Further study was never part of the path laid out before her. If Nhi wanted a university education, she would have to create the path herself.
Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, an organisation supporting vulnerable children and young people across Vietnam, became an important part of that journey. Through providing mentoring, educational support and opportunities to grow, the Foundation helped Nhi gradually rebuild her confidence as a learner until university began to feel within reach. Over more than eight years, the Foundation supported her tuition, housing and healthcare costs.
Every step forward required persistence.
Nhi stepped away from the classroom for a year to complete vocational training and work as a barista at a Hanoi hotel, earning an income while testing whether her academic ambitions could withstand the realities of adult life.
They could.
When she returned to school, Nhi was recognised as an Excellent Student for two consecutive years. Behind those achievements were responsibilities at home, long days of work and late-night study sessions after everything else had been completed. Blue Dragon later recognised her perseverance with its Self-Reliance Award.
For much of her childhood, hardship was not something Nhi observed from a distance. It was woven into her everyday life. The challenges she experienced were not hers alone. They were tied to family circumstances and patterns that had affected generations before her.
"For a long time, I believed that what I experienced was normal because so many children around me were also living with poverty and violence," Nhi shared.
"It was only when I received support and companionship from Blue Dragon that I came to understand that no child deserves to carry such pain. Their support changed my life and planted in me a belief that when even one person reaches out at the right moment, the entire future of a child can change."
As she grew older, the emotional weight of those experiences became increasingly difficult to carry. There was a period when Nhi had to undergo treatment for her own mental health, an experience that exposed her to the importance of timely support, understanding and care.
Yet even during that difficult chapter, she found herself asking questions.
Why do some people carry pain for so long? Why does trauma seem to repeat itself across generations? What helps someone heal and move forward?
Rather than turning away from those questions, Nhi pursued them.
She began reading about psychology, mental wellbeing and child development. The more she learned, the more she realised that meaningful support requires more than good intentions. It requires knowledge, skills and people equipped to help others navigate their challenges.
What started as a personal search for understanding gradually evolved into a professional aspiration.
"I do not want empathy to be the only thing I can offer to someone who is hurting," Nhi said.
"Empathy can make a person feel less alone, but only knowledge and professional competence can truly help them heal and rebuild their lives.”
“I believe that RMIT's Psychology program, with its practical approach, emphasis on critical thinking and commitment to social responsibility, will help me transform my compassion into professional expertise, enabling me to become a counsellor or work with organisations that support children."
During her years with Blue Dragon, Nhi also witnessed firsthand what timely intervention can achieve. She met children and teenagers whose circumstances mirrored parts of her own story. Some were struggling with family difficulties, while others lacked stability, confidence or a support network.
She saw how a conversation, a mentor or simply a trusted adult who stayed could alter the direction of a young person's life.
Those experiences reinforced her belief in both education and support as powerful agents of change.
She is also aware of who gets left behind. Nhi had mentors who guided her, social workers who advocated for her, and access to resources that helped her understand what she was experiencing. Many children facing similar circumstances do not.
Many never learn that their pain has a name.
Many never meet someone who can help them make sense of it.
The first person Nhi told about receiving the Opportunity Scholarship was a Blue Dragon social worker who had watched the application take shape and supported her throughout the process.
For the first time, she said, the journey felt shared.
Even now, recalling that moment can bring her to tears.
But for Nhi, the scholarship is not the destination.
It is the beginning of a path she has been searching for since she first started asking difficult questions about pain, trauma and recovery.
"There are many children carrying burdens they do not have the words to explain," Nhi said. "I want to be someone who can help them understand what they are going through and find a way forward."
As she prepares to begin her studies at RMIT Vietnam, Nhi carries with her the support of those who believed in her, the questions that shaped her journey and a clear sense of purpose.
The child who once searched for answers to her own pain is now preparing to help others find answers to theirs. Through psychology, she hopes to give vulnerable children something she discovered changed her own life: understanding, support and the confidence to imagine a future beyond the circumstances they were born into.
Story: Ha Hoang
