In 2015, while a student at the People's Security Academy, Hoang Anh submitted his application to drop out of school, surprising many people because this school is the dream of many young people.

Bold decision to “reach out to the world”

“Since I was little, I dreamed of becoming a scientist after reading the story of Edison - a famous American scientist. When I was in high school, my family encouraged me to become a police officer. At that time, I didn't think much about what I wanted to do in the future. At the same time, I admired the police officers so I listened to my parents," Hoang Anh said.

During his time at the People's Security Academy, his passion for exploring the world was always burning. Hoang Anh gradually realized that science was his greatest passion. Therefore, this young man determined to retake the university entrance exam and became a freshman in K61, majoring in Informatics Physics, Faculty of Engineering Physics, Hanoi University of Science and Technology just one year later.

Hoang Anh said that he came to the Polytechnic like “a fish to water”, quickly becoming one of the excellent students and receiving a scholarship from the Institute of Technical Physics for 4 consecutive years. The male student also won second prize in the National Physics Olympiad for students and many other scholarships.

In addition, Hoang Anh also actively participated in scientific research, and published a number of articles domestically and internationally. After 4 years of hard work, he became the only early graduate in the Talented Engineer class that year.

After graduating from university, Hoang Anh became an employee of the R&D department of seismic signal processing at the Vietnam Petroleum Institute. Although he had a stable job, he continued his studies. Thanks to his excellent achievements, Hoang Anh received a full scholarship to study for a master's degree at the Institute of Technical Physics.

When the opportunity came, the Thanh Hoa native quit his job at the Vietnam Petroleum Institute to continue his master's exchange program at the Politecnico di Torino University - the oldest university in Italy with a history of teaching engineering. Here, Hoang Anh majored in "Physics of complex systems". During that time, he continued to study a master's program remotely at the Institute of Technical Physics in Vietnam.

Studying for two master's degrees at the same time, Hoang Anh had to overcome many difficulties. "The time that put me under the most pressure was when I had to rush back to Vietnam to defend my thesis, which only lasted two weeks, then I had to fly back to Italy immediately to finish my studies in time for graduation," the male student said.

Despite many challenges, Hoang Anh never thought of giving up. "Every time I think I can contribute good values ​​to life, it gives me more motivation to strive," Hoang Anh said.

During his years studying abroad, the young master set foot in nearly 20 large and small countries. With the motto "work hard, play hard", he always knows how to arrange scientific work to "take advantage" of having adventures in between his busy study and research schedule.

After completing two master's programs, Hoang Anh continued to change direction to conquer Earth Sciences at the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy.

After completing 1 year at ICTP, Hoang Anh was retained by many professors in Italy to continue his doctoral studies. He was also accepted into many universities in the US and Europe such as University of South Florida, Florida; University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hoang Anh chose Colorado School of Mines (a highly regarded school in the US) as his next destination. In the “land of the free”, he chose to study Geophysics - a branch of Earth science, although he had previously studied Physics-oriented majors.

" New knowledge always motivates me to explore. Earth science is an interesting field that helps me answer many questions I have wondered since I was a child... A lot of knowledge in earth science is also based on physics, math, and programming. The process of studying physics in depth before helped me a lot when I switched to this field," said Hoang Anh.

Treat achieving goals like “getting your crush”

For Hoang Anh, one of the important goals is to successfully "hunt" for scholarships. " Consider hunting for scholarships like winning over your crush, being good is not enough, you have to be proactive, don't be shy", Hoang Anh said and shared that he always values ​​initiative, considering this a prerequisite to conquer many scholarships at the same time.

Although pursuing the field of earth science, Hoang Anh still maintains cooperation with scientists at many universities at home and abroad to exchange about Physics such as: Northwestern University, USA, Bologna University and International Center for Theoretical Physics Italy, Hanoi National University, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Thai Nguyen University.

After completing his doctoral program, Hoang Anh plans to visit his family and then return to the US to continue pursuing his dream. He aims to apply to work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA after graduation.

The Thanh Hoa native also revealed that he is working with many projects related to Mars. NASA is probably also a target that Hoang Anh considers a "crush" and must "win over" in the next few years. Therefore, throughout his journey of pursuing his passion, Hoang Anh has never faltered because for him, everything is about enjoyment.

Many of Hoang Anh’s friends in the US commented that although this guy from Vietnam pursues complex fields, he is a very simple and approachable person. No matter where he studies, Hoang Anh receives a lot of affection from friends and teachers.

Hieu Lam