Female student won first prize in National Excellent Student Contest in History: 'Not just competing for myself'

Journey of love of history

Chi began her love for History very naturally, since she was a middle school student. Chi's family had a special habit. On holidays, the whole family would often travel to famous historical sites instead of entertainment venues. From these trips, the sacredness of historical sites, the antiquity of ancient capitals, the significance of citadel walls... entered Chi's subconscious, bringing with them many feelings of pride and excitement.

For Khanh Chi, History not only fosters love for our homeland and country but also gives us valuable lessons. Photo: Diep Thanh

At each destination, in addition to listening to the explanations, Chi also collected books to better understand the events and characters. The more she learned, the more her love for History and national pride grew. The heroic battles and glorious achievements of her ancestors always moved her when she learned about them. During her final years of secondary school, while many young people were indifferent to History, Khanh Chi had a concern that was "older" than her age: How to help more people understand and be proud of Vietnamese history?

This was also the motivation for Chi to win the provincial excellent student award in both Literature and History in 9th grade and become a student in the History specialized class in 10th grade.Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted.

Nguyen Khanh Chi (Class 12C2, Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted) excellently won First Prize in History in the National Excellent Student Competition for the 2020-2021 school year. Photo: Diep Thanh

One of the most difficult aspects of History is memorizing data. Under the guidance of her teachers, Chi learned how to find keywords and the essence of events before memorizing details. This effective way of learning, along with her intelligence and diligence, helped Chi win the Second Prize of the National Excellent Student in grade 11.

Ms. Le Thi Phuong - Chi's homeroom teacher, who is also the head of the National Excellent Student History Team of Nghe An province in the 2020-2021 school year, commented: "Chi is an intelligent girl, talented, self-studying, very good at discovering and analyzing problems. Chi's assignments always demonstrate the ability to generalize, apply knowledge flexibly, creatively and rich in historical emotions. This is also the strength that helps Chi score points in major competitions."

The “worthy” things

Not only is Khanh Chi an excellent and hard-working student, she is also a good daughter and a responsible sister. Khanh Chi's mother unfortunately had an accident, breaking both her arms right when she was preparing for the National Excellent Student exam. So every day, in addition to going to school twice a day, Chi takes care of the housework and the two younger siblings, thoughtfully and carefully.

Chi's house is 15 km from school, so she has to travel the farthest in the team. There were days when it rained heavily, the flood water caused the electric bike to break down, and Chi had to walk home. There were days when she studied until late at night, and she had to ask her family to pick her up. Many times when she failed her test, Chi doubted her own abilities and thought about giving up... But Chi didn't do that. She had a reason to try her best.

Ms. Le Thi Phuong and 3 students won high prizes in the National Excellent Student Exam in History in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. Photo: NVCC

“This year’s National Excellent Student History Team includes Khanh Chi and two other students who were members of last year’s National Excellent Student Team. All three students do not intend to take part in this year’s National Excellent Student Exam but want to focus on the university entrance exam. That way, they will be less tired and have less risk. However, when they heard me say that this exam is not just for them anymore, it is also the hope and glory of the school, the province... all three accepted the challenge and were determined to take the exam. The whole team has tried their best for their homeland Nghe An” - Ms. Le Thi Phuong was moved when talking about her students.

Putting aside the difficulties, Chi and her friends encouraged each other to try harder. It was sad and discouraging, but then they did the exercises together.

During 3 months of studying together, the members of the National Excellent Student History team have bonded together like a family. Photo: NVCC

On the day the exam results were announced, all the team members were both excited and worried. Chi received the news that she had won first prize while on her way home from school. The phone call had just ended when Chi’s joy burst into tears. The History major cried the rest of the way home and continued to cry for a long time after that, when she shared with her parents.

The achievements of Chi in particular and of the whole team in general are the “sweet fruit” of the passion for History and the love for the homeland and country. Or as Chi said: “We have worthy reasons to strive and our efforts have been duly rewarded”.

This year, Nghe An had 102 candidates participating in the National Excellent Student Competition, of which 81 students won prizes, with 7 First prizes, 25 Second prizes, 27 Third prizes and 22 Encouragement prizes. Of the 7 First prizes achieved this year, there was 1 First prize in Mathematics, 1 First prize in Information Technology, 1 First prize in Physics, 1 First prize in History, 1 First prize in Literature and 2 First prizes in Biology.

In history alone, in addition to 1 first prize, there are 3 second prizes, 4 third prizes and 2 consolation prizes.