Vietnam Youth Leaders (VYL) was started by four UNIS students, Judy Baek, Uyen Trinh, Gia Han Le, and Minh Quan Do, who wished to see a change in our society through the initiative of the younger generations. They hoped that by creating a group like the Vietnam Youth Leaders, there would be a place where the local youth of Vietnam could share advice and experiences, support each other, and improve our communities one step at a time.

“The whole point of VYL is to encourage proactivity within students and be a place where the active youth can come together and really achieve their full potential,” said Grade 12 student Minh Quan Do, who is one of the leaders in Vietnam Youth Leaders.

Currently, VYL is in action as a service group, but it is working to transcend UNIS borders by reaching out to other international and local schools in Hanoi. There are different groups within the service group, such as communications and events. Members work on their respective tasks pertaining to their sub-group; those in the Communications and Marketing sector manage social media accounts and connect with other schools, while people in the Events sector split into separate groups that focus on different events.

VYL has successfully helped organize events like the TEDxHanoi, which took place at UNIS last school year. This year, the team is hoping to have another productive year by planning the school’s annual Winterfest as well as another TEDx event. Members of VYL can take leading positions by creating individual projects and are free to use the group’s resources to reach their goals. “Change does not just happen so I love seeing students take initiative and do things that may be out of their comfort zone but they do it anyway in the hopes of benefiting the world they live in,” said Grade 12 student Uyen Trinh, another leader of VYL.

Vietnam Youth Leaders are continuing to provide students with the opportunities to take initiative and become leaders in their communities. VYL is definitely “a centralized system to connect everyone to each other,” said Minh Quan.