VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese students and alumni of Harvard disagree with the book ‘Harvard 4:30am - Harvard University's Gift to Young People’ by Wei Xiuying, which says that excessive studying occurs, even at 4am.

The book became a hot topic among Vietnamese students after it was published in China and summarized in Vietnamese. 

The book says that Harvard students can be found studying at the school’s libraries even at 4am. Meanwhile, at canteens, it is very quiet because students, under study pressure, read their books while eating. Students are encouraged to stay up late and work hard if they want to be successful. 

However, Vietnamese students at Harvard have said the description is just a ‘product of the imagination’.

Truong Pham Hoai Chung, former fellow who received a Master’s of Education at Harvard, said there are about 70 libraries at Harvard, but only one of them, The Lamont, is open 24 hours a day, except on Friday and Saturday, throughout the academic year.

Students can borrow books from libraries with no limitations, so there is no need to go to libraries. Harvard students are often asked to work in teams to implement projects as requested by professors. This cannot be done at libraries, which are only full in the last weeks of semesters, when students have to prepare for the exams.

Anyone have the right to sit alone at canteens and read books, but most Harvard students spend lunchtime discussing academic projects, or meeting friends.

Harvard students are motivated to study on their own in a school that offers a comprehensive liberal education.

Harvard’s former alumni said that top-tier schools like Harvard pay attention to both academic and extracurricular activities, because it wants to train students in a comprehensive manner, and does not want students to be ‘machines’, which are not the key to success. 

As for cases of students suffering from depression and committing suicide, Chung said such students can be found in any school environment. These students might have psychological problems or they do not know how to seek support from the community.

Tran Dieu Lien, a new student at Harvard, said the images shown in the book do not depict the school that she knows.

Lien has become well known in Vietnam after a story about her – ‘Cleaner’s daughter become Harvard student’ – was published on local newspapers.

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