VNEX: Vietnamese student secures fully-funded PhD scholarships from three different continents

So the sheer volume of schools isn’t going to clear the 155~ mark previously set earlier this #SZN, and no idea what the dollar amount is going to be exactly, probably not clearing $6M cumulatively.  But if there’s one flex that this kid, and I use that term loosely considering he’s a 22-year old undergrad already, can make is that he pulled full rides from schools in three separate continents, from Asia, Australia as well as the United States.

Obviously context matters, and sure he didn’t get acceptances from North Dakota A&M or Idaho Tech, but some of the offers that he turned down were from Nanyang Technical University in Singapore and the University of Sydney in Australia, both of them ranked among the world’s top 20 universities.

Here’s the kicker, and the primary reason why I’m making this post work in #TRYHARDSZN2025: the school he ultimately did end up picking to pursue his PhD at is none other than Virginia Tech. 

That’s right, boy genius from Vietnam going to be a Hokie.  He won’t help the football team or the basketball team suck any less than they have over the span of the last decade, but I’ll take a Hokie W in quidditch much less getting some super boy genius from another country.

But seriously, he definitely does fall into the category of #TRYHARDing, because the boy wanted to improve his station in life, and he understood that education was his best means to do so, and instead of staying in Hanoi, he had bigger aspirations and goals, and worked his ass off in order to achieve them.  Wasted little time at flicking those applications out overseas, and clearly his resume and credentials speak for themselves, if all sorts of colleges are coming out and offering full rides.

All the same, in the grand spectrum of the #SZN, it’s impressive that can flex multiple continents for amassing college acceptances, but he’s also 4-5 years older than most of the teen #TRYHARDs I’m putting him up against.  It’s like when Japanese players out of 5-6 years of NPB go to MLB and are considered rookies, against true untested prospects fresh out of high school and the minor leagues, shit just doesn’t really match up.

But I’m still pleased to read of his overall story, and to know that he’ll be going to Virginia Tech, and hopefully raising their stock in something, even if it’s not athletics.  I support all Hokie success, wherever it may come from.