Top Marketing Student with a Dream of a School Bread Chain.

Outside of class, Chau Van Phi Long (born in 1995, second-year student majoring in Marketing, Faculty of Administration – International Economics, Lac Hong University) not only participated in professional bakery training and opened a bakery to earn money for his studies butalso nurtured a dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur, serving as a role model for many students.

In 2022, Long applied for admission to the Marketing program, Faculty of Administration – International Economics, Lac Hong University, and became the top scorer with a total score of 9.00. Long shared: “On my first day as a student, I felt very overwhelmed by the new environment, new friends, and especially the fact that some classmates were 8–9 years older than me, which created a significant gap in communication and shared life experiences.”

Alongside basic knowledge from textbooks, Long sought in-depth research materials on business, production, development strategies, and brand building to broaden and accumulate knowledge for his studies and business. In his first year alone, his academic score reached 8.86, placing him among the top in the Marketing program. Long is striving to maintain this achievement in the coming years.

Chau Van Phi Long (center) is guiding trainees in baking.

Outside the classroom, Long works as a baking instructor at the Rosa Baking Vocational Training Center (Bien Hoa City). At the same time, he also takes on tasks such as filming and photographing to promote the Rosa brand on social media platforms, earning about 10 million VND per month. Long said: “Due to economic difficulties, I have to study and work at the same time. The job at Rosa helps me have an income to pursue my studies.” For Long, balancing the pursuit of marketing knowledge with his passion for baking is not easy. At times, he had to both review for tests and learn about the latest baking trends on social networks to help attract customers to his brand. Pressure sometimes made him want to give up. However, his burning passion for baking motivated him to persevere through challenges to pursue his dream.

Phi Long is currently applying what he has learned in class directly to practice. For example, in his business, he compares data from previous weeks before and after applying new promotional strategies to make suitable adjustments to attract more customers and increase revenue and profit. One subject that he also applied to his business was corporate culture, which provides knowledge such as creating a professional working environment, ensuring good income for employees, and treating employees as internal customers to aim toward better customer care and partner relations.

To strengthen the application of knowledge to practice, Phi Long and three friends joined capital to open a morning bread stall near a school in Hiep Hoa Ward, Bien Hoa City. The stall currently earns about 900,000–1,000,000 VND per session. According to Long, this is the beginning of a project he is nurturing to provide a breakfast food chain for students across Bien Hoa City.

Long’s group is actively promoting their bread brand on social media, selling products at picnic events and outdoor activities with promotions and gift packages. Long said: “Studying at school provides a foundation to absorb knowledge, while working offers practical testing of what is learned. I have applied my classroom knowledge to practice, and even balancing study and work has helped me develop time management skills.”

When asked about his future path, Chau Van Phi Long said that after graduating from university, he will continue with his passion for developing the school bread project. He wants to create a culinary space where people can both experience wonderful bread flavors and appreciate the creativity and enthusiasm of those who make it, and beyond that, to become a marketing expert with profound knowledge of food and beverage in restaurant and hotel operations.