Portrait of 2 students who won first prize in National Biology

Nguyen Viet Anh: Spectacular breakthrough

3 years ago, Nguyen Viet Anh was a prominent name in the entrance exam toPhan Boi Chau High School for the Giftedwhen I was valedictorian in the Biology class.

For Viet Anh personally, the result of this competition was not easy because just a few months ago, Viet Anh was a failed candidate in the provincial competition to select excellent students of the city team.

As an excellent student, Nguyen Viet Anh is also an active student, participating in many clubs and playing many sports. Photo: My Ha

It is worth mentioning that before losing in this competition, Viet Anh was considered the most promising candidate. Because when he was studying in secondary school at Le Mao Secondary School (Vinh city), for two consecutive years Viet Anh was the city's excellent student in Biology. In particular, in grade 8, Viet Anh won the second prize and in grade 9, he was the valedictorian.Biology.Recalling this memory, Viet Anh added: "That was my first time failing and I burst into tears when I knew the result. Personally, I don't know the reason, maybe I was quite subjective - Viet Anh recalled.

Viet Anh's family has a tradition of medical practice, but it was not until 8th grade that Viet Anh began to consciously pursue Biology to follow in his family's footsteps. Since becoming conscious, Viet Anh has also begun to take his studies seriously. Before that, Viet Anh was only an average student and spent most of his time playing games.

The person who changed Viet Anh's thinking about games was his father, even though he himself never put pressure on his son to study. Recalling the process of "quitting" games, Viet Anh added: When I first entered 6th grade, I played games a lot, even playing continuously for 6-7 hours. Because I was addicted to games, my studies were also greatly affected. After that, my father spent a whole night talking to me about the harmful effects of games and gave me two choices: quit playing games to prioritize studying, or I could go downhill... I have always admired my father and I was determined to quit playing games so he wouldn't be upset.

In the National Excellent Student Selection Exam, in addition to two theoretical exams, candidates must also take a practical exam. Photo: MH

Giving up gaming and being admitted to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted also became the motivation for Viet Anh to excel during his 3 years of high school, especially when Viet Anh was always assessed by teachers as having intelligence and quick thinking.

In grade 10, I completed almost all the difficult homework assigned by the teacher, even though I had a lot of knowledge from grades 11 and 12.

When selected for the national team, Viet Anh was also a prominent face because for two consecutive years participating in the National Excellent Student Competition, Viet Anh achieved high prizes, which were Second Prize in Grade 11 and First Prize in Grade 12. Notably, in this year's Competition, with 34.35 points, Viet Anh was the candidate with the second highest score in the country and only 0.25 points behind the top scorer.

Returning to the national team for the second time, Viet Anh shared: My biggest goal is to get into Hanoi Medical University and with the results of grade 11, I was able to be admitted directly. However, in grade 12, I am still determined to take the exam again because I want to conquer the international arena and want to give myself another chance.

Vu Tran Quynh Trang: Confidence, surpassing yourself

Up to this point, Vu Tran Quynh Trang is the first female student of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted to win First Prize in Biology at theNational Excellent Student Exam.With the 4th highest score in the country, Trang also advanced straight to the second round to select the National team to participate in the International Olympic Competitions.

Vu Tran Quynh Trang is the first female student to win First Prize in Biology. Photo: My Ha

Although she is a female, in the excellent Biology team of Phan School this year, Trang is the face that teachers trust and entrust the most. Therefore, this result, although Trang herself admits it is "unexpected", is understandable to teachers.

The female student in grade 12 A5, formerly a student of Ho Xuan Huong Secondary School (Quynh Luu) also won the first prize in the provincial excellent student competition in grade 9 Biology and was one of the candidates in the top 10 in the entrance exam.

To achieve high results in the National Excellent Student Competition, Trang's simplest secret is to be diligent. However, Trang does not consider herself a bookworm, but the most important thing is to have a scientific learning method: She spends a lot of time reading books and thinking while reading. In addition, to study well, one must have a firm grasp of basic knowledge and then connect it to related issues.

Before winning First Prize in the 12th grade exam, Quynh Trang also won Third Prize in the National Excellent Student Exam in 11th grade. After this result, Trang also thought of stopping to spend time studying for the university entrance exam because Trang's biggest wish was to pass the General Medicine major at Hanoi Medical University.

In 2020, while still in grade 11, Viet Anh and Quynh Trang won second and third prizes at the National Excellent Student Competition. Photo: PV

Deciding to join the national team for the second time, Trang also had to "puzzle" herself, either she would succeed and go straight to medical school or she would fail and fail the university entrance exam. Later, through her passion and hard work, Trang was able to fulfill her own wish.

The miracle of a 9X teacher

Biology used to be one of the obstacles for Phan School students in the race for the National Excellent Student Competition. However, in the past 3 years, Biology has become a strength of the school when students continuously won first prizes at the national level. This year alone, with 2 first prizes, 2 second prizes, 4 third prizes and 2 encouragement prizes, Biology is one of the most successful subjects when 100% of the candidates won prizes.

Teacher Phan Thi Huong and her students during exam preparation days in Hanoi. Photo: PV

As the homeroom teacher of class 12A5 and also one of the three teachers who trained the team, teacher Phan Thi Huong is really happy with this "unexpected" result. The 2021 National Excellent Student Selection Exam is also the first exam in which the female teacher born in 1990 was assigned the responsibility of leading the team and marked her first achievement after nearly 3 years of working at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted.

When I was assigned to be the homeroom teacher of the specialized class, I was really under pressure. Because the achievements that Phan was aiming for were not only in the national team but also in international competitions. Meanwhile, I was still young, did not have much experience in training the team and did not have much experience.

Teacher Phan Thi Huong - Homeroom teacher of class 12C5

Having been with the class 12 A5 and the team members for nearly 3 years, teacher Phan Thi Huong also has many memories. She said that Viet Anh was a very potential student and was noticed by teachers right from when he entered grade 10. However, Viet Anh's limitations were bad handwriting, sloppy presentation, and lack of neatness. Therefore, in the early days of grading Viet Anh's papers, I crossed out any sentences that he wrote too badly and did not grade them. Many times Viet Anh took his papers to "sue" her, but I was determined not to change the results so that he could adjust and overcome his weaknesses.

With Vu Tran Quynh Trang, teacher Phan Thi Huong has her own sympathy because she was also a member of the national team and also had to overcome the difficulties of a female student who "accidentally" loved Biology.

In addition to her role as a teacher, Ms. Phan Thi Huong is also a sister and friend to the team members. Photo: My Ha

Teacher Phan Thi Huong also accompanied and encouraged Trang to continue pursuing the National Excellent Student Exam for grade 12 because she believed that "Trang is a strong and hard-working student".

Talking about Trang, Ms. Huong shared more: When she first joined the team, Trang was a very confident student. But maybe because of the pressure of the National Excellent Student Exam and Biology (since grade 10, she had to study 8 topics), the more Trang studied, the less confident she became in herself. Therefore, in addition to supplementing Trang's knowledge, I had to constantly encourage and motivate her to improve herself.

With 2nd and 4th place, Viet Anh and Quynh Trang continue to enter the 2nd round of selecting the National team to participate in the International Olympic Competitions. Photo: My Ha

During the days of training the team, young teacher Phan Thi Huong also learned a lot from her colleagues. Therefore, together with teacher Tran Mong Lai and teacher Nguyen Thanh Ha, the teachers really "ignited the fire" in the students and found harmony, that is all for the students...

After the efforts, the sweet fruits achieved in the first days of 2021 have given strength to the team, teachers and students of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. This will also be the luggage for the students to continue to conquer the second round of selecting the national team with the belief of a successful day!.

Phan Boi Chau High School for the GiftedThere were 102 candidates participating in the National Excellent Student Competition. As a result, the whole group had 81 students winning prizes, including 7 First prizes, 25 Second prizes, 27 Third prizes and 22 Encouragement prizes. Of which, Biology: 2 First prizes, 2 Second prizes, 4 Third prizes and 2 Encouragement prizes.