Five Vietnamese Australian students awarded with AVEPA scholarships
(From left to right) AVEPA board member Emeritus David Beanland, Sister Marie Kehoe (BM), Cam Nguyen (BM), Peter Dung, Michael Tran, Rachel Nguyen and Emeritus Professor Leo Foster (BM). (Photo: TiVi Tuan-san) The non-for-profit organisation, which encourages the Vietnamese community to take leadership and responsibility within the Australian society, held the scholarship awarding ceremony at Melbourne’s RMIT University on Tuesday evening.
“Tonight has been our first public awarding session and it’s great to see the young people that are able to get up and explain themselves so well,” said Emeritus Professor David Beanland, Chairman of AVEPA.
“We only see their applications in writing. We have to read between the lines but when you see them delivering what they are, then I think we’re in good hands for the future.
“It gives us a good feeling that we’re on the right track,” Mr Beanland said.
(From left to right) Three of the five recipients of the AVEPA 2016 scholarships: Michael Tran, Peter Dung and Rachel Nguyen. (Photo: TiVi Tuan-san)
Rachel Nguyen, who is currently studying bio-medicine at the University of Melbourne, is one of the five outstanding students with a 97 ATAR score or above, selected by AVEPA’s committee board.
She said the scholarship came unexpectedly, “It’s honestly crazy receiving it, I feel very blessed and honoured.”
“I feel like I don’t really deserve it but I guess I’m very happy and grateful to the board and to the really generous donors for choosing me to be a recipient,” she said.
Monash University student and recipient of the 2015 AVEPA scholarships, Hien Vu, has advice for young Vietnamese Australians.
“Don’t be worried if you don’t know what exactly you want to do in the future. We’re all still very young and there’s always that kind of pressure to find your one big passion, one thing you really want to do in your life,” she said.
“It’s okay to have different passions, it’s okay to want to do different things and as youths, I think it’s really important to use this time to explore those things, to find what you’re really passion about.”
– TiVi Tuan-San
To view more pictures from this event, please click this link.
