Dao is a first-year student majoring in Pharmacy at the HCMC University of Pharmacy and Medicine. Growing up seeing her mom and the people in her village, often taking medicine without caring or thinking about medicine’s side effects, encouraged Dao to study Pharmacy. She hopes that she could work with other researchers to develop a new drug with no side effects. Dao wants to work part-time at a pharmacy to learn and gain more experience. Dao’s favorite subject is Chemistry. She finds the application of chemistry in everyday life and industry fascinating and practical.
Dao’s father is a veteran, but her parents got divorced when she was little. Dao lives with her mother in a small house that does not belong to them. Her mother works as a wage earner with an income of $100 per month to support Dao and pay for living expenses.
Dao remembers when she was six, her mom worked all the time, and the family did not have any food to eat, so an elderly neighbor always gave Dao food to eat. Her act of kindness left a lasting lesson on how to give without expecting anything in return. The neighbor became Dao’s first teacher and inspired her to help others and pass on the message of “pay it forward.”
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