A female student of the Thai ethnic group from Nghe An province is the top scorer in the C-block nationwide.

Every day's effort

"I will apply to Vinh University of Education, majoring in primary education," - that was the first statement from the top-scoring student nationwide in the humanities/social sciences field when talking about her plans. This is also the goal that Thu set for herself and persistently pursued during her three years at the No. 2 Ethnic Minority Boarding High School.

Three years ago, Thu was one of the few students from Quy Chau who passed the entrance exam to Ethnic Minority Boarding High School No. 2. However, with an average score of only about 6 points per subject, Thu was not ranked among the top students in the school. Aware of her own limitations, Thu felt quite insecure in her early days at the boarding school. In grades 10 and 11, Thu was in the top 10 of her class, but compared to the school's overall average, her achievements were rather modest.

Thu's remarkable progress began in 12th grade when her teachers trusted her enough to select her for the school's gifted student team to participate in the Provincial Geography Olympiad. This competition concluded just over six months before the high school graduation exam. Looking back, Thu realized she had significant knowledge gaps. Geography was her only strong subject. Literature was a subject she had "feared" since middle school, and History required her to relearn everything from scratch due to the long period of preparation for the provincial competition.

Recalling these disadvantages, Thu still remembers the first mock exam organized by the school. At that time, because her knowledge was not yet solid, Thu's mock exam score was only around 20 points, almost the lowest in the school.

To improve her knowledge, Thu studied intensely. Her school organized six mock exams. After the first, second, and third exams, she couldn't sleep each time she saw her scores and felt immense pressure because her scores were significantly lower than her classmates'. After that, she developed a scientific study plan. Besides classroom learning, she dedicated two hours a day to each subject. Each subject was divided into three parts: basic knowledge, exercises, and advanced exercises. She made sure to thoroughly understand each topic as she went along. As the exam day approached, having solidified her knowledge, she practiced with sample tests regularly to familiarize herself with the exam structure and how to answer them.

With much effort and perseverance, Thu improved day by day as the exam day approached. In her last two mock exams, she scored 28 points on the 5th attempt and 27.25 points on the 6th attempt. This score of 27.25 points in the mid-June 2024 exam was also the highest score achieved by the school.

Overcome yourself

Although she won an honorable mention in Geography at the provincial-level Grade 12 excellent student competition, Luong Thi Hoai Thu had not received any early admission results from any university before the high school graduation exam. Therefore, all her hopes rested on the high school graduation exam, and she would not allow herself to fail.

Thu shared: "After the high school graduation exam, I gave myself a perfect score of 10 for History and Geography. But I was quite surprised by my Literature score; I only gave myself a 9.25, but my final Literature score was 9.75. I'm really happy."

Upon receiving a score of 29.75 and learning she was the top student nationwide in the humanities/social sciences (Block C), Luong Thi Hoai Thu recounted, "My heart was pounding." Immediately after finding out her score, she called her parents, who were out cutting acacia trees in the forest. Then she called her homeroom teacher, Le Thi Vinh – whom she considers her second mother.

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Literature isn't my strong point, but thanks to my dedicated and trusting homeroom teacher, I told myself I needed to try my best not to disappoint my teachers and parents, and I succeeded.

National top scorer in Group C: Luong Thi Hoai Thu

Speaking about her student Hoai Thu, teacher Le Thi Vinh couldn't hide her pride: "Thu is a gentle, kind, careful, thoughtful, and eager-to-learn student. Every time I stand on the podium and look down at the class, whether she's sitting at the front or back, Thu always listens attentively, diligently takes notes, and is very hardworking and diligent in her studies."

Given Thu's personality, teacher Le Thi Vinh agreed with her choice to pursue a career in education and believed that she would be a good, dedicated, and responsible teacher.

Besides Luong Thi Hoai Thu, the No. 2 Ethnic Boarding High School also had a successful exam season. Specifically in class 12C2, out of 41 students, 34 achieved scores of 27 points or higher in their respective subject groups, including two students scoring above 29 points. The class averaged 9.27 points in Literature, the highest in the school. The average scores for Geography and History were 9.13.

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From the day we took over the class, looking at the students' entrance exam scores and comparing them to many other schools, we jokingly said we were "in tears." Therefore, to help them progress, we had to start with the basics and dedicate all our heart and love to our students. We also want to thank them for their efforts, hard work, and continuous striving throughout this journey to overcome difficulties, surpass themselves, and achieve the best results for a bright future.

Ms. Le Thi Vinh - homeroom teacher of class 12C2