"IT Old Man" is a familiar name for teacher Nguyen The Hoang, an IT instructor of FPT university but possessing an artistic spirit of 'a wandering poet', who has become a special friend of FPT Univeristy students in HCM City.

"Passion already resides deep in my heart" - His teaching diary

 

"I'm the Old Man, a teacher of a remote school and tell stories through poems. I am the 'youthful' companion of my students." Got 'married' to teaching due to his wish of becoming a companion, a person sharing his life lessons to the pupils, Old Man Nguyen The Hoang, IT instructor of FPT University prioritizes orienteering the 'kids' to the successful paths that their predecessors crossed.

 

Living his life at its best, being in his 40s but Old Man Nguyen The Hoang still has the exuburance of his youth. To him, life has to be challenging, always moving forward as the other way is staying behind. There is a funny story kindling great inspirations that he often shares with his students: "When somebody asks: Do you have a match-box? You rip off your shirt and pound the chest: FIre is already lit up in my heart. Don't bother asking for a match-box." - Old Man laughingly told. Indeed, the Old Man already carries the fire in his heart. 

 

 

Therefore, mainting his work passion, nurturing his love for the students, his lessons are to let learners play while learning. His teaching style is flexible, loose at times but strict when needed to form students a proper attitude. Claiming to be the students' companion is the way Old Man becomes their side-by-side friend in the school hallway. 

 

FPTU students mention him in the phrase: "I'm wrong, apologize to me teacher!". The logic behind this is that because of his devotion to every lecture, he holds accountable to students' misunderstanding. Old Man always observe students' attitude to adjust his lectures to be of the highest quality. 

 

 

Old Man is a familiar name for teacher Nguyen The Hoang

Old Man also pays attention to students' career options, noticing their abilities to offer career guidance if needed. Once spread in FPTU HCMC a funny story: students of an Old Man's class played truant so he was extremely upset, but still livestreamed so that the 'kids' would not miss the lesson.

Regarding himself as a companion, Old Man never sees himself preaching at anyone. Dedicating to teaching and thinking of it as a special playground for teacher Hoang to understand his students and to get along with them. His iconic face always appears in every school or club's event, but he always chooses to spectate and show support for the pupils.

 

He always hopes his students would develop their potential to the very end at FPTU and the outside world. He keeps inviting students to events approaching the recruiters, helps them edit CVs and boosts their spirits also.

His desire is to impart knowledge to his 'friends' through three IT ccourse books online and a soft skill book-consisting of students' favorite scolding lines.

His journey with the students is a way to express his love for career and the youth. That reunited affection kept the fire of passion intact and then spread the warmth from his heart to the hearts of generations of FPTU.

A playful habit of making poems, chatting with students

Old Man is into such activities so that nobody can escape his magnetic attractiveness. Although being an IT teacher, he has a poetic diary with verses and poems of interesting slice of life. Confessing about this, he wittily said: "I do it because it's cheap and doesn't cost me at all. I don't admit to be a poet, but rather a storyteller through poems, spreading love and true enjoyment in life as well as keeping myself composed in this busy world."

Old Man IT possesses the Poetic Diary with poems of trivial yet fascinating daily life stories.

Being playful and chatty, Old Man becomes close with his students as an understanding friend. Old Man captures emotions from the students' Facebook status and then share his storytelling poems as a gift to his young students. He likes to wander around the hallway during recess, coming to every single pupil and listening to their stories, then suddenly becomes a "love mentor" for them. He can spend hours listening to each student's most trivial matter, integrating into their teen life, understanding the "youthful" language to be able to play with the "kids". The quizzes are a nightmare of students but he sets passwords for those to prove his 'adorably' chattiness.

 

 

 A carefree man in a normal life

 

Despite being energetic and passionate for his work, Old Man chooses to have a simple lifestyle. He makes his life tranquil and peaceful so that he can indulge himself at home in the absence of chaos. His philosophy is not to be a slave of materials but a master of the soul. His ideal is that we must enrich the mind, live generously, understandingly and never lose hope. 

 

 

The story of the IT teacher lost in the love for students has captivated all FPTU students, making them treasure this special 'friend'. The carefree teacher cherishes his pupilage and thus keeping him young, full of motivation to tell more valuable stories to FPTU students. 

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