Chapter 73: Those Who Hold Ideals
After everyone turned away, Thuy Linh leaned over and whispered to Kieu Ly:
"Hope you don't mind, Ly. Back in Vietnam, my friends used to call me a sewing machine because I talk so much. Ever since coming here, surrounded by mostly international students, I haven't had many Vietnamese friends. Now that I've met you, I finally have someone I can really talk to."
Kieu Ly chuckled at that.
At the same time, the MC appeared on stage and officially opened the ceremony.
The beginning of the event was quite sleepy, so Kieu Ly wanted to chat with Thuy Linh and leaned over to ask softly:
"What kind of achievements does someone need to get honored here, Linh?"
"Ah, just imagine it like this. You won a national award in Vietnam, right? Well, here it's like being honored for international-level achievements. That means everyone on that stage is a student from this school who's made a significant global contribution. Pretty tough, right?"
"Yeah, that's hard. I haven't even finished my studies, let alone made any global contributions," Kieu Ly nodded.
"That's because we don't have grand ideals, haha. We're just here to see what it's like, take it as motivation to strive harder," Thuy Linh whispered.
A little while later, the main part of the ceremony began. On the large screen, lines of text appeared, listing the achievements of each honoree by category. Medicine, biology, chemistry, technology, literature—everything was included.
For each person honored, the screen displayed their national flag and the field in which they were being recognized. Then came a list of their accomplishments.
Once the list was complete, the person's photo and name appeared, along with a short feature story highlighting their inspirational journey.
Kieu Ly looked up at the screen from her seat and suddenly felt very small. She realized she truly didn't have any grand ideal. All she ever wanted was to graduate and make lots of money.
Many countries' flags were shown on the screen, but still no sign of Vietnam. Kieu Ly leaned over and joked with Thuy Linh:
"We should work hard so that one of us ends up on that screen next time."
She was only joking, of course—she'd be returning to Vietnam next year and wouldn't be around for any future ceremony.
Thuy Linh burst out laughing:
"If that ever came true, my mom would slaughter a pig and invite the whole country to celebrate."
But they didn't have to wait long. The Vietnamese flag really did appear on screen. Both Kieu Ly and Thuy Linh suddenly felt emotional and stopped chatting to focus.
As the lines of text slowly appeared on the big screen, the MC's voice echoed through the hall:
"Our next honoree is being recognized for significant contributions in the treatment of Alzheimer's and memory loss in the elderly. He has applied artificial intelligence to develop a chip that can be implanted in the cerebral cortex to help patients improve their memory. His invention has helped elderly people in nursing homes maintain their memory and care for themselves. And he comes from Vietnam. Please welcome Mr. Dang Bang Anh."