Proud to Be HUFLITers #01 | New Graduate Nguyễn Thành Lâm: Not Letting Limits Define the Future

The first achievement of his life was not a grade, but sitting up steadily at the age of 4

Congenital spastic cerebral palsy meant that Nguyễn Thành Lâm did not have the easy first steps of life like other children. At 3 years old, Lâm still could not sit up steadily on his own. Yet the family never surrendered to fate.

Those were the days of travelling from their hometown to Vĩnh Long for physiotherapy. His mother rented lodging near the treatment place to embrace and care for her child day and night. His father stayed behind, diligently shouldering the family’s finances, saving every bit of free time to make the long trip to visit mother and child. The first sweet fruit came when Lâm was 4 years old: Lâm could sit up steadily on his own. An achievement that seemed small but was a brilliant ray of light, kindling great hope for the whole family.

Sweat-soaked bicycle wheels and a mother’s boundless love

When he reached school age, seeing his child’s unsteady steps, some people uneasily said: “What’s the point of going to school?”. But for Ms Nguyễn Thị Thùy Trang, Lâm’s mother, letters were the very key for her child to open the door of his own life.

Throughout the 5 years of primary school, every break time, Lâm would see his mother’s figure standing outside the classroom door with a snack in hand. Not at ease letting her child go alone, every day that mother quietly walked behind her child’s wheelchair all the way to class. In secondary school, the road was farther, and she pedalled her creaky bicycle behind him throughout 4 long years, regardless of sun or rain. In high school, to train her child’s self-reliance, Ms Trang personally found a way to modify a three-wheeled electric vehicle, helping Lâm cover the nearly 7km journey to school by himself every day.

Those three-wheeled journeys brimming with a mother’s love, together with the devoted support of his youngest uncle when Lâm left home for the city, brought the young man full of willpower officially through the university gate.

HUFLIT – Where barriers dissolve, making way for a launchpad to reach far

The day he held the HUFLIT University admission notice in his hands, the new student of the Faculty of Information Technology carried much turmoil in his heart. Lâm once asked himself: Will I keep up with the pace of university life? Will I be able to move between lecture halls on my own or integrate with friends?

Yet the reality at HUFLIT gave Lâm a completely different answer.

From the first bewildered days, Lâm was enveloped in the delicate care of teachers, friends and the University. Through devoted companionship, the psychological barriers were gradually removed. Not stopping at being a spiritual anchor, HUFLIT also became a solid launchpad for Lâm through practical financial-support policies. The total scholarship value of up to 90 million VND throughout his university years was not only recognition of his efforts but also a warm message: Here, there is always someone who believes in and accompanies you.

In response to that expectation, Lâm turned every assignment, every group project into an opportunity to hone himself. From a young man full of anxiety, Lâm transformed into a confident, proactive version ready to face challenges.

“Don’t let difficulties define your life”

On the graduation ceremony stage, the moment new graduate Nguyễn Thành Lâm raised his Bachelor’s degree in his hands, beside him his mother’s radiant smile mixed with tears of happiness, was perhaps the most beautiful picture closing one journey.

Looking back on the journey he had been through, Lâm confided: “Everyone has their own difficulties, but the important thing is not to let them define your life. Just persevere, believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to be different, because sometimes the very things thought of as weaknesses become strengths.”

The Bachelor’s degree is not a full stop, but a sharp note opening a new chapter. With his plans to pursue a Master’s degree at this very university, Nguyễn Thành Lâm’s journey will still continue. Lâm’s story is the most vivid testament to the HUFLIT spirit: Dynamic, connected, loving and never flinching before limits.