Phan Thi My Linh, a Vietnamese overseas Chinese student in the Industry-Academia Collaboration Program of the Department of Information Management, came to Taiwan alone to pursue her studies after graduating from high school. From the cooperative education program at Hua De Vocational High School to studying at our university, she has spent seven years striving to balance both work and academics. Not only has she been promoted at work, but she has also received the Outstanding Overseas Chinese Student Scholarship for Academic Achievement and Conduct for three consecutive years. Upon graduation, she was awarded the “Outstanding and Excellent Academic and Conduct Achievement Award for Graduating Overseas Chinese Students of Colleges and Universities” by the Overseas Community Affairs Council, and was further admitted to the Graduate Institute of Information Management. Now 27 years old, she has already established both a family and a career. Through her actions, she has proven that as long as one is unafraid of hardship and moves forward courageously, dreams will eventually blossom and bear fruit in a foreign land.
Phan Thi My Linh comes from Vietnam, and both of her parents are farmers. As the eldest daughter in the family, due to the family’s financial difficulties, she began working while studying from junior high school to help support the household and pay for her younger sisters’ tuition fees. In search of better career development opportunities, she chose to pursue further studies in Taiwan after graduating from high school. Considering the opportunity to learn Chinese, even though she had already obtained a high school diploma in Vietnam, Phan Thi My Linh still decided to attend high school once again. With the assistance of a Vietnamese Chinese-language school, she enrolled in the Department of Information Technology at Hua De Vocational High School, where she developed practical skills through the cooperative education model. During that period, she also met Professor Ho Chih-Wen, who is currently teaching in the Department of Information Management. When selecting universities, because she had a strong interest in the field of information management and because the Industry-Academia Collaboration Program adopted a system that combined internships with coursework, enabling her to effectively balance study and daily life while laying a solid foundation for her future career development, it became her first choice.
Through the arrangements of the Industry-Academia Collaboration Program, Phan Thi My Linh was exposed to a variety of job positions during her studies. She interned at electronics-related enterprises, learning factory production line operations and gaining experience in information management-related work such as quality control and warehouse management. To support her family’s financial needs, she also proactively took part-time jobs in technology companies, traditional industries, cold-chain logistics, and the food and beverage sector. It is worth mentioning that during her internship at Da Da Electronics, due to her outstanding work performance, Phan Thi My Linh was promoted twice within just six months, advancing from an entry-level position to team leader. She was responsible for production line coordination and personnel training, and, with her fluency in Chinese, English, and Vietnamese, she further assisted employees and supervisors of different nationalities in communication, demonstrating exceptional leadership and language abilities.
To cover her living expenses in Taiwan while also supporting her family in Vietnam, Phan Thi My Linh not only attended classes and internships but also had to take on multiple part-time jobs. In addition, she had a six-month-old baby daughter to care for, making her life extremely busy. Nevertheless, she believed that academics are the key starting point toward a future career. Therefore, she actively expanded her professional expertise in information technology through her coursework and obtained practical certifications such as the “Class C Computer Software Application Technician Certificate”, “Class C Audio-Visual Electronics Technician Certificate”, “Introduction to Electronic Commerce”, “Cloud Technology and Network Services”, and “Artificial Intelligence Applications and Technologies”. She further applied what she had learned to practical workplace settings, demonstrating immediate job readiness through the integration of academia and industry. Owing to her consistently outstanding academic performance, she was awarded the “Outstanding Overseas Chinese Student Scholarship for Academic Achievement and Conduct” by the Overseas Community Affairs Council for three consecutive years, from Academic Years 111 to 113, and distinguished herself through excellent performance both on and off campus.
Today, Phan Thi My Linh is not only highly fluent in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Chinese, but can even speak some simple Taiwanese. She has long since integrated into the local culture. However, when talking about the challenges she faced during her early days in Taiwan, she admitted that her insufficient Chinese proficiency once caused her to encounter repeated obstacles when carrying out work tasks and communicating with colleagues, leaving her feeling extremely frustrated. Nevertheless, she did not give up easily. In addition to learning through the school’s Chinese language courses, she also used her free time after work to study Chinese on her own.
She expressed her gratitude to the university for providing an excellent learning environment and for frequently organizing a wide variety of courses and activities. She also extended her special thanks to Professor Lo Shih-Tang and Professor Ho Chih-Wen of the Department of Information Management for the tremendous encouragement and assistance they provided her in both academics and daily life.
From striving in Taiwan since 2018 until today, Phan Thi My Linh has gradually built a solid academic and career path in a foreign land. At present, she has also established a family with the partner she met while working part-time during high school, and they have one child together, officially putting down roots. All the hardships and sweat of the past have now been transformed into sweet fruits.
To international students who come to Taiwan to pursue their studies, she offered these words of encouragement:
“Perhaps it will be difficult at the beginning, but as long as you persevere, work hard, and are not afraid of failure, there will definitely be a stage that belongs to you. Taiwan is a warm place. It gave me opportunities to grow and brought me closer to my dreams.”
At present, she is planning to take the Python certification examination and continue pursuing graduate studies at the Graduate Institute of Information Management of our university. In the future, she hopes to develop a long-term career in related fields and write her own remarkable chapter.
