The girl with brittle bone disease who won an international programmer scholarship

With extraordinary will and determination, Tran Thi Hai excellently became the first person with a disability to win a 100% scholarship for the DISM International Programmer course.

Born less fortunate than other children, Hai has congenital brittle bone disease, which means she has to use a wheelchair to get around. Though she cannot walk, this determined girl is not at all self-conscious about herself; on the contrary, Hai always strives to rise up, with the dream of enlightening her life through study and of becoming an information technology student.

Tran Thi Hai – the girl with brittle bone disease who won an international programmer scholarship worth 1,460 USD.

Intelligent and with a fierce passion for programming, Tran Thi Hai excellently became the first person with a disability to win a 100% scholarship for the DISM International Programmer course organised by the Aptech International Programmer Training System.

Getting to school by any means Hai is unfortunate in having an illness that prevents her from walking. Her family is also in particularly difficult circumstances. The girl shared: “I was born and grew up in a family of 10 people; my grandmother has just died in an accident, my father has a disability, my uncle is also paralysed down one side and lies in one place, and my mother is hard of hearing. My parents have six children; both my elder brother and I have brittle bone disease, and after me there are four more younger siblings, still at school. Life in the family is carried by my father alone, who manages and takes care of everything”.

Although her circumstances are very sad, the girl remains optimistic, with loved ones beside her. “My parents and siblings in the family always love and care for me, so I never feel self-conscious or as if I am alone. My father and mother always encourage and support us in our studies, wanting us to have a stable profession, so I try even harder to study well to please my parents,” Hai confided.

For Hai, every day she gets to go to school is a day she silently thanks life and finds joy in living. Yet, with her body not being normal, going to school has not been without hardship.

Hai recalled: “As a small child, I was very weak, and when walking I often fell and broke an arm or a leg, so I had to miss school for about one or two months, and then I would catch up on my studies to keep up with my friends. Throughout my primary school years, my mother and younger sister took turns pushing my wheelchair to take me to school, whatever the weather, and I never missed a term. When I was 14, after a medical examination, I learned that I had brittle bone disease. Later, because of my health I had to stop school and started two years late, but the good thing was that I got to study in the same class as my younger sister, which made it easier to take me to and from school”.

Conquering her dream

Looking at Hai’s appearance, and the hardships she goes through every day, few people would believe that this girl carries such extraordinary determination within her.

Hai on the day she received the award organised by the Aptech International Programmer Training programme.

From secondary school onwards, the young girl was mature and very clear about her career direction. Hai said: I have researched a lot and learned about information technology. I like it very much and also find it very suitable for me. As you can see, it involves quite little movement, so I will have to move around less”.

Not completely healthy like her other friends, Hai still always gives her best effort; throughout her lower and upper secondary school years she was a good or excellent student. Her teachers and friends all loved her and helped the small pupil wholeheartedly, though she had difficulty moving around, she was intelligent, quick-witted and had a wonderful will. That will helped Hai overcome the cruelty and harshness of fate, something even able-bodied people might not be able to do.

In this year’s exam, besides registering for the graduation exam, Hai registered for additional subjects in Physics and Chemistry so she could apply to the Faculty of Information Technology, as she has long dreamed of becoming an expert in this field.

Hai is a shining example for young people who are passionate, dare to dream, and strive to rise up. The 100% scholarship for the DISM International Programmer course has helped Hai partly realise that dream.

According to Thegioitre