachelor’s degree and take the bar exam. Looking further ahead, he hopes to return to his hometown to support local people in resolving legal issues properly and transparently, and to help improve legal awareness in ethnic minority communities.

“Knowledge plays an important role in changing one’s destiny. With knowledge, we have more opportunities, can shift our thinking, and broaden our perspective. This is the foundation for contributing more to our hometown and preserving the cultural identity of our ethnic group,” Anh Tuan shared.

Thuy Nga