With a GPA of 3.9/4.0, Duong Thi Mai Dung is the valedictorian for the 2024–2025 academic year at the Institute of International Finance Education, Academy of Finance.
Mai Dung was formerly a specialized History student at Nguyen Hue High School for the Gifted (Hanoi). She initially chose the field of finance under her family’s guidance; as she progressed, she increasingly felt it was the right and well-suited choice for her.
Mai Dung says finance is not as “dry” as many people think and that it shares many parallels with History—her favorite subject and also her strength in high school.
Photo: Provided by the student
The DDP (Dual Degree Programme) is a joint training program in which each institution awards one Bachelor’s degree, jointly offered by the Academy of Finance and the University of Greenwich (United Kingdom).
Students like Mai Dung will receive a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Banking from the Academy of Finance and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Greenwich (UK) upon graduation.
Additionally, the program is accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the United Kingdom, granting graduates exemptions from all nine F-level papers (F1–F9) in the ACCA qualification framework.
Mai Dung at the graduation ceremony on October 18.
“This is a competitive advantage for students when they graduate and enter the job market compared to their peers,” Mai Dung said, sharing that this was also the reason she decided to choose the DDP program.
However, completing the program was not easy.
At first, when entering university, Mai Dung felt overwhelmed by the new learning approach and the specialized nature of the field. But after a short time, with her own effort and the enthusiastic support of her lecturers, she was able to adapt to the university learning environment.
“There were nights when I texted my lecturers at midnight, and they still replied and guided me patiently. Besides that, I spent time on self-study and reading extra materials to improve my English proficiency,” Mai Dung shared.
During the first three years, DDP students study at the Institute of International Finance Education – Academy of Finance, and afterward, they must pass a language proficiency assessment to qualify for the final year of the University of Greenwich curriculum. Students can choose to study either in Vietnam or transfer to the United Kingdom for their final year.
“I chose to complete my final year in Vietnam, but the entire program was managed by the University of Greenwich. All materials and textbooks were provided by the UK lecturers, and students’ exams and assessments were sent to the UK for grading before results were returned individually. That was the most challenging period for me—adjusting to the new learning style and meeting the strict academic standards of the UK. At the same time, I had to complete my graduation thesis and internship report to graduate from the Academy of Finance on time,” Mai Dung recalled.
When asked about her secret to overcoming such intense study periods, the student said she always broke tasks into smaller steps and set deadlines for each. This helped her stay motivated and avoid procrastination.
“By trying a little each day, studying doesn’t feel overwhelming. More importantly, I have time to review what I’ve done. The initial challenges—and even language barriers—weren’t real obstacles. Once I set my mind to it, everything followed the plan I made,” she said.
Mai Dung did not aim to become valedictorian but simply tried her best throughout her four years of study.
In addition to being the valedictorian of the 2021–2025 cohort, she was also the academic-year valedictorian of the DDP program for two consecutive years (2021–2022 and 2022–2023) and received the second-class scholarship in 2023–2024. She actively participated in student research activities, winning the “Best Paper” award at the 2023 Student Scientific Conference of the Institute of International Finance Education.
Regarding her future plans, Mai Dung shared that immediately after graduation, she applied for and was accepted by a major auditing corporation.
“I plan to work and study at the same time to further deepen my knowledge in auditing,” she said.
Source: Lao Dong Newspaper
