Male student from district school becomes valedictorian of block A and the secret of 'not needing to study too much'

Failed the entrance exam to Phan school

Last night (August 26), Dat and his mother had a nervous night with difficulty sleeping and both had to stay up until 2:30 am to “wait” for the exam results. Receiving the results with Physics: 10, Math: 9.6 and Chemistry 9.5 points, Dat was not surprised but could not hide his joy. He was even happier to know that Dat was the only student in the whole province and 1/10 students nationwide to get a score of 10 in Physics. Dat was also the candidate with the highest score in block A with 29.1 points.

Phan Van Dat's joy on the day he learned the results of the 2020 high school graduation exam. Photo: NVCC

Before taking the 2020 High School Graduation Exam, Dat was directly admitted to the IT1 major at the University of Technology, one of the most difficult majors at the school. This was also Dat's NV1 in this year's exam. However, even though he knew the university admission results, Dat was still determined to do his best with the desire to "affirm" himself. And the result came true.

Receiving this result, Ms. Nguyen Thi My Binh - Dat's mother is also really happy because as both a teacher and someone who has followed her child's learning process throughout 12 years of high school, she knows this is the result of many years of hard work and tireless efforts.

The result also came from “failure” because few people know that in grade 9, although he won first prize in Math and Physics in the province, Dat failed the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Talking more about this, Dat’s mother said: Dat took the entrance exam to the specialized Math class, had a high specialized score but the base score was low because his Literature score was only 6.5 points. After the results came out, he was sad, but his family encouraged him and he felt secure to stay at the district school to study.

Dat's father and mother are both teachers. Photo: NVCC

Dat's mother said that Dat was intelligent and quick-witted since childhood and had a special talent for numbers. At the age of 3, Dat could remember all the phone numbers and call his family members. Later, throughout his high school years, Dat was a good student and at the Provincial Excellent Student Competition for grades 9 and 11, Dat won first prize in both Physics and Mathematics.

During the high school graduation exam, Dat took the test confidently and after getting the answers, he was able to predict his score. As for Physics, after finishing the exam and getting 10 points, Dat even jokingly told his mother: "This year's Physics test is difficult, if I get 10 points, it will be high, right Mom?"

Secret to good study

Talking more about the results, Dat said: Physics is my favorite subject, and it is also the subject I had high expectations for in this exam. After the exam, I checked my answers and saw that I had done the entire test correctly, but I was still worried that I had made a mistake while filling in the answers. When I knew the official results, I was very happy because I had achieved my goal.

Sharing about his learning method, Phan Van Dat said: I study Math, Physics, Chemistry with teachers at school. The rest I mainly study by myself. Luckily for me, my mother is a Chemistry teacher, so when I have difficulties, she always supports me.

Dat's secret to studying is to study scientifically and not put pressure on himself. Photo: NVCC

Due to the characteristics of a mountainous district, Dat's learning conditions are not as favorable as other regions. Therefore, during the "acceleration" period but interrupted by the Covid-19 epidemic, Dat chose to study online by registering for an online course.

Entering the second semester of grade 12, I have completed the knowledge program of all 3 subjects and spent time reviewing and systematizing knowledge.

Dat with Physics teacher at Con Cuong High School. Photo: NVCC

Talking more about his learning experience, Dat shared: “To master knowledge, in addition to studying with teachers, self-study and self-thinking are very important. Because there are many types of exercises and topics that teachers only provide basic knowledge, but I have to figure out how to do the exercises myself. From there, when I encounter similar types of exercises, I have the skills and ways to solve the problems to get the most accurate and fastest results, saving time.

In addition, to study well does not mean having to study a lot but needing to arrange study time reasonably, to be both effective and not affect health too much. During review time, Dat only focuses on studying 1 subject each session, not studying many at the same time. In the final stage, when he has mastered the entire curriculum, Dat only practices questions and each day Dat practices 3-4 questions of all 3 subjects Math, Physics, Chemistry according to the prescribed time. According to Dat: That is a way to practice test-taking skills and get used to time pressure. I rarely study past 12am and usually wake up early.

With the results he has achieved, Dat will definitely enroll in Hanoi University of Science and Technology. This male student also believes that, in the new journey, he will continue to make efforts and try hard to not disappoint the trust of his parents, family and teachers.