KINDLE
Back in grade 10, I joined Kindle, a charitable educational project with an objective to make education accessible and engaging for poor children in the mountainous regions of Vietnam.
We planned a trip to Quang Chieu, a mountain village in Northern Vietnam, where locals had just experienced a flood that severely damaged the infrastructure. One school in particular had fallen trees, broken windows with leaves and trash everywhere.
The evening we arrived, we cleaned up rubbish, wiped the floors, and removed broken glass shards. Next, we organized fun educational games for the children and gave them presents. I loved it when we played charades; I posed as animals in the middle of the class and the children bursted out laughing, trying to guess what animal it was. Me and Minh Anh, another member of Kindle, even painted the walls with lively drawings.
SOCCER
My elementary school didn’t have a football field. What it had, though, were empty hallways, where my classmates and I could be found kicking paper-stuffed water bottles back and forth. What started as a silly game in second grade turned into a burning passion for soccer.
In high school, I was selected for my school's football team as a striker, and we played in several major tournaments in Hanoi. We got a gold medal in GSC and two silver medals in Les Phoenix Cup and Xuan Dinh cup, all of which are tournaments with over 30 participating schools.
Though I don't intend to pursue the professional soccer career, the sport is a huge part of my student life. Soccer brings me emotions, lessons, friends, and it holds a dear part in my heart.
My life wouldn't be whole without soccer.
