The spotlight may be firmly on the Philippines' own Catriona Gray, but there's one other candidate that has been inspiring people online.

That's Miss Vietnam H'Hen Niê, who finished in the top five of the contest overall.

Her stint was notable not just for being the only Vietnamese to have ever made it that far, but also because she's the first-ever representative of Vietnam who's from an ethnic minority group.

She's part of the Rade group, which she shared makes up only 5% of her country's total population.

Her story is nothing short of amazing, having overcome poverty, broken tradition by refusing marriage at the age of 14, and having taken on several odd jobs to finance her studies in the city.

View this post on Instagram

Growing up, H'Hen Nie chose to focus on education, which helped positively change a difficult childhood. She has tried her hands in several jobs such as a maid, tutor, leaflet deliverer, and model to help pay for her studies and life in the city. The Miss Universe Vietnam crown is not only the result of her hard effort, but also changed the definition of a beauty queen in Vietnam. If she becomes Miss Universe 2018, H'Hen Nie will use the influence of the title to continue helping disadvantaged children around the world to attend schools, especially in conjunction with organizations to enhance girls' lives in developing countries. @missuniverse #MissUniverse #Vietnam #MissUniverseVietnam #HHenNie #Unicorp #ConfidentlyBeautiful #TeamVietnam

A post shared by Miss Universe Vietnam (@missuniversevietnam) on Dec 15, 2018 at 8:10pm PST

"I could not possibly get a husband at that point in time because I had to follow my dreams," she said of their tradition of getting married early ("Like many of the other kids," she added).

And chase them, she did. She finished in the top five of the recently concluded Miss Universe, preaching about the importance of funding education for disadvantaged girls around the world.

View this post on Instagram

I want to give special thank everyone and love you all ❤️#MissUniverse #Bangkok #Thailand

A post shared by H'Hen Niê (@hhennie.official) on Dec 17, 2018 at 7:38am PST