Tung Nguyen Son Vu

Name: Tung Nguyen Son Vu
Country: Vietnam
Course: Diploma of Business at Monash College

Vietnamese teenager Tung Nguyen Son Vu has been surprised at how easily he has been able to settle in since he arrived at Monash College in Melbourne, Australia, last year.

"For me it's been quite easy, there's been no culture shock," Tung said. "I feel very comfortable studying here - good teachers, good students, good friends. Maybe it's because even in Vietnam I was quite independent."

Tung, who turns 18 in December, lived in Hai Phong in Vietnam and attended Tran Phu High School. He arrived at Monash College, located at Monash University's main campus in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton, in October 2007.

Monash College courses provide an entry pathway to enrolling in Monash University degrees in Art and Design, Arts, Business, Engineering, Health Sciences and Information Technology.

Monash University is Australia's biggest and most internationalised university, with campuses in South Africa and Malaysia and a centre in Italy. Monash is one of Australia's prestigious Group of Eight universities, renowned for their excellence in research, scholarship and teaching.

Monash College is offered at Monash campuses in Melbourne, as well as in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka through Monash University's overseas partners.

Tung spent his first 15 weeks at Monash College completing a course focused on improving his English skills and learning skills to help him succeed in his tertiary studies.

"I didn't know how to do a presentation or write an essay but I learned a lot about things like that," Tung said.

Tung has this year completed a Diploma of Business at Monash College. The diploma consists of two 12-week semesters.

Tung said he had enjoyed the personal attention from tutors in his small classes of 15 to 20 students and had made friends with students from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. He lives just a few minutes walk from Monash College with two international students who are studying science at the college.

Next year, Tung plans to enrol in a Business degree at Monash University and focus his studies on accounting, finance and economics. Tung hopes to take part in Monash's exchange program and spend some time studying in the USA or Europe at some point during his degree.

Tung said he was keen to study at Monash University because he had heard good things about Monash from family and friends and because of the University's high international ranking. Monash was one of only six Australian universities ranked in the top 50 in this year's Times Higher Education world university rankings.

Tung said he had been impressed by Monash University's resources since arriving. "The faculties are all very good and I like the computer labs and the main library, it's very big," he said.

"Compared with Vietnamese universities, Monash is better. Some friends of mine studying in Vietnam, they complain about the quality of universities and say they can't achieve the things they want. "Monash is a good choice when Vietnamese students want to choose a university in Australia. Many friends of mine want to go to Australia to study. I told them that Monash is good and some are coming to Monash next year."

Tung ultimately hopes to become a qualified accountant and work in Australia for five to 10 years, before returning to Vietnam. "I really like Australia and Melbourne," he said. "It's clean and the people are friendly. There's good food, a good environment, good entertainment and the traffic is also good."

Tung, who has joined the Monash University gymnasium to stay fit, said he would advise any Vietnamese young person thinking about studying at Monash in Melbourne to go for it and to study hard but also enjoy themselves.

"I think it's important for students to make their life balanced between study and play and outside activities - maybe join some of the Monash sporting clubs or other clubs," he said.