At 17, Nguyễn Nga Vàng and Nguyễn Công Thành have taken on very different summer roles. One guides tourists around an island, while the other helps children learn to swim. Both say the experience has helped them become more independent and think more seriously about their futures.
For many visitors to Cù Lao Xanh in Nhơn Châu commune, memories of the island extend beyond its pristine scenery and coral reefs to a petite, energetic young tour guide from Cù Lao Xanh Travel Co., Ltd.
Nga Vàng, a local resident preparing to enter her final year at Tran Cao Van High School No. 1 in Quy Nhơn ward, has spent four consecutive summers working as a tour guide.
With an easy familiarity with her island home, she accompanies visitors to attractions including the lighthouse, flagpole, Fairy Well and grassland rock beach. Despite her young age, she answers tourists’ questions thoroughly and confidently.
Her experience in tourism began by chance before she entered ninth grade, when her parents agreed to let her take a summer job. She started by learning the basics and gradually became a popular local guide, drawing on her knowledge of the island.
Nga Vàng taught herself guiding and storytelling skills to make her tours more engaging. She also learned photography so she could help visitors capture memorable images at destinations around the island.
Her company provides her with an iPhone to photograph guests, and she regularly searches for new angles and settings to improve their experience. Her work reflects how tourism has become part of daily life on the island, with younger residents actively helping to promote their local identity.
Nga Vàng said she now hopes to pursue tourism as a career. For her, one of the greatest attractions of the job is the opportunity to meet and talk with people from different places.
“I haven’t traveled everywhere myself, but I feel that by listening to each tourist’s story, it’s as if I’ve already ‘been’ there”, she said.
Lê Thị Mỹ Dung, from Tăng Nhơn Phú ward in Ho Chi Minh City, visited Cù Lao Xanh with her family in mid-June 2026 and said she was impressed by the young guide.
“Nga Vàng is the same age as my daughter, yet she’s already quick to find a part-time job. She’s an excellent, experienced tour guide”, Dung said. “What I truly respect is that through this work, Nga Vàng not only earns extra income to support her family, but more importantly, she helps promote the beauty of her homeland”.
Elsewhere, Nguyễn Công Thành, also 17, has chosen a summer job that draws on his swimming abilities.
Preparing to enter his final year at Pleiku High School in Pleiku ward, Thành works as a teaching assistant at Yet Kieu Gia Lai Swimming Center near the Phan Đình Phùng suspension bridge in Ia Hrung commune.
Lâm Diệp Thùy Trang, the center’s owner, said Thành was the most experienced of the four high school students working as assistants there.
“He always approaches his summer job with the mindset of earning extra income and gaining experience, so he works with great enthusiasm and dedication,” Trang said.
This is Thành’s second summer at the center after a teacher at his school recommended the job. A strong swimmer, he helps young beginners prepare for lessons, assists with warm-ups, provides flotation devices and helps children become comfortable in the water.
His calm and attentive approach helps even timid children gain confidence and begin to enjoy swimming.
Although the job requires him to spend much of the day in the water, Thành said he did not consider the work particularly difficult.
“I hardly find anything difficult. On the contrary, the pool owners have been very supportive, from the work itself to providing lunch on site”, he said.
The most important lesson he has learned, Thành said, is patience, particularly when working with children who struggle to concentrate.
By observing instructors teach students with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he has also gained practical skills that he believes can only be developed through hands-on experience.
“I’m proud to be able to earn money with my own hands. I’ll use this money to buy books, clothes and school supplies for the new academic year”, Thành said.
The income helps reduce the financial burden on his parents, who both work freelance jobs. More significantly, the experience has broadened his thinking about his future.
While Thành is considering a career in the police force, his summer work has also led him to think about becoming a swimming coach.