MRS. PHAM TRUONG HUONG GIANG

TO MY DEAREST SONS!

A winter day in Hanoi but my heart is so filled and warm.

Teacher Vuong’s message from the zalo group made me rub my eyes and read it over and over again, then blurred with tears. I trembled and texted back: “Is it true, teacher?”. “Yes, that’s right, this is official information from the Organizing Committee – Mr. Ty’s team “AE nhà khỉ” has reached the Top 5 Vietnamese teams participating in the Robotics competition in the US!”.

All the feelings of waiting and suspense for so long inside me burst out. I guess my dear son is probably jumping up and down in class for joy now. I am myself deep in all memories, sadness and happiness…

By the fall of 2019, mom and dad decided to relocate our family to Ecopark and you changed school too. Your new school named Edison Schools – a red brick school where many soft skills which you always wanted to learn are integrated in the curriculum. I remember both of you have been fascinated with Lego pieces and robots since childhood. On the school tour day, seeing you two stayed in the Robotics room for such a long time with a strong desire inspired us to make a big decision, to register you for the entrance exam and turned our family life to the new page.

In the first friendlies, “AE nhà khỉ” of Ty’s team and Teo’s “Mejor Grupoo” both won the most important awards, in which “AE nhà khỉ” won the highest award – Excellence Award.The second season is the official tournament, 20 most excellent teams were picked up to represent Vietnam to attend the Final Round in the US. Teo and his friends formed the SVT84 team and competed successfully, winning the Design Award and winning a spot to go to the US. As for Ty, even though the “AE nhà khỉ” team was always the “king of the training ground”, it made a lot of mistakes on the battles and only ranked 27th. All your efforts were wiped out…So, along with Teo’s joy, the whole family faced Ty’s disappointment. However, with the encouragement of my family and teachers, Ty gradually participated in more activities such as learning the piano, and playing sports to be stronger in health and ready for the new season.In the 2023-2024 official season, you were still the core of the team, however Teo’s SVT84 changed all members, and “AE nhà khỉ” remained two core members, Ty and Phuc Nguyen. From the start of season, stories about robots, new structures, and about videos from famous centers around the world made the dinner time of the brothers so interesting. Teo was the team leader, managing all 6th grader with such amazing and clear duties allocation. Ty was not strong in leadership, but he kept working hard for the ultimate goals and dreams “Tickets to America”. Ty stayed late at school for many days to discuss with the teacher more about the new structure while his little brother Teo was home. Friendlies matches also made the boys more confident.Eventually, the efforts of Ty, Phuc Nguyen and the “AE nhà khỉ” were rewarded. It was probably the happiest day in your life when you received tickets to America! At the age of 15 – the most beautiful age of teenager, you are deserved to receive such a great reward for almost 3 years of unlimited efforts. Mom and dad, teachers, Teo and everyone in Edison’s Robotics team were happy for you and for the team “AE nhà khỉ”. You will enter a new age with a completely different mindset.A happy and priceless reward for my two sons as well as our family.Mom and Dad will always love you, Ty – Teo!Hanoi – a memorable dayYour mom,