"Golden boy" of Vietnamese Physics

(Baonghean) - Returning from the 15th Asian Physics Olympiad, Cao Ngoc Thai, a 12A3 student from Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, was named on the gold list with an excellent achievement, winning the only Gold Medal of the Vietnamese delegation. This proud achievement is a worthy result of the tireless will and efforts to overcome difficulties of this poor, studious student.

Coming to Dien Cat (Dien Chau), asking about the student who won the Olympic Gold Medal, everyone from young to old knows and excitedly introduces him as the pride of the whole village. It is now the rice harvest season, so Thai's parents are busy threshing, drying rice, straw... Under the harsh summer sun, sweat soaking his back, but Cao Ngoc Ha (Thai's father) still smiles: "The greatest happiness of a parent is that their child succeeds in his studies". That happiness seems to spread throughout the family's small house when these days there are always many neighbors coming to visit, congratulate and everyone admires the will of the poor student overcoming difficulties.

Cao Ngoc Thai in the joy of his relatives. Photo: Nguyen Khoa

Thai is the eldest son in a family of two brothers. Therefore, since he was a child, he has loved his parents, been obedient, and studied hard. In particular, his intelligence was revealed right from the moment he started school. From first grade to the end of secondary school, he was always an excellent student and ranked first in his class. Seeing that his son was good at studying and passionate about it, his parents always created all conditions for him to study. His father recalled: “Since secondary school, he often searched for documents on the internet to help with his studies. At that time, there was only one house in the neighborhood that had a computer, so in the evening, Thai often came to the computer to look for reference documents. Seeing that our son was eager to learn and had difficulty asking for help from neighbors, my husband and I decided to borrow nearly 10 million VND from relatives to buy him a computer. Even though my parents had to work hard, they only hoped that their children could study properly.”

Thai's parents have worked hard all their lives, and now they only hope that their children will study to have less hardship. Therefore, in addition to the three fields of rice that they cultivate, which are not enough to make ends meet, Thai's father also works as a part-time driver transporting construction materials. The love and care of his parents has left a deep impression on Thai's mind: "Only by studying well can I have the opportunity to support my parents in the future, to help my parents have less hardship and suffering." Therefore, he is always self-disciplined and diligent in his studies. In addition to studying all subjects, Thai especially loves Physics. For him, his love for Physics was kindled since his middle school years. That love grew more and more when his teacher who taught this subject in grade 9 (Mr. Thang) "inspired the fire". Since then, he has become more and more passionate: "Physics is an interesting subject, because thanks to it I can explain simple natural phenomena. The more I learn, the more interesting I find it, the more correct my experiments seem, and so I gradually become passionate and attached to it."

In grade 9, Thai was awarded the provincial excellent student in Physics. That achievement seemed to give him more motivation to pursue his passion. He was encouraged by his teachers to take the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School and he passed that year. Studying in the Physics class, he had more opportunities to learn and explore the subject he loved. During his high school years, having to live far away from his family, Thai had to take care of his own life and study, but he never felt discouraged. Thanks to that, he has achieved high academic achievements: In grade 10, Thai won the national second prize in Physics; in grade 11, he won the national first prize and a Certificate of Merit in the Asian Physics Olympiad.

Successes in national and international competitions have helped Thai gain more confidence when taking part in the final year exams. However, before taking the exam, he had to go through months of hard training. Two months before the exam, he and his teammates went to Mr. Nga's house to study. Those were the days when teachers and students stayed up late and woke up early to work hard on exercises and exam questions. For Thai, what remains in his memory is the dedication and devotion of teacher Tran Van Nga to his students: "He always treats his students as his own children, with all his heart to teach us valuable "competition" experiences; in addition to preparing lessons for us, he also buys practice tools himself so that the team members have the conditions to study. In addition, he also encourages us to try, devote ourselves and set goals to strive for. It is his dedication that has instilled in me the determination and effort to not let him down" - Thai shared. And success has come to those who dare to "live for passion". In the recent 15th Asian Physics Olympiad, Cao Ngoc Thai excellently won the Gold Medal.

For teacher Tran Van Nga, each student who achieves high results in the competition is a great happiness; it is the feeling of a "sower" when reaping "golden seasons". Talking about his excellent student Cao Ngoc Thai, teacher Nga could not hide his pride: "Winning the only Gold Medal of the entire Vietnamese delegation in this Asian Physics Competition, Thai has brought glory to the Fatherland and the land of learning in Nghe An. Thai's achievements have also been highly appreciated by the Ministry of Education and Training since 2002 (with the score ranked 4th out of 275 candidates from 27 participating countries). This is also a worthy result for the efforts and dedication of Thai - a diligent, intelligent student, always conscious of studying well and eager to learn".

The “golden boy” of the 2014 Vietnam Physics team shared his dream of studying abroad to continue pursuing his passion for Physics and becoming successful enough to return to serve his country. His immediate goal is to conquer the 2014 International Physics Olympiad. Thai is working hard every day to make his dream come true with the spirit of “nothing is impossible” that he always keeps in mind and has helped him reap proud achievements.

Dinh Nguyet