Though there is no doubt that Kings, queens, presidents, scientists, singers, poets… are often the subjects of autobiographies, lesser-known or even unknown-to-the-world characters have also furnished interesting biographies as everyone comes from a specific region and particular family with self-culture that seems to be different as well as interesting to others. And I take my time writing about personal history up to date not just as a way to complete an assignment in UCHANU class. Interestingly, it may turn out to be a new start for me to give birth to a big memoir about my life until my death to bequeath with pride to my children and grandchildren^_^. Who knows, if I can become someone big someday, this may be the very first part of a long autobiography standing out in the best seller list, hahahaha…………..
Hanoi on a rainy day a long, long time ago…..Wind blew so hard……….Breaking the silence of a dark and rainy night , in a crowded hospital, I was brought into the world with one 4-year older sister looking on. My birthday is somehow a special day for all the doctors and nurses in that hospital and the others as well bs it’s the national Doctor’s Day (27, February) when everyone pays great respect and gratitude to those kind of people who help cure diseases and save lives of thousands of people. I find myself have a big honor and luck to be born on that meaningful day, and it cannot be denied that its special feature really makes my friends and relatives easily remember my birthday also^_^.
Belonging to young generation that’ re born after the war in the inner city, I found my childhood seem to be quite sweet and peaceful with my lovely, kind and beautiful elder sister and my great parents. My father used to be a police man (as he followed the traditional career of my grandfather) and my mother used to be a civil server but now both of them have retired and spent most of their time at home taking care of the housework, their ornamental trees and pets.
A deep memory in my mind about my childhood is a great bunch of myths and fairy tales that my grandmother told me when I was in the age of 4 and 5. Vietnam is a land of fantasy and imagination and therefore my mother tried to take advantage of an old collection of legend and myths to give me useful moral lessons and principles of correct Confucian behavior. Every night before going to bed, I’s told about 4 to 5 legends with a variety of topics, ranging from historical and respectful record such as the legend of “Sword Lake” (at the center of Hanoi) or the creation of the Vietnamese race (who’re dragon and fairy’s grandchildren) to daily domestic issues in folk stories about hardworking husband and lazy wife. Thanks to all of this, I’ve realized about quite a few rules of life that still guide me throughout my life up to now: pride coming before a fall, the weak overcoming the strong through virtue and purity.
The time when I came to primary and secondary school was also full of memories that remind me of so many unforgettable moments. So many Vietnamese traditional games were accompanied with my childhood such as the game of dragon-snake, cat and mouse game which is somehow similar to the American game called “Duck, Duck, Goose” and “Bit mat bat de” which is literally translated as “catching a goat while blindfolded”, which is known to American children as “blind man’s bluff”. Once I even had my little arm nearly broken due to some unlucky accidents during the game and that made my parents both worried and angry at me for the fact that I couldn’t take care of myself.
Later since joining secondary school, I spent less and less time playing traditional games like these. I’s somehow busy with my class and school extra-curricular activities as I’s promoted as the Secretary of Union. Also, during this time I started discover about my favorite subject that are chemistry and math. I often spent a lot of time to solve challenging mathematical problems with as many creative solution as possible and even there’s one night I skip dinner to stay at my table for the whole night just to figure out the solution for a big problem. I did get several prizes in the math contests of talented students at district and city level that made my parents very happy. That certainly served as big motivation for me to continue making more and more progress to study harder. Besides that, my sister is a big mirror for me to look at as she seems to be a perfect girl who’s not only beautiful but also extremely smart. I’m particularly fortunate to receive her guidance and support throughout my study, both large and small.
Gradually, the little girl grew up into a high school and then university student and became more mature in life. And my own personal traits, personality and characters have been formed after a long time of getting education from parents, teachers, friends as well as adaption with the living environment around. My father always wants me to become a strong girl who has the personality of a good police officer. He did tell me many times that as I’m the daughter of a policeman, I am supposed to develop for myself 3 important personal traits: Courage (though realizing the fear of danger but need to proceed in the fact of it with calmness and firmness), Integrity (truthfulness and honesty) and loyalty (faithfulness to country, seniors and subordinates).
Thanks God I’ve inherited and developed for my self these characters because I understand that life is full of ups and downs and those valuable traits are certainly magic tools by which I can guide myself throughout bad moments. Hence, whenever facing any challenging or sad time, I often remember about all caring lessons from my father and keep smiling and tell others that “I’m OK and everything will be fine”. That is my father teaches me how to be a positive thinker. And this definitely help me become a good and successful monitor in my class at university when my own personal traits contribute greatly to the way I lead and treat others.
Besides that, I inherited from my mother caring and great consideration. To me, my mother is also a big friend to whom I can talk and share all kind of stories. That’s why my mother is always the first person who knows all of my secrets and feelings. She told me that the biggest happiness that a woman had in her life was taking care of her family. And she’s taught me to cook a lot of delicious and traditional cuisines, which partly becomes main reason why cooking is one of my hobbies. And holiday is the time I can show off in my kitchen with Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Spring Roll, frog curry and so many other healthy Vietnamese seafood.
I’m so grateful to my parents for their struggle to earn a living to raise me up and the great education that I have been provided together with their enthusiastic encouragement that they have given me.
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| My product-Delicious hot-pot!!! |
In addition to cooking, I’m fascinated with another activity: doing voluntary jobs. I feel myself lucky enough to be looked after by both parents and have chance to get full education. Thus, it makes me feel regretful and sorry for those children who suffer from misfortune and get no chance to live a good life beside their parents, the disabled ones or who have to earn a living at an early age by shining shoes, collecting garbage. They are worth receiving consideration from the society in general and help from local volunteers in particular. That’s the reason why I’ve participated in quite a lot of social activities as I want to contribute my little effort and energy to contribute to enhance community improvement and make life better.
New Year Celebration for Children in Second House at an NGO |
| A voluntary campaign to raise green lifestyle among local inhabitants |
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| We volunteers taught children at an SOS village how to make postcards |
Besides hobbies that make part of person’s life meaningful, aims and future wishes make people live and act with goals. Personally, I believe that passion for making continuous personal growth is the golden key to lifelong improvement and advancement, which cannot be easily attained with natural talent only. As I believe that there are two kinds of people: Those who had experienced life as if it’s handed to them, with one luxury after another, and those who work for what they achieve and thus place a higher value on each of their achievements. And I know that my parents and myself, to a lesser extent were part of the second group. With this deep personal perception, I always take responsibility to pursue a continuous and progressive growth process day by day. Mentioning about personal wishes for the next 4 months, the first point is my plan to study well all of the four subjects in my majors and pass the final exams with flying colors. Then it is my intention to devote as much as I can to help our lovely UC students study Vietnamese well and explore more about 2-dimensional Hanoi: static inside dynamic, a city where I was born and grew up which is both elegant and deleting, both refine and crude. Actually, I’m not some kind of people who is ambitious. I tend not to live in a rush, trying to think about present and not think too much about both the past and future. Yet I always try to get what I’m determined to do and gain.
I’ve temporarily stepped outside the current life and tied together several interesting elements in my life story and crafted them into an engaging biography. As an old saying goes “Diversity is the spice of life”, I’ve been seeking more and more spices to put into my life so that I can have a more “delicious” autobiography full of scents and tastes later on.
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