Nghe An male student takes care of sick father and studies for exams but still becomes valedictorian of village school

Overcoming circumstances

Cuong is the fifth child in a large farming family. However, his older siblings have all started their own families and moved out. There are only four people left in the house, including his parents, Cuong and a younger sister who is in second grade.

Compared to many families in the neighborhood, Cuong's family is in a difficult situation. Cuong's father - Mr. Le Phong Phu (50 years old) suffered a spinal injury in a work accident on a pine hill (6 years ago), flattening 3 cervical vertebrae. Although he was treated in many places, he still could not recover. From being the main laborer in the family, he became disabled, unable to walk, bedridden, and had to rely on the help of his wife and children for all his daily activities.

Le Van Cuong - an example of overcoming difficulties in Quynh.

Over the years, since Cuong's father's accident, the family's already difficult circumstances have become even more difficult. It seems that all the hard work in the house, in the fields, and on the mountain has been shouldered by Ho Thi Huu - Cuong's mother. In addition to a few fields that only yield enough rice to eat, the whole family relies on the income from 3 hectares of pine trees on the mountain for resin. "We have to be very frugal to have money to cover daily expenses, pay for medicine for my husband and pay for my children's education" - said Mrs. Huu.

With a small family and his father bedridden, Cuong soon realized his family's situation and his own responsibilities, so he always tried his best in both work and study. Cuong soon mastered farm work and did everything to help his mother. Cuong's high school years were spent working, taking care of his father, and studying. He did not have the time or material conditions to enjoy his youth like many of his friends. Cuong shared: "My family has special circumstances, so it has to be like that. At this time, I love my parents, so I can only do that, hoping that my father's health will improve day by day."

Cuong's high school years were spent working to help his mother, taking care of his father, and studying.

After 6 years of treatment and recovery, Mr. Phu was able to sit, but could not walk, his hands could hold things but were still shaking and weak. During the days of taking care of his father and studying, Cuong always kept in mind his father's words "You just try to study hard, your parents and family will always support you" to strive to overcome difficulties. In 2018, after "failing" the Border Guard Academy because he was 1 point short, Cuong was still determined "to retake the exam, take the exam until he passes".

From bodyguard to village school valedictorian

Due to his family's difficult circumstances, after learning the results of the 2018 National High School Exam, Cuong went to Hanoi to work as a security guard for a restaurant to earn money to help his parents. 5 months in the capital more or less helped Cuong realize his "limitations" in the recent exam: "I also have to admit that my knowledge last year was quite loose, so this year I have a suitable study method to make up for the gaps."

Returning home for Tet, Cuong did not go to Hanoi anymore but stayed home to continue "studying hard" to "fight" for the second time. Just like his school days, Cuong did not go to the exam preparation center but mainly studied at home, only attending extra classes at school one session a week for Geography. Every day, in the morning he often went to the mountain to work with his mother, in the afternoon he stayed home to take care of his father and study. Night time was the time Cuong spent the most time reading, there were nights when he studied until 3am before stopping. During the months of studying for the exam, Cuong lost nearly 10 kg (from 53 to 44 kg).

Cuong, mother and sister.

The “strange” thing about Cuong is that when he entered high school, he focused on studying block B, but when he entered grade 12, he turned 180 degrees and switched to block C. Cuong invested a lot of effort in his two strong subjects, History and Geography. With these two subjects, Cuong's learning method is to grasp the basic knowledge in textbooks, systematizing them with mind maps. On that basis, he analyzes and dissects each problem and the relationship between them. In addition, he also actively goes online to learn knowledge, especially good lectures from teachers...

Although he has been an excellent student for 12 years, Cuong only "studied" at school in the second half of grade 12. Last year, Cuong's admission score for block C was 25 points, the highest score among high school students in the school. In the 2019 National High School Exam, Cuong's admission score for block C was 27.25 (Literature 7.75; History 9.75; Geography 9.75). With this score, Cuong is the candidate with the highest admission score for block C at Quynh Luu 2 High School, ranking first in Quynh Luu district. Cuong said: I "did deep" in Geography to get the maximum score, but still got 1 question wrong, I was just surprised that the Literature score was higher than I expected.

Cuong's class 12B, school year 2017 - 2018.

Knowing Cuong's exam score, teacher Vo Thi Van - homeroom teacher of class 12B, school year 2017 - 2018, Quynh Luu 2 High School shared: "I am very happy to know that Cuong achieved a high score in the admission test for block C. Cuong is a good, gentle, hard-working student, has a difficult family situation and has made outstanding efforts to overcome difficulties. Hopefully with this score, he will achieve his dream.

Last year, Cuong applied for admission to the Border Guard Academy as his first choice and this year to the Political Officer School. Talking about this change, Cuong said: “Before, I thought a lot about Law University and the legal profession, but due to family circumstances, I had to apply to armed forces schools so that my parents wouldn’t have to support me. From the moment I applied, I felt I had made the right choice.”

Since the day Cuong learned of his exam results, his family's house in Hamlet 15, Quynh Tan Commune has always been filled with relatives, neighbors, and friends coming to congratulate and share the joy. Cuong's spirit of overcoming difficulties and studying seems to be spreading more widely in this poor rural area.