My own self-improvement project began 17 years ago, when I was born in District 4 of Ho Chi Minh City. The media used to refer to District 4 as the “Criminal District”. I remember how back then, I would see people running around the streets with knives in their hands. I would see fights happening out in the open on an almost nightly basis. Drugs, alcoholism, and prostitution made up my neighborhood. The river separating District 4 from Districts 1 and 7 was filthy and the...

I sincerely believe that to truly unlock and elicit our greatest potential, we have to acquire a mission that is greater than ourselves and develop a character that considers qualities such as entrepreneurism, critical thinking, and empathy. For this reason, I have decided to study the discipline of geography because it gives one the opportunity to research topics including globalization, sustainability, and the relationship between local and global issues by using a variety of data analysis tools. With the knowledge...

It was a weekday evening. I had exams the following morning and was studying at home until I received an emergency call from an uncle: “Khoa, is that you? Your grandfather is suffering from cyanide poisoning. He was shaking and then fainted!” My heart was beating fast. I couldn’t sleep that whole night--my grandfather was already old and frail. In 2016, 300 tons of chemical waste from Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHTS) caused the death of 140 tons of fish and a...