About me
Hi! My original name is Uyen, but I prefer to be called Winnie. I'm from Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. I'm majoring in information technology tracking in software application development. I want to be a software developer or manager. Besides the academic side, I would love to crochet, listen to music (R&B Pop, rap, rock), and hang out with a cup of sth, usually coffee or matcha latte (I'm addicted to them). I can also dance (hip hop, dance sports) and play the piano (mainly classical music). I want to familiarize myself with UC for the first year and get all A's.
My clearer view to STEM World
It was November 2020. My classmates and I started "0VND-breakfast" at Viet Duc Hospital, one of Ha Noi's most "crowded" hospitals. We got up early on weekend mornings, cooked and packed simple breakfasts, and went to hospital corridors where the patients' caregivers gathered on stained chairs. Soon after, due to the zero COVID policy, we were no longer allowed to gather at hospitals. Throughout that time, the virus began to spread quickly, and social distancing was declared in Vietnam and worldwide. As it goes personally for me, my school was shut down in mid-March 2020, so we could not have the year-end ceremony of secondary school.
Virtual learning was something that I had never experienced before. That was when we were not physically attending school, no face-to-face interaction with peers, no fun school events, just looking at each other through a computer screen for several days.
No early morning. I could stay in bed as I wanted. And the online learning era began. Spending mornings in my cozy bed, I thought about the patients and their caregivers I met. Who would help them? Where did they spend the nights? Next to me, my blind brother and his friends had to stay at home without any learning because there were not any facilities for their teachers to give learning interaction with them. By that time, friends my age and I lived with social media trends, such as making dalgona coffee and knitting, that helped family bonding.
Then, I found some apps that could show where the people were reported in need. My parents or I passed by, leaving some simple portion of food on their fixed table at a "safe" distance. I had lessons via Zoom, though it was not enjoyable. That is something I could have never thought of. This global pandemic also comforted me since I took it as an opportunity to expand my skills further and explore my interests. I had a chance to talk with the giupcontuhoc.com website owner. Being no longer a little and naïve girl who spent days on Legos or talking with Siri on smartphones, I was not surprised at how fantastic it could help students learn English and connect with teachers everywhere. What exactly it is doing and how to make it more amazing are most curious. Fortunately, the website owner found my ideas intriguing and encouraged me to join his group to improve the learning platform. I had chances to learn how to identify and filter requirements, brainstorm potential solutions, and then implement them. Though I had no experience developing websites beforehand, I still contributed by suggesting the nicest ebooks, observing trendy themes, and my sense of art that will attract online students. I also learned how to work with data and explored how it helped in management. For example, filtering student and teacher data, turning essential functions "if," "today," and macros to the friendly-users presentation of class time, zoom address, and teachers' codes. Based on it, automated notifications can be delivered to the accounts of the registered teachers and pupils, reducing the proportion of teachers and students who report to class late. It made me even more sure I chose the right major for college.
At that time, I knew I should be more specific on my road ahead. I will join the world of new technology, maybe artificial intelligence… thanks to which I can develop future tools to help vulnerable people connect to a broader world. Covid-19 and its challenging moments changed my dream that way.
My turning point
2016, my mom sent me to the Children's International Summer Village (CISV). This organization aims to educate and inspire action for a more just and peaceful world through "learning by doing": do, reflect, generalize, and apply four themes: Human Rights, Diversity, Conflict Resolution, and Sustainable Development. The first village was held in 1951 in Ohio, so it's great to be here to continue my camp journey. Since I joined the camp, I seem to have stepped "out of the box." For the first time, I was away from my mother for four days and then one month to integrate with entirely new friends, supporters, and leaders, seemingly strange but sharing the same ideal, regardless of skin color or age. It became a core memory in my heart, so I continued to go to camp with higher positions as a junior counselor and supporter, and now I'm a leader. Every time I go to camp, I have more lessons from the content of that camp, life lessons from friends, or even from the kids I am guiding. I still want to contribute to CISV, and I hope the content is spread more widely so that everyone understands the importance of building friendships.