"Golden boy" of Phan School Physics Olympiad

(Baonghean) - These days, teachers and students of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted as well as the people of Nghe An received the good news that student Nguyen Ngoc Khanh (class 12A3) won a Gold Medal at the Asian Physics Olympiad. This is the second time Khanh has won a medal at this competition. Last year, he won a Bronze Medal.

When hearing the news that their son won the highest prize in the Asian Physics Olympiad through the teacher's phone call, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Danh and his wife Nguyen Thi Mo (Nghi Trung commune, Nghi Loc district) were so happy that they almost did not eat or sleep until they took the bus to Hanoi to pick up their son...

Nguyen Ngoc Khanh and homeroom teacher Tho An in Singapore

Khanh is the eldest son in the family, his mother is a farmer, his father occasionally works as a construction worker, and when he is free from work, he works as a seasonal worker to earn extra income. Since childhood, Khanh stood out among the children of his age in hamlet 18, Nghi Trung commune. Good at studying, eager to learn and very passionate about creative games, when he was in secondary school, Khanh had cherished the dream of becoming a Physics major student at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. When Khanh finished grade 9, Danh and Mo took their son to Vinh City to take the entrance exam to a specialized school. They just thought it was a challenge, but Khanh actually passed. In the first days of school, Khanh went back and forth between Nghi Trung and Vinh City. After a while, afraid that his parents would worry, he asked his family to stay with him. When he first entered high school, Khanh was very short for his age, so he was called Khanh cot. The rented room, just over 10 square meters wide, hot and cramped in the summer and cold and bone-chilling in the winter, became the place where the poor student nurtured his dream of becoming a physicist.

Being a student at Phan School is not easy at all, and students specializing in Physics have to try even harder, because Physics has been a key subject at Phan School for many years. When he first entered 10th grade, among a group full of "talents", Khanh was not the most outstanding person. But then, with his diligence and passion for Physics, Khanh proved to everyone that "if you try, success can come to anyone". In 11th grade, Khanh was selected for the Vietnamese team to compete in the Asian Physics Olympiad and won a Bronze Medal. This school year, he continued to be selected for the Vietnamese team, competing in the Asian Physics Olympiad in China and became 1 of 2 people who won a Gold Medal from the Vietnamese team. His dream of changing the color of the medal has come true.

Attending Khanh’s class at Phan School on the morning of May 11, we felt the radiant joy of the classmates. They were eagerly organizing a “party” to welcome the “golden boy” back. In the middle of the class, the green board proudly read “Khanh - no one can be beaten”. This was also the last class of class 12A3, everyone tried to stay behind to prepare banners, flags, and flowers to welcome Khanh “home in glory”.

Khanh's classmates showed us many "unique" photos of Khanh. Among them, there was a photo of Khanh sleeping tiredly in his rented room, still holding a Physics book in his hand - a photo secretly taken during a self-study session of the national team. A classmate of Khanh said: In class, everyone admired him for being smart and always giving his all for his friends. "Khanh is quiet but a very emotional person. The day Khanh and I studied for the national exam, we were very tired and stressed. Seeing me stressed, there were times when I almost couldn't try anymore, Khanh called me aside and confided in me one afternoon. Thanks to his analysis of my strengths and weaknesses, I had more motivation to try. In that exam, Khanh won first prize at the national level, and I won third prize", shared Tran Minh Thang - on the same national team with Khanh. Since grade 11, right after winning the National Physics Prize and being selected for the Vietnam Physics Olympiad team, Khanh's life has revolved around exams and pressure is inevitable. To relieve himself, Khanh turned to social activities and actively participated in cultural, artistic and volunteer social activities of the school.

Nguyen Ngoc Khanh (middle) at a Physics practice session.

Teacher Dau Van Mui, Principal of the school, shared: Although Physics has been the strength of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted for many years, with many students reaching the pinnacle of glory in international competitions, the feelings of teachers and students of the school when receiving the good news from Khanh are still hard to describe. This year's competition was held in China, a country with strengths in Physics and a very strong team, so competing is not easy. The pressure on Khanh and his teammates is huge. In previous years, the school's students competing in the International Physics Competition were all led by Mr. Le Thanh Nga - an experienced person. This year, for the first time, teacher Le Thi Tho An - Head teacher of class 12A3 "brought the bell to strike a foreign land" and won the highest prize, so this is not only Khanh's success but also that of teacher Tho An, of the Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, when there was a very complete "transfer" of generations.

This year, Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted has 4 students competing in the Asian and international Olympiads. In addition to Khanh, there are 2 students competing in the Asian Informatics Olympiad, and 1 student competing in the international Math Olympiad. Khanh's success has created more motivation and confidence for students of "Phan" school, students of Nghe An to have more expectations for the results of the upcoming exams, contributing to enriching the tradition of the specialized school named after the patriotic scholar, making Nghe An famous for its learning land.

My Ha