A male student from a mountainous commune in Quỳ Châu district achieved a 'double' top score at the 9th grade provincial excellent student competition.

The "special" candidate

More than a week has passed, but the joy remains intact for the teachers and students of Hanh Thiet Secondary School in Quy Chau commune, as for the first time ever, all 15/15 students from the school won an award.

In particular, with two first prizes and securing the top position in Mathematics and Computer Science, student Nguyen Viet Duc brought an unprecedented victory to the school.

Recounting his past exams, Nguyen Viet Duc confidently stated that he didn't feel much pressure. Although each exam was scheduled for 150 minutes, Duc completed each section in a very short time. He scored 19.75 points in Computer Science, finishing in just 12 minutes. He also achieved 17 points in Mathematics, the maximum score he had set before the exam, completing the test in only 30 minutes. For Natural Science 1 (Physics), he used all the allotted time and scored 18 points.

Nguyen Viet Duc's father works in the forestry sector and his mother is a stay-at-home housewife. Since elementary school, his parents have been guiding him towards learning computer science. The most memorable experience was when his family applied for him to study computer science; the teacher refused, partly because Duc was too young, and partly because they feared he would struggle with math and have difficulty with computer science.

Duc's computer science studies truly began after he won first prize in the Children's Math Competition. This laid a solid foundation for him to naturally develop logical thinking and computational skills, transforming mathematics into an essential "language" and tool for learning computer science. In 2022, while in 5th grade at Tan Lac Town Primary School, Duc participated in the Nghe An Province Young Computer Scientists Competition and won first prize.

In junior high school, Duc continued to pursue Computer Science and was awarded prizes several times at the provincial youth computer science competition. In the district-level student excellence competition, Duc consistently ranked among the top students.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, Duc's computer science teacher at Hanh Thiet Secondary School, with a strong foundation, Duc was selected for the school's computer science team from the 8th grade. Throughout his studies, besides being intelligent, quick-witted, and having good thinking skills, Duc was also a diligent student. Furthermore, because he excelled in mathematics, he effectively applied mathematical skills to his computer science studies.

"I wasn't surprised by the results Duc achieved. In fact, during the exam preparation process, the exercises we gave him were often more difficult than the questions in the National Excellent Student Exam. Duc didn't seem to have too much difficulty with the exercises," Ms. Minh added.

Sharing about the exam preparation process, teacher Hong Minh also said that Informatics is a subject with its own unique characteristics, and for a long time it has mainly been a competition for students in central areas or students in prestigious schools. Therefore, to prepare students well for this exam, Ms. Minh collected all the Informatics competition papers from previous years across the country. During the preparation process, the Informatics team was trained from basic to advanced levels and was graded directly. In these exam papers, Duc usually scored above 18 points.

Are not hesitate try challenge

Not only does Nguyen Viet Duc excel in Computer Science, but he also performs well in other subjects. Therefore, from the 6th grade until now, whenever he participates in the district and commune-level student excellence competitions, Duc has consistently won first prize in many subjects such as Mathematics, Computer Science, and Natural Sciences.

Being quite confident in myself, I formed the team.excellent studentsIn 9th grade, Duc boldly registered to take the exam in all three subjects: Math, Informatics, and Physics (Natural Science 1). His math tutor, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien, said: "Duc is a very diligent student. Throughout the exam preparation period, he came to my house every night and studied diligently until after 11 pm. Even though he had to study for three subjects, he never seemed tired. On the contrary, he always strived to achieve the highest possible results."

Despite having good aptitude, Duc said he wasn't being complacent in preparing for this year's exam. Furthermore, he didn't allow himself to be careless during the exam preparation process. Computer science is mainly studied on the computer. He has always enjoyed playing games, and if he gets carried away, it's very difficult to concentrate on studying. Therefore, since the beginning of 9th grade, he has deleted all games from his computer to avoid affecting his studies. Whenever he studies, he also gives his phone to his mother because he doesn't want to be distracted. Studying three subjects is quite demanding, but he tries to allocate his time wisely so as not to disappoint his teachers and family.

During the preparation for the exam, Duc's experience of being highly rated but finishing second in Computer Science at the commune level helped him learn a lot. Ms. Pham Thi Quynh, Principal of Hanh Thiet Secondary School, said: "This is the first time our school has had a student participate in three subjects. Before the exam, Duc was considered a promising candidate. However, during the exam, he sometimes worked too quickly, leading to mistakes. Therefore, I specifically reminded him to be careful, to double-check his answers, and not to lose points unnecessarily."

Thanks to this reminder, when he later took the exam, Nguyen Viet Duc said: "I focused on doing my best. My handwriting was also much more careful and neat than usual. In addition, to prepare mentally for three consecutive exams, Duc also reassured himself to help him feel relaxed and confident while taking the test."

With his achievements, Nguyen Viet Duc not only brought outstanding results to the school and Quy Chau commune, but also became the most "special" contestant of this year's 9th grade gifted student competition.

Throughout the many years this exam has been held, this has been a rare occurrence, and it seems no other candidate has ever achieved it.