She did it! This year's UNIS Hanoi scholar, Ha Nguyen has become the first of our scholars to successfully attain a full scholarship at a university in Vietnam!

The 19 year-old was so passionate about remaining in her home country after graduation, she did what no other scholar had done before - she applied for a full scholarship to Fullbright University Viet Nam.  

Ha joined UNIS Hanoi five years ago thanks to the School's scholarship programme which gives bright, young Hanoians from economically disadvantaged backgrounds an opportunity to study at the School. This year, Ha successfully graduated from UNIS Hanoi and is excited to be joining Fullbright this September. 

Explaining her decision to apply to a Vietnam-based university, Ha said, "Before I joined UNIS Hanoi, I took my Vietnamese identity, culture and language for granted, mainly because I didn't know anything else existed. Then I found myself sat in class with students and adults who'd express their love of Vietnam and it made me so proud of who I am and my people. It took being in an international environment to really appreciate my country and culture. I'm so thankful to UNIS Hanoi for giving me the skills and the opportunities to enable me to become a well-rounded person."

Fulbright is a liberal arts college and Ha is looking forward to exploring a range of subjects over a four-year period, before eventually majoring in psychology or education. 

Ha is UNIS Hanoi's ninth graduate, following in the footsteps of other equally talented Vietnamese scholars. Read more about our scholarship programme here.