Malaykham Philaphone

"My father was a soldier who later became a president of the Vientiane Court while my mother was a nurse. I was the first born into a family who expected to have a baby boy as their first child. As a result, I was raised as a son along with my brother. Therefore, I was expected to be strong physically and mentally. I had to get up by myself after falling down and stop crying no matter what. My father always used to say: “you have to be an independent, courageous but a kind person”.

When my mother was in the last stage of her cancer. Instead of asking me to take care of her, she asked me to apply for a PhD scholarship. Only 2 weeks after mom passed away, I had to take an English exam. My mind was not well prepared, my heart and my soul were still trapped in a painful and sad moment. I was planning to postpone the date of my exam, but a few words changed my life; “Malaykham, you are the first female who has received a competitive scholarship. This is an opportunity to follow your dream and your goal in the higher education. Please keep moving forward”.

In my study journey both pleasant and unpleasant experiences made me stronger and led me become who I am today.

Student life goes up and down which makes me feel happy, angry, amazed, thankful, frustrated, but I try to tell myself to stay positive.

One day I looked at my parents’ photo and wondered where my independence, courage and fighting spirit had gone. Was I going to carry this feeling of low self-esteem back home? Was this my goal? The answer was “No”. Thus, I sought help and looked for solutions. I found out that I was not the only one who faced unpleasant issues. After regular consults my problems have been solved step by step. Finally, I regained my self-respect.