Freda Biak Len Sung’s Road to Excellence: Engineering a brighter future for her community

“We can only rely on candles,” Freda shared. “There were a lot of burns on our hands. I don’t want the future generation to face the same situation that I faced.”

This is how Freda Biak Len Sung, a recipient of Dean’s Distinction Scholarship (90%) and an additional 10% Financial Aid, recalls studying at home after a coup in Myanmar. With this support, Freda is able to pursue her education at VinUniversity with 100% tuition funding.

In Freda’s hometown near Yangon, electricity was no longer something people could depend on. Nights were lit by candlelight, homework often came with mosquito bites, and power outages became part of everyday life.

⭐️ A dream born by candlelight

Growing up, Freda once considered studying Civil Engineering, knowing how important infrastructure is to her country. But the more she thought about the reality of her hometown, the more certain she became that reliable electricity was where she wanted to make a difference.

For Freda, Electrical Engineering is not simply about technology. It is about helping communities like her own gain access to stable power and creating opportunities for future generations to live differently from the one she experienced.

⭐️ Redefining excellence through persistence

After a fire destroyed homes and schools in her village, Freda once believed she might never complete high school. Encouraged by her parents, she began again, studying with past examination papers while balancing housework and long hours of self-study to catch up with what others may have learned more easily.

“The situation we are in is not the same,” she shared. “I have to give more time. I have to put in more effort.”

That effort eventually led her to complete high school with distinctions in science subjects, and later, to earn her place in a distinguished scholarship at VinUniversity.

⭐️ Bringing light back home

For Freda, studying at VinUniversity is not the finish line. It is the next step toward a goal she has carried out for years: returning home with the knowledge to help build a more reliable electrical system for communities like her own.

“If you don’t take the chance, you don’t know what happens.”

For Freda, every journey begins with one decision: to take the first step, keep moving forward, and trust that effort can open doors that once seemed impossible.

As a young woman pursuing technology, Freda carries a goal larger than herself: to become an example for her siblings, for younger students, and for children in her community who may one day believe that they can also take a different path.