A student in Ho Chi Minh City has secured an $8-million dollar scholarship to attend Dartmouth College, a prominent American Ivy League institution.
Nguyen Bentley Minh Nhat, a 12th-grade student from class 12B3 at Vinschool The Harmony, received the admission results from Dartmouth’s Film & Media Studies Department and Business School on December 14. Dartmouth is currently ranked 15th in the US this year, according to US News & World Report.
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Bentley received his acceptance to Dartmouth’s Film & Media Studies Department and Business School on December 14. The scholarship will significantly lower his family’s annual financial obligation to $11,000.
Bentley said, “When I saw the word ‘Congratulations,’ I stopped reading because I knew I got in,” they recalled. “I shared the news with my grandmother and father, then walked around the house calling my best friend, who also got accepted to an Ivy League school. We congratulated each other, saying, ‘We did it’.”
The admissions director expressed great appreciation for Bentley’s application and accomplishments, emphasizing his innovative spirit and unwavering persistence.
A lesson from steak
Bentley’s main essay started with a descriptive passage about his experiments to soften cheap cut steak, using methods such as pounding the meat, sprinkling it with baking soda, and marinating it in pineapple juice. Despite his attempts, the steak remained tough.
His father eventually showed him a straightforward yet effective method: turn the steak 90 degrees and slice it against the grain. This taught Bentley an important life lesson: that obstacles, like tough steak, often require a change in perspective to resolve.
He applied this lesson to other areas of his life. In his 11th year of education, Bentley cared for his 90-year-old great-grandfather, initially finding the task extremely challenging. Inspired by his father’s steak lesson, he changed his approach by spending more time talking to his great-grandfather. Through their conversations, he gained insights into his great-grandfather’s life as a wartime medic and his simple pleasures in peacetime, which helped Bentley view caregiving as a meaningful experience rather than a burden.
Academic exploits and a passion for filmmaking
Bentley was born in Canada and moved to Vietnam with his parents in the first grade. For a significant portion of his childhood, he would shuttle back and forth between the two countries until he settled in Vietnam during sixth grade. As his family had achieved success in the restaurant industry, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced their revenue, prompting Bentley to focus on securing a top scholarship.
He sacrificed time spent with friends, gaming, and filmmaking to focus on his studies,” he said. “Given that his family could not afford the full costs, he had to aim for the highest scholarship available.
He excelled academically, attaining four A grades in the Cambridge International AS-level program and achieved a score of 1530 out of 1600 on the SAT.
Despite his busy schedule, Bentley also pursued his passion for filmmaking. He was motivated by action-packed and superhero films like “Inception,” and he taught himself to shoot, write, and edit movies. Using an iPad, he created short films that have earned awards in both domestic and international competitions.
Bentley expressed his desire to genuinely represent Vietnamese folklore in films. He regretted that modern retellings of traditional stories often lose their educational and cultural significance, referencing an adaptation of “Tam Cam”, a folk tale about a stepmother’s cruelty, that was depicted as a ghost story instead.
We aim to represent the traditional tales of Vietnam in film with absolute authenticity.
During his interview with Dartmouth, Bentley talked about his filmmaking experience and his goals for the future. The interviewer noted, “I greatly appreciate you. You possess qualities similar to those of a Dartmouth student.”
Looking ahead
Bentley’s communications teacher, Vi David Nguyen, who wrote his recommendation letter, praised his self-motivation and talent. “I am aware of Dartmouth’s prestige, but I am also aware of Bentley. He strikes a balance between his passion for the arts and academic excellence,” Nguyen said.
Next August, Bentley will start his studies at Dartmouth. Upon graduating, he plans to pursue both business and filmmaking opportunities in the United States.
I’ve finally achieved my objective of being accepted into college and landing a scholarship, now I have the time to spend with my friends and work on my favorite film projects.
