Nghe An: Two brothers 'holding hands' won first and second prizes in the National Excellent Student Competition

The family of two brothers, since childhood both liked to "destroy things"

Nguyen Ngoc Long and Nguyen Ngoc Linh are siblings and only 1 year apart in age. Since childhood, because their mother is a Physics teacher and their father is a Math teacher, they were both exposed to this subject early. However, the first lessons were not easy because with their curious and inquisitive nature, they often took apart their parents' experimental equipment to study. But then, because they could not put it back together, they could not remember how many of their mother's thermometers had been broken by the two brothers.

Long and Linh's passion for Physics started when they were young. Photo: My Ha

In junior high school, Long and Linh's inclination was still towards natural sciences and it seemed that every year the two brothers were selected by their teachers to be part of teams to participate in competitions for excellent students. However, with their passion for Physics, the two brothers were determined to pursue this subject and both brought Cua Lo town first prize in Physics at the Provincial Excellent Student Competition in grade 9. After that, at the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, Nguyen Quang Long achieved the "runner-up" position. A year later, following in his footsteps, Linh also enrolled in the school's Physics specialized class and surpassed him, Linh excelled in winning the "valedictorian" position in specialized subjects and the valedictorian position in entrance exam.

To achieve such excellent results, Linh and her brother mainly studied on their own and their tutor was their mother. Moreover, because they were born close to each other and understood each other well, Long often became Linh's teacher. Linh also followed her brother to the Physics major and she believed that he would be the best guide for her.

When entering Phan School, both brothers lived in the dormitory, and took the bus back to Cua Lo town on weekends. Having good and hard-working children, Long and Linh’s parents did not have to worry much about them. The two brothers also told themselves to try their best to study well to be worthy of the position of “valedictorian” and “salutatorian” at the entrance exam and not to disappoint the trust of their family and teachers.

Double victory

With the premise of being the first prize winner of the provincial excellent student competition and being one of the students with the highest entrance score, Long and Linh received the attention of the teachers when they first entered the school. As for Long, when he was in grade 11, Long was selected to join the team to participate in the National Excellent Student Competition and then excellently won the second prize.

In the Physics team, Nguyen Ngoc Linh is the only female member and is currently only in grade 11. Photo: My Ha

As for Linh, her homeroom teacher Le Thi Tho An was also very impressed because "Since I started teaching, Linh is the first female student that I have seen love for Physics. Moreover, Linh is a very intelligent, hard-working and persistent student. In almost every Physics test at school, Linh is at the top of the class."

With this result, this school year, Long and Linh were also selected by the school to join the national team and this is the first time both brothers participated in an exam. During the review process, Linh said that she learned a lot from her brother and almost all the difficult exercises Linh received very complete guidance from her brother. On the contrary, although he is the older brother, Long also learned a lot from his sister in how to present carefully, write beautifully and do the exercises firmly.

Brother Nguyen Ngoc Long and sister Nguyen Ngoc Linh are rare cases in a team of excellent students. Photo: My Ha

Thanks to this smooth coordination, when entering the exam, both Long and Linh did well and were quite confident in their work. Even happier was that when the Ministry of Education and Training announced the results, both of them achieved high prizes, in which the older brother Nguyen Ngoc Long won first prize and the younger sister Nguyen Ngoc Linh won second prize.

Teacher Tran Van Nga - Physics team teacher also shared: The fact that two brothers participated in the same exam and both won high prizes is a rare case. I myself have taught them for quite a while and found that this is a worthy result because both of them have the qualities, are diligent and persistent in their passion for Physics.

These initial successes are also favorable conditions for the two brothers Long and Linh to continue confidently entering the second round to select the national team to participate in regional and international Olympic competitions. Long and Linh themselves also know that this is a really difficult competition, but that is what forces them to try, strive together and hope to receive good news together.