On Wednesday morning, 26 September 2018, Nguyen Sieu’s Grade 11 classes travelled into the centre of Hanoi to visit RMIT University Vietnam’s Hanoi campus, where many of Nguyen Sieu alumni have gone on to pursue an international Bachelor’s degree. Each year, the current back of Grade 11 students will visit the campus to find out more about studying at RMIT.
RMIT Vietnam is the Asian hub of Melbourne-based RMIT University, and Australia’s largest tertiary institution. Besides its Australian campuses, RMIT offers more than 2000 programmes in over 40 countries across the world. In Vietnam, there are 4 campuses, including in Danang, and 2 sites in Ho Chi Minh City. RMIT’s Hanoi campus is situated on the bank of Lake Ngoc Khanh in Ba Dinh District, the newly renovated Handi Resco Building.
The Grade 11 students were warmly welcomed by RMIT Vietnam’s Student Ambassadors, who provided a charismatic and informative introduction to the university, its background, learning at RMIT, as well as the many student activities and career opportunities that the campus serves as a springboard for.
Students heard more about the wide array of profession-oriented majors on offer at RMIT. In addition to majors that are already popular in Vietnam (e.g. Economics & Finance, International Business, Management, and Information Technology), degrees such as Tourism & Hospitality Management, Digital Marketing, Design (Digital Media), Fashion (Merchandise Management) and Languages are available.
The Student Ambassadors also shared about RMIT’s distinctive internship programme that equips students to find the most suitable company or work environment for their personality, interests and skill sets.
Having already been given a taster of what it’s like to study and live abroad, Nguyen Sieu’s students were especially excited to hear about the opportunity to do an exchange semester or transfer to RMIT Melbourne. A current RMIT student told us that as a Finance major, she is also deeply interested in Psychology, and is looking forward to her exchange in Melbourne, where she will be able to take courses to complete a Minor in Psychology, as these courses are not available in Vietnam.
The saying, “1-0-2”, or “một không hai”, was used to signify the uniqueness of the RMIT experience, which includes being part of a diverse environment of 26 nationalities, as well as a vibrant student life, where students spend their time building their character and interests in close to 40 student clubs such as American flag football, Aikido, Business Club, and the Environment Club.
After the presentation, students were led to participate in three workshops across campus - English, “Rescue Mission” and Teambuilding – to get a taster of what it is like to be a student at RMIT Vietnam, as well as to enjoy the school’s facilities. In the English workshop, students used tablets and Kahoot!, a game-based learning software, to learn about digital marketing and how today’s companies use digital platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Snapchat to reach large audiences, and market their products and services.
Another group participated in Teambuilding Activities in the gym, or “REC Room”, where they completed relay races with a gym ball, or carried teammates on their shoulders, to facilitate trust and camaraderie.
The Grade 11 classes returned to the presentation room after their workshops, where they were led through a career workshop. In groups, students were asked to pick and present on one object that they think represents the characteristics and traits they embody.
They also filled up a survey, which placed them in categories such as “Enterprising,” “Investigative,” “Realistic,” “Conventional,” and/or “Artistic” – according to the career counsellor, this is one such profiling method that RMIT uses to empower students to identify the best-fit internship, and then, career choices.
The wonderful morning was finished off with a round of drinks and snacks before the Grade 11 classes headed back to school. The teachers were also warmed to see that a few Nguyen Sieu alumni were happily serving as RMIT Student Ambassadors, and spent a few moments to catch up.