Two close classmates won double valedictorian status at Phan Boi Chau School

Nguyen Thbuzzingy Trang – Hit"bet" with History

During her primary school years, Nguyen Thuy Trang – the valedictorian of the 10th grade History major – won the second prize in the Literature competition for excellent students in Vinh city. When she entered the 6th grade and passed the entrance exam to Dang Thai Mai Secondary School, Trang also had the opportunity to continue pursuing this strength. However, from the 8th grade, Trang suddenly switched to the History team to the surprise of her family.

Nguyen Thuy Trang is a student who studies all subjects equally. In the 10th grade entrance exam, Trang scored 41.7 points. Photo: Duc Anh

In grade 9A, at that time, Trang studied all subjects fairly well and her family wanted her to spend more time focusing on the entrance exam to grade 10 or maybe pursue another specialized class. To convince her parents, Trang asked her family for a “chance” and if she failed, her parents would decide all future choices.

Trang's house is in Nghi Lien commune - a commune on the outskirts of Vinh city. Because both parents are busy with work and do not have much time, Trang was mostly independent during her time studying at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School, cycling nearly 10 kilometers to school every day. Loving their daughter and seeing her determination, Trang's family changed from opposing to supporting her to help her realize her dream.

The process of pursuing History was not easy. Therefore, in 8th grade, despite her determination, Trang failed the city's excellent student exam. That was also the reason why when she entered 9th grade, Trang once again had to "bet" with her parents to continue to fulfill her dream.

To be able to study well, Trang has a quite scientific learning method. Trang also believes that learning history is a responsibility of the young generation. However, responsibility must be turned into passion, not a necessity. Photo: Duc Anh

After the first failure, Trang also looked for the reason and admitted that her poor 8th grade results were because she had not devoted all her "heart and soul to the subject". To change, Trang began to systematize all her knowledge and study History in a more scientific way.

Talking about this, Trang shared: At first, I and many other friends thought that studying History was difficult or that History was not interesting because of the large amount of knowledge and the need to memorize a lot. But then I learned quite simply by making a timeline of typical events. Based on that, I would deduce the developments, results, meanings and do well in the connection part. Regarding the data, Trang also learned "tricks" by setting out time milestones, from which she used subtraction to connect with the following events.

Since deciding to pursue History, Trang has devoted 60% of her time to this subject and in addition to studying in class, Trang reads reference books, practices questions, and even practices additional questions for excellent 12th grade History students.

With the above efforts, at the City Excellent Student Competition in grade 9, Trang excellently won first prize with the highest score in round 1. In round 2, Trang continued to maintain her achievements and was selected to the city team to participate in the Provincial Excellent Student Competition. Unfortunately, this year due to the impact of the epidemic, the competition was not held and she did not have the opportunity to compete with friends in the whole province.

Nguyen Thuy Trang (right) and her close friend Nguyen Phuong Uyen talk with their homeroom teacher. Photo: Duc Anh

Missing the provincial excellent student exam, Trang spent the remaining time of grade 9 focusing on reviewing for the grade 10 entrance exam and the entrance exam to a specialized school. After finishing the exam, Trang was confident that she did well, but being admitted as a double valedictorian with a specialized subject score of 17.38 and an admission score of 51.52 was really a surprise to Trang. The exam results were also the clearest answer to her family and teachers about the days when Trang struggled tirelessly and always tried to improve to respond to everyone's trust.

Nguyen Phuong Uyen - The more you fail, the more determined you must be

Trang's classmate and close friend is Nguyen Phuong Uyen. However, if Trang only failed in 8th grade when choosing History, Uyen had a much harder time with Geography. As for Uyen, her highest achievement was only an Encouragement Prize at the City's Excellent Student Competition in 9th grade in Geography.

Nguyen Phuong Uyen is a unique student and has been an excellent student for 9 consecutive years. Photo: My Ha

With the above results, Uyen was very excited to be the valedictorian of both the specialized subject with 17.13 points and the specialized Geography class with 51.10 points.

However, if you look at Uyen’s efforts, you will see that it is completely worth it. In particular, Uyen has the resilience to “overcome barriers” in the most difficult times to assert herself. Even in the City’s Excellent Student Selection Exam, if in the first round Uyen only won the consolation prize, in the second round, Uyen surpassed many other potential candidates to win the top 3 position.

Talking about Geography, Uyen also admitted that she only started learning the subject in 8th grade. But the more she studied and the more her teacher guided her, the more she loved this subject. To be able to study Geography well, Uyen's secret is to read a lot, study a lot, and both learn from books and relate to reality.

In class 9A, Trang and Uyen are close friends and also study partners. Photo: Duc Anh

Sharing more about her test, Uyen said: "Although the Geography test is not too difficult, to do well, you must have a firm grasp of the knowledge, present and express yourself clearly so that the teachers can see your knowledge when grading the test."

The fact that Nguyen Thuy Trang and Nguyen Phuong Uyen both passed the entrance exam as double valedictorians to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted is the great news that Dang Thai Mai Middle School received in this year's exam season.

Class 9A with many students achieving high results in specialized schools in the province. Photo: Duc Anh

As for class 9A, the joy was multiplied when in the recent exam, nearly 70% of the class's students passed the entrance exam to specialized schools in the province.

Talking about her students, teacher Hoang Thi To Nga - homeroom teacher said: The achievements that Trang and Uyen have achieved are completely deserved because they are both very hard-working, intelligent, and have a high sense of self-study. Personally, I am happier because although their path is very difficult, there are times when they feel discouraged, but thanks to the encouragement of teachers and family, they have overcome obstacles and tried tirelessly to bring the best results for themselves and for the school.