The Road to First Prize, Top Math of 2 Female Students of Thai Ethnicity

Female "valedictorian" is not afraid of challenges

Four days have passed, but up to this point, Lu Cao Mai Uyen - a student of class 12A1, Boarding High School for Ethnic Minorities No. 2 still cannot believe the results, especially when she knows that her exam score is the highest in the province, she won first prize and was the valedictorian in Math at the exam.excellent studentconscious.

Talking about her exam, Mai Uyen said: I got 17.63 points for this year's exam. I think this is my maximum score and I did my best. I think this year's exam was not too difficult and I almost completed the entire exam. The only question I couldn't do was question 4b - the question about the cosi inequality (1.5 points). The remaining 1 question about the system of equations, I gave the correct result but at that time there was not much time left so I didn't prove it carefully so I was deducted points.

Lu Cao Mai Uyen was the valedictorian of the school.Boarding High School for Ethnic Minorities No. 2with a score of 47.4 points and was among the candidates with the highest 10th grade exam scores in the province that year. Previously, while studying in grade 9 at Kim Son Secondary School (Que Phong), Mai Uyen also had outstanding achievements when she won first prize in Physics and second prize in English at the Provincial Excellent Student Competition. That year, Uyen also took part in Math but failed.

Although she did not win any prizes in Math, Mai Uyen said that she really likes studying Math. The clearest proof is that in the 10th grade entrance exam, she scored 9.75 points in Math and quickly caught the eye of teacher Cao Xuan Hung - her Math teacher at the Ethnic Boarding High School No. 2. Later, it was teacher Hung who inspired and instilled a love of Math in her students.

Telling more about this, Uyen said: Teacher Hung is strict but always encourages us to try our best. His way of teaching is also easy to understand, so the more I study, the more interested I become.

In the boarding environment, Mai Uyen also said that during the school year, students are not allowed to use phones. Computers are only used occasionally and must be registered, with priority given to foreign language learning. The ban on using phones was initially inconvenient for all students. But then she found that for subjects where phones are not allowed, studying was more effective.

As for Math, Mai Uyen said that, usually when encountering a difficult Math problem, students can go online to find the answer. But when there is no Internet, students are forced to search and explore on their own to find the final solution. Thanks to that, learning will be more interesting, knowing many types of Math and each solution when knowing the nature and method will help them remember for a long time and understand the lesson thoroughly.

Another pressure for Mai Uyen is that she is one of the few female students who likes to study Math and has an advantage in Math. However, in the environment where Uyen is studying, Math is not her strong point and there are not many good Math students who are ethnic minorities. Knowing the psychology of his students, Mr. Hung always encourages them "the most important thing is to be confident, if you do your best, there is nothing to regret". Mai Uyen herself also tells herself "if the boys can do it, I can do it too".

In addition to Math, in this year's Provincial Excellent Student Competition, Uyen also took the English exam but the results were not as expected. This female student is currently the Secretary of the Youth Union of her class, participates in many clubs at school, such as the English, Math, and Stem Clubs, and is an active member in all activities.

Sharing about herself, Lu Cao Mai Uyen also talked about her parents - 2 teachers who are teaching Literature at Thong Thu Boarding Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities - a secondary school in a remote and disadvantaged area of ​​Que Phong district. When she was young, due to difficult travel conditions, Uyen followed her parents to study at Thong Thu primary school.

In junior high school, Uyen went to study in town and had a lot of time, Uyen had to be independent, living alone, because her parents worked far away and could not come back often. With the first prize in Physics in grade 9, that year Uyen had the opportunity to be admitted directly to the province's specialized school, but she chose the boarding school environment because she thought that here she could practice, challenge herself and have the opportunity to assert herself.

First Prize of Overcoming Difficulties

The Math team participating in the Provincial Excellent Student Competition for Grade 12 this year of Boarding High School for Ethnic Minorities No. 2 had 7 members participating and 6 members won prizes, including 2 First prizes, 1 Second prize, 2 Third prizes and 1 Encouragement prize.

Teacher Lo Thanh Binh - Vice Principal of the school said: This is a miracle of the school, because the school has never had a First Prize in Mathematics. This year, in addition to the 2 First Prizes, the school also has a valedictorian. What is special is that both are female students, from Que Phong district, in the same class and both are hard-working and determined students.

In addition to the valedictorian title of Lu Cao Mai Uyen, the remaining First Prize went to Vy My Uyen with 16.75 points. My Uyen's house is in Kem Don village - one of the remote and difficult villages in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district. Her parents are farmers, the family's circumstances are difficult, but since childhood Uyen has been diligent and achieved many high achievements in studying. In grade 9, while studying at the district's boarding school, Uyen won Second Prize in Math and Encouragement Prize in Physics at the Provincial Excellent Student Competition.

Talking to Uyen, this female student said that the biggest motivation for her to excel in studying is to escape poverty and have a bright future. Perhaps because of that, even though both parents are farmers, all three Uyen siblings chose studying as their goal.

Therefore, despite the extremely difficult times, not having enough food and clothes, Uyen's older brother - a former student of the Ethnic Boarding High School No. 2 - graduated from the Security Academy and is now working in Que Phong district. The second sister also graduated from Vinh Medical University and is now working at the school.

As the youngest child, Uyen said she was luckier because her older siblings taught her since she was young. When she was in high school, although she was far from home, her older siblings supported her because they all worked and had income. Not letting down her family's trust, Uyen never stopped striving and studying hard. Thanks to that, for her, winning first prize in Math in this year's Excellent Student Competition, although unexpected, is a worthy achievement after much effort and dedicated guidance from teachers.

There is something special about Mai Uyen and My Uyen, that is, in the final stage of the 12th grade Excellent Student Selection Exam this year, teacher Cao Xuan Hung - the homeroom teacher and direct trainer of the Math team, transferred to another school. However, putting aside their sadness, the team members all tried their best to do well in the exam, considering this a gift for their teacher. Talking about the students, teacher Cao Xuan Hung was also very impressed because they were all very determined, hard-working, knew how to set goals and persevered with their dreams.

Another reason for their success is that the two girls came to Math with passion and love. The teacher himself, in the process of guiding the students, never created pressure but always encouraged them.

At this year's 12th grade Excellent Student Competition, class 12A1 was also the class that brought impressive results to the Ethnic Boarding High School No. 2 with 15 students winning prizes. Of which, there were 2 First prizes, 4 Second prizes, 5 Third prizes and 4 Encouragement prizes.

Teacher Tran Thi Kim Lien - the class's homeroom teacher said: This is a very proud result and will be the motivation for the class to move forward in the near future, in which the most important goal is the 2024 High School Graduation Exam and university admission.