The surprise of the valedictorian of Literature

Persistently pursue your passion

Nguyen Thi My Duyen was just a student in a normal class at Ha Huy Tap Secondary School - Vinh City. In the first years of secondary school, Duyen's academic performance was not too special. It was not until grade 9 that Duyen started to have her first achievement, which was the third prize in Literature at the City's Excellent Student Competition.

Valedictorian of Literature - Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Photo: My Ha.

Later, Duyen also made it to the next round to select the city team to participate in the Provincial Excellent Student Competition. However, with her modest achievements, Duyen was not too surprised to know that she failed.

The second time, Duyen knew she “lost” was in the 10th grade entrance exam and in Literature, her “forte”. Talking about this, Duyen said: The Literature test was not too difficult but I was subjective, did not read the test carefully and made mistakes when doing the literature essay... Nearly 2 weeks after the exam, Duyen found out that her Literature score was only 7.5 points (the lowest of the three subjects).

Nguyen Thi My Duyen (middle, front row) with her friends at Ha Huy Tap Secondary School. Photo: NVCC

Therefore, Duyen entered the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School with a rather self-conscious mentality. However, the result was surprising when in the list of successful candidates, Duyen was the valedictorian of the specialized subject and the valedictorian of the specialized Literature class with a very high specialized subject score of 16.75 points. Duyen's admission score was 6 points higher than the standard entrance score.

Talking about the process of participating in this exam, the new valedictorian of the Literature class at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted said: The social argumentation question about "passion and mission in life" seemed to be an opportunity for us to talk about ourselves and express our opinions.

"Even though I'm not an excellent student, even though I didn't get to go to a specialized school, even though I might not do well on the test, I still have to try hard, have faith to fulfill my passion and dreams." - Duyen said.

To study literature well, Nguyen Thi My Duyen said: I read a lot of books, especially famous literary works, memorize what the teacher taught and try to do well what the teacher instructed. Besides, I also search the internet for good essays, learn more about social issues to analyze and do well in argumentative essays.

Hardworking female valedictorian

Duyen's success as valedictorian of the Literature class also surprised many teachers and friends. However, looking back at Duyen's efforts, teacher Tran Thi Hong Diep - a Literature teacher at Ha Huy Tap Secondary School, said that this was a worthy achievement: "I have only taught Literature in Duyen's class since grade 9, but I soon noticed the class monitor. Duyen is an especially hard-working and persistent student and has never neglected her studies. Even during many afternoon extra classes, I told some students who had mastered the lessons and did not need to go anymore, but Duyen still went and never missed a single class."

Duyen is also a student with a "solid" way of learning. Duyen's strengths in her exercises are writing clear, emotional arguments and expressing her own personality.

For many years, her aunt's small house has been the place where Duyen and many of her classmates study. Photo: MH

Coming to Duyen's house, her parents were also surprised to know that their daughter was admitted to a specialized school and was the valedictorian. Talking about her daughter, Ms. Cao Thi Minh also added: My husband and I do business in the market, life is hard, so after giving birth to Duyen for a month, she lived with her aunt and has been with her for nearly 16 years now.

Even when he grew up, due to family circumstances, we could not take care of him much, he was independent in everything, including choosing a school, choosing a teacher, choosing a tutor for extra classes. When he came home from the exam, he did not say much about his test, just told his parents to rest assured, he would do well on the test.

With this first success, Duyen also has more confidence to try harder in the future. She also has high hopes for the new school because there she will have more opportunities to develop her passion for literature, meet many excellent students and promote her own abilities and personality.