The desire to conquer knowledge of the female student who won first prize in 'Youth learning and following Uncle Ho'

Not afraid of challenges

This year, Tran Thuong Huyen is studying in class 12C7 specializing in English - Japanese at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. 3 years ago, when she passed the "Salutatorian" exam to enter this specialized class, Huyen had to convince her parents to let her move from her hometown in Long Son commune (Anh Son) to Vinh city to study, because Huyen did not have enough points to pass her first choice. At that time, Huyen's promise was also very clear, that she would try to study, try to strive to have an outstanding achievement...

Tran Thuong Huyen is currently a student at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Photo: MH

Her father was a soldier who was often away from home, her mother was a primary school teacher who had to teach far away, so Huyen's closest "friends" were books. At the age of 4, she could read and write fluently. With a foundation from a young age, Huyen studied very well during her high school years in the district and seemed to "win every competition". The most outstanding was probably the first prize in 3 subjects: Math, Literature, English in grade 6 and the first prize in Math, English, Biology in grade 8 at the district's excellent student competition. In grade 9, Huyen took part in the provincial excellent student competition and won third prize in English. That's why Huyen decided to major in English, even though she could do well in both Math and other subjects.

Admitted toPhan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, Huyen has fulfilled her dream, which is to participate in the contest "Road to Olympia". Huyen shared: "I have followed this contest since I was little and I dreamed of going to Phan School, because the year I was in 10th grade was the first year this television bridge came to the school. After that, I wrote an application to join the club with the wish "to be challenged in this contest"...

Tran Thuong Huyen (female, white shirt) is a female student passionate about conquering knowledge. Photo: Duc Anh

Among the contestants who registered to participate in the school-level competition at Phan School 2 years ago, Huyen was also a special contestant, because she took on the dual roles of "both a media worker and an official contestant". Entering the competition rounds, Huyen also demonstrated her knowledge and courage and she only accepted defeat to contestant Viet Ha (who later entered the quarter-finals of the "Road to Olympia" Competition in 2020) and finished second with the highest score.

With the desire to conquer knowledge, after this failure, Huyen once thought of returning to Anh Son district to study to have the opportunity to participate in VTV's contest like some other students of the school. But then, the conversation with his brother Dau Huy Minh - the first contestant of Nghe An to win First Prize in the contest "Youth studying and following the moral example and style of Ho Chi Minh" inspired Huyen with a new desire...

Tran Thuong Huyen learns knowledge through books. Photo: MH

Proud to be born in his homeland

Dau Huy Minh is also the one who "ignited" the desire of many students in Nghe An to conquer this meaningful contest. Personally, Huyen, as soon as she learned about the contest, searched for a lot of documents about Uncle Ho and considered it almost a main subject at school. The first time Huyen participated in the contest was in grade 11 and she excelled in reaching the semi-finals. However, perhaps because of bad luck, in 2020 she could not reach the final round, although Huyen's score was still in the top group.

Entering grade 12, when deciding to participate for the second time, Huyen was quite hesitant, because when coming to the contest, she determined that she would have to "take the exam to the end". Meanwhile, this is the final year of high school and Huyen will have many very difficult exams waiting for her. To reach the final round, Huyen went through many qualifying rounds and continuously for 4 consecutive weeks, Huyen got absolute scores in all rounds. In the semi-finals, she performed very well and surpassed thousands of contestants, becoming the only contestant in Nghe An selected to participate in the final round.

Tran Thuong Huyen with her teacher and sister at the ceremony to honor the student who won first prize in the Youth contest "Youth learn and follow the moral example and style of Ho Chi Minh". Photo: MH

The final round was also the most difficult round, because in this round, each province only selected 1 contestant and each person only had 10 days to prepare. Meanwhile, the number of questions was large and the level of difficulty also increased significantly compared to the previous round. Recalling the contest, Huyen shared: On the last day of the contest, the school created conditions for me to have an exam room by myself. After completing the contest, with more than 8 minutes, I answered 29/30 questions correctly and thought that I could not win because all the contestants were very good"...

After knowing the results, because she did not have confidence in herself, Huyen shared her feelings and received a lot of encouragement from teachers, family, and friends. Because of this "misunderstanding", when she later received official information from the Organizing Committee of the contest, Huyen initially did not believe in her victory...

This is the second time Nghe An has had students win prizes at this competition. Photo: MH

To achieve this final achievement, Huyen also had to put aside many plans such as taking the IELTS exam, focusing on the Provincial Excellent Student Exam and sometimes even neglecting her role as "Deputy Class Study Leader, Head of the Road to Olympia Club". She said that the gift she received was not only the final achievement but above all, she received humanistic values ​​from President Ho Chi Minh himself through documents, during the process of reviewing, learning and experiencing...

Before, I knew about Uncle Ho like all the other students, but perhaps I did not fully “absorb” his ideology. Later, I read many stories about Uncle Ho, and whatever work I do, I always keep his teachings in my heart.

The story of Uncle Ho, about the days of wandering to find a way to save the country, a self-taught person who could learn many foreign languages ​​very well, has encouraged me to try. I have asked myself many times, why Uncle Ho could do it despite such difficulties, but today young people like me cannot follow...

Tran Thuong Huyen and leaders of Nghe An Department of Education and Training at the award ceremony held in Hanoi. Photo: PV