Learning by doing, growing by trying

On graduation day, Ngoc stood among her cohort as one of RMIT University Vietnam’s Vice‑Chancellor’s Scholars – a recipient of the university’s full‑tuition, merit‑based scholarship. She graduated with a GPA of 3.7/4.0, a major in Finance and a minor in Blockchain Enabled Business, alongside national competition titles, international youth leadership programs, and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I pass before the age of 22.

From the outside, it is an impressive coming‑of‑age story. But for Ngoc herself, graduation marks “not a finish line, but a transfer of responsibility and impact”.

A journey that started far from campus

When Ngoc entered RMIT in 2022, she did not arrive with what she later described as “a clear blueprint for success”, but with a deep belief that education should make life clearer, not heavier.

Born and raised in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, Ngoc saw early on how financial constraints could close doors for capable young people around her.

“Growing up in my rural hometown, I witnessed how easily opportunity could slip away when learning became a financial burden rather than a doorway forward,” she said.

That awareness led her to leave her hometown at 15 to attend Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted in Ho Chi Minh City, then pursue a full-tuition scholarship and a Finance degree at RMIT University.

“I want to study finance to understand how money works, so it stops being a reason why people have to say ‘no’ to their dreams. My ambition is to become a professional in impact investing, using finance to empower people in underserved communities like where I grew up,” Ngoc said.

Making the most of every chance

With that goal in mind, and the opportunity given by the RMIT scholarship, Ngoc consistently pushed herself beyond the classroom while at university. Alongside maintaining a high GPA, she took part in high-calibre competitions.

Her achievements include First Prize at the Vietnam ESG Challenge 2024, National First Runner‑up at the HSBC Business Case Competition 2024, and First Runner‑up at the 2025 CFA Research Challenge – Victoria & South Australia, as the first exchange student from RMIT Vietnam to join this competition in Melbourne.

Beyond competitions, Ngoc served as Vice President of the RMIT Vietnam FinTech Club. She also spent time as a Business Program Tutor, supporting students navigating challenging business subjects. Notably, she represented RMIT and the voice of Vietnamese youth in regional dialogues and leadership programs in Jakarta, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City.

During her RMIT years, Ngoc also began sharing practical reflections on studying, competitions, and personal growth online. Her educational content on Instagram and TikTok has generated viral moments, reaching millions of students nationwide. She has since mentored more than 30 students applying for scholarships or preparing for competitions, quietly extending the academic spirit of RMIT beyond campus.

“My club leadership, mentoring, and content creation are all ways of scaling the opportunity that I was given. In pursuing my own ambition, I also want to share my tools and experiences so that others feel more inspired or confident to build their own paths,” Ngoc said.

A moment of recalibration abroad

It was later, during her 11‑month cross‑campus exchange in Australia in 2025, that Ngoc encountered a very different kind of challenge. In Melbourne, she was no longer “the scholarship student” or “the competition winner”.

“In Australia, I was just an international student with a non‑native accent among thousands of accomplished students. No one knew what I had done before, and no one cared what I had achieved before,” she said.

Writing candidly on her Facebook page, Ngoc described this as a moment of recalibration. “For the first time, I truly felt how small I was in such a vast world. But it was precisely because I was no longer bound by the standards I had previously set for myself that I was free to experience new things and allowed myself to fail without fear of judgement.”

That experience later became a motivation for her to pursue the CFA Level I exam in the last three months of her Australia stay after receiving a CFA Program Student Scholarship, while balancing a job, travelling plans, mentoring, and staying fit by running.

“I want to keep developing professionally in the finance world, and the exam is one of the tools to help me do that,” she said. “But pursuing only professional excellence is not enough. I want it – with my personal growth and commitment to impact – to be an integrated mission.”

Looking ahead with purpose

Since returning to Vietnam earlier this year, Ngoc has stepped into the next phase of her growth journey. She is currently working as an analyst intern in an investment bank, supporting private Vietnamese companies in their capital raising efforts, while also contributing to a research project on climate technology funding in Vietnam – a space that reflects her interest in impact investing.

Away from work, Ngoc continues to make time for mentoring and content creation. To keep herself grounded, she runs several times a week and has recently taken on a new personal challenge training for her first half marathon.

She is realistic about this transition stage in life. Growth, she believes, continues well past graduation, and not everything needs to be determined at once.

“I don’t see myself as a ‘perfect graduate’,” she shared. “I’m still figuring things out, but I never hesitate to learn by doing and grow by trying.”

As Ngoc graduates alongside the Class of 2026, the ideas that have shaped her journey – using finance as a tool for impact, building connections and communities, and nurturing a passion for continuous learning – now come together as she prepares to transfer impact into the world beyond campus.

Story: Ngoc Hoang