Letter of Continued Interest

Hien Dao

Dear Rhodes College,

I am Hien Dao, a prospective student from Vietnam hoping to attend Rhodes

College this fall. I am currently a student of the English Gifted Class at Quoc Hoc
High School for the Gifted - Hue. I would like to express my gratitude for the time you
have spent reviewing my application. Although I was waitlisted in the Early Action
pool, I remain confident that Rhodes is the right fit for me and I am grateful for the
opportunity to have my materials reevaluated.

I would like to take this opportunity to briefly update the admissions department on
a few developments since my Early Action submission.

First, I am still highly committed to the common cause of raising local youth’s
social responsibility and agency in their local community through the Learn2Link
project, an initiative that connects young people over the world together to address
community needs and demands. Despite recent struggles with establishing a
sustaining partnership with local organisations in Hue to operate in Hue as a
foreign-based program and spreading interest to more students, we remain steadfast
in our vision for promoting conscious change within the youth community and are
aptly linking up with a local high school to secure a firmer foundation for the project.
The following steps would be to formally establish our partnership by April and
proceed to meet interested students dedicated to the project's cause to kickstart our
official program in 2025.

Albeit in its very infancy, the project has made a resounding impact during its pilot
scheme (you can view our 2023 Impact Report here) and we believe in the potential
in furthering the meaning and empowering message of the project, helping more
students find their voice in their own home community. I am confident that my
involvement in this project and my eagerness to learn and grow will be a valuable
addition to the Rhodes community.

Further than that, I have advanced my personal commitment to raising local

youth’s mental health in my community by starting a service project called Nest
Care. Through interaction sessions with local schoolchildren involving storytelling,
free dancing, art therapy, and open discussions about mental health topics, the
project is devoted to the utmost objective of removing stigma around mental health
problems, which are still heavily embedded in a developing locality like Hue, and
breaking down barriers to mental health resource access among young people. More
importantly, instead of being a one-off initiative, the project persists in its educational
role of bringing mental health awareness to more young people, through discussions
with local school teachers around incorporating mental health education sessions
into the school curriculum, even to formal classrooms. The initiatives have been
thoroughly considered at one school and proceeded to be implemented - a source of
meaning and inspiration for me to continue my action.

Second, I would like to include some more achievements in my admission file.

This February, I have proudly achieved a second prize in a nationally esteemed
contest of National Competition of Excellent Student in the subject of English, held in
January this year. This highly competitive contest, with over 400 highly contested
competitors from all over the nation, has been my devoted academic pursuit for 3
years of high school and the positive results are proof of my determination and
resilience in academia. In addition to my focus on high-demand preparation for the
contest, I’ve maintained good grades at school, with an overall GPA of 9.9 out of 10
for the first semester of senior year, which ranked the highest within my class.
Outside class, I maintained my love for writing and sharing my personal story
through my blog on Substack - a thought sanctuary where I can express my
perspective on the diversity of life. I hope the above information provides further
insight into me as a person and my passion for different fields.

I believe the liberal arts education offered at Rhodes expands my curiosity and
satiates my eager lifelong learning spirit, as well as deepens my interest in
harnessing psychological tools to enhance children’s intellectual, social and mental
health. And I feel Rhodes can help me refine my idea, whether it's experimenting
with the potential of integrating elements of social entertainment as adolescents’
social anxiety interventions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, or discussing
with Professor Geoff Maddox about how we can possibly apply “predictive coding” in
helping children to sustain attention and learn better. Right now, my mind is flowing
with innovative psychology ideas and I know that no community will support and
develop me as much as Rhodes. And I am sure there is no other place in the world
where I would bring this curiosity and eagerness to contribute to community
development through research projects, community service initiatives, and fostering
a culture of lifelong learning at Rhodes College.

Again, I would like to express my deep gratitude for the reconsideration you
extend for my application at Rhodes and I am overly enthusiastic for the possibility of
joining the Rhodes community.

Best regards,

Hien Dao