Girl @Medical Doctor: The little women who truly deserves all she has got

My impression of this girl from the first time I met her was charm and enthusiasm. To be fair, few people can give that feeling to newcomers easily, but Dung did it in a very natural way like everything should be.

Briefly saying, Dung and I knew each other a bit before through mutual friends and by studying Medical Doctor, but we never had a chance to talk about anything “in heaven and on the earth". Everything mostly stops at casual greetings when waiting for the elevator, sometimes at College of Health Sciences events or random encounters around the school. But it is always pleasant every time I meet Dung and this conversation certainly cannot be without that energy.

At the beginning of the conversation, I generally asked Dung to introduce herself, because I sincerely don't know anything much about Dung, other than I heard somewhere that Dung is a "master of studying" (“học bá") because she is one of the very few who received scholarships for cohort 2021 and was on President's List last academic year. After a little more research before this interview, I was amazed by the fact that she did not have an impressive list of national or international awards, but was still able to convince the admission committee to give her the 90% scholarship - the ability that makes I'm super curious. Because to me, that talent is utterly different from winning any prizes or being studious, and the one who possesses it obviously must have a huge charisma and wisdom to make her outstanding.

However, it seemed odd when the simplest question often confuses respondents the most. Dung humbly introduces herself as a sophomore as known as the class representative of her Medical Doctor cohort, followed by being an Executive member of VinUni's Student Council. The girl stammered and asked me: "Do you want me to say anything more, sister?". I gently suggested her simply talk about something she was interested in, thus she added that she was quite interested in learning about mental health and general human well-being. Otherwise, because the pressure from studying majors recently drained a lot of her energy, she just laughed out loud and said: "If I don't study, I'll probably just sleep".

When asked to describe herself in 3 words, Dung chose: fire, ice, and water. Dung feels that she is such a vivacious and enthusiastic person, even loud sometimes, as if she is a burning fire. However, there are times when she also feels like nitrogen, who doesn't know what to do next immediately and needs time to observe things. By combining these two opposing elements over time, she gained more elements of water in her characteristics, as she found herself the tendency to be calmer, a listener who put herself in the shoes of others, as she described through Lao Tzu’s words, “What is soft, is strong”. I tried to ask Dung more about how the transition she said was going, and she happily shared that it was transformed over time, though she believed it was a "growing up" process and she completely felt satisfied with all the changes. The most important goal with Dung is probably growing happily as an adult. This is perhaps the perspective that I am most interested in in the whole conversation with her. In a very transparent way, Dung is not forced but confidently shows the opposite person that this girl is certainly someone who knows how to reflect on herself and what she is doing, even though she is only in her 20s.

Because the interview is for International Women's Day, I "deliberately" included a few “spicy" questions about genders and feminism in daily life, as well as in the medical profession, but they did not make Dung struggle. Instead, she chose to express her personal aspects in a very neutral and thoughtful expression. She did not try to hide her femininity but confided that her feminine imprint was favoured in her chosen profession. Women’s instinct of being a caregiver seemed to be adopted by her naturally.

During the conversation for more than an hour, what Dung often portrayed in her answers is that everything, like a coin, would always have two sides, hence the crucial point is to keep a positive attitude towards work. Believing in her own strength and abilities was the motto that Dung follows. Dung shared that in both work and study, she always tries to do her best, not to prove to the outside how good she is, but to prove to herself that she should always believe in her capability. This personality of desiring to challenge the limits that are set not by outsiders but by herself was more appealing when I asked her about her second choice if she had not entered medicine, where she might have chosen Computer Science. The rationale was its nature of being difficult but fascinating at the same time which attracts her desire to “conquer” it.

In addition, when I wondered whether Dung agrees with the gender tags that society specifically attaches to various fields, Dung neutrally realizes that those things will depend on different perspectives and cases, especially on how people perceive the tags. However, personally speaking, Dung said she supposed it should only stop at the reference point, not a limit that forces both women and men to follow strictly.

This dynamic and confident aura from her made me suddenly reckon that it might be partly from the fact that she is the eldest daughter in a family of 3 children. Maybe it's a little different for her when Dung's mother and father, in Dung's words as 2 people who are  “first-time” being parents, let their daughter experiment with whatever she wanted, and she sincerely appreciated that privilege. I did ask why Dung chose VinUni, the newness and the unprecedented selection process were what drove her crazy about this university. It seemed like the more I talked to this girl, the more Dung made the listeners get hooked on her free spirit.

Last but not least, it was time for my favourite question, "What is your most controversial opinion?". Like many other youngsters out there when they were just blooming, it took Dung a while to think and she picked out 2 points of view on romantic relationships: whether people should commit to a relationship when they are at a very young age of their life. For Dung, perhaps she will choose a relationship in which she is the best friend of the other half and vice versa: to be able to share interests in everyday life.

To end the interview in “a proper manner", Dung would like to send a message to you, the readers:

“Whether you are a man or a woman, I wish you can always prioritize yourself to be happy first so that you can cherish every one around you.

A well-said conclusion, I must say.

Wish you a meaningful International Women's Day for yourselves!

Sincerely,

VinUnians.