Meet the 4 outstanding valedictorians of Phan School in 2018

Vu Van Quan - Valedictorian in Mathematics (student of Quan Hanh Secondary School, Nghi Loc)

Among the 11 specialized classes of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, the Math specialized class is considered to be the class with the most "tough" competition. This is understandable because Math is a strong subject for many schools, but the quota is only 35 students. Normally, students who are "brave enough" to register for the Math specialized class must have a fairly solid record of awards.

Vu Van Quan (holding books) with friends at Quan Hanh Secondary School. Photo: NVCC.

Vu Van Quan - a student of class 9A2, Quan Hanh Secondary School, was also an excellent student since childhood. When he was in grade 5, Quan won a Silver Medal in the National Math Olympiad for Children. In secondary school, Quan continued to be an excellent student of Nghi Loc district and won many high prizes in district competitions for excellent students.

Quan's mother, a Math teacher at Nghi Hoa Secondary School, also has a lot of confidence in her son's learning ability. However, what she worries about most about Quan is that "he is sloppy in his work and his handwriting is not beautiful". Like in the Provincial Excellent Student Exam in 9th grade, after the exam, she had high hopes that Quan would get a high score. However, in the end, he only won third prize.

Hope was rekindled after Quan took the 10th grade entrance exam. At that time, although the Math test was considered difficult and highly classified. However, for Quan, the time it took him to finish the test and "read each question carefully" was only about 60 minutes (1/2 of the test time). A score of 10 in Math was also the motivation for Quan to enter the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted quite comfortably.

However, being the valedictorian was quite a surprise to Quan. Talking about this, the new student of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted confided: Math, gathered many excellent students and the number of students who scored 10 in the 10th grade entrance exam was very high. However, for me, because coming to the exam did not have too much pressure, I did the test comfortably and after finishing the exam, I was quite confident with my results.

Pham Thi Bao An - Valedictorian in Chemistry (student of Ton Quang Phiet Secondary School, Thanh Chuong)

Pham Thi Bao An lives in Thanh Chuong town, but her parents only make a living from farming. The family's greatest asset is their four children, and it seems that all of them are very good at studying. Among them, Bao An's older sister is currently a student at Hanoi Medical University.

Bao An likes to study Chemistry partly because of her sister's influence, although she was more inclined towards Math before. When she got acquainted with Chemistry, Bao An also thought that Chemistry is a very interesting subject, related to daily life. Learning to observe natural phenomena and figuring out chemical reactions on her own is also a way for Bao An to remember exercises faster.

Valedictorian of the Chemistry class Pham Thi Bao An (far right, back row). Photo: NVCC

In grade 9 - Ton Quang Phiet Secondary School, Bao An is also an outstanding student because he won first prize in all competitions at school and in the district. The winner of first prize - the province's excellent Chemistry student in grade 9 also said: In addition to taking extra classes at school, I mainly study at home.

Bao An also tries to learn online by himself, by going to forums, online teaching sites and finding strange exercises. Then, Bao An will directly solve them online to receive feedback from everyone and is ready to debate if there are many different ways to solve them.

This unique girl also made a miracle when in the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, her specialized subject score was almost perfect with 19.72/20 points, far surpassing the other successful candidates.

Nguyen Ngoc Linh - valedictorian of Physics major (student of Nghi Huong Secondary School, Cua Lo town).

This is also a prominent female face in the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted this year when Linh surpassed many excellent candidates to win the top position in both the specialized subject and the entrance exam. It is worth mentioning that Physics has always been the strength of Phan School for many years, but to have a female valedictorian is very rare. Previously, Linh also won first prize in the provincial Physics competition for excellent students.

Nguyen Ngoc Linh (2nd from right) with her teacher and classmates. Photo: NVCC

Talking about Linh, the homeroom teacher Hoang Thi Ngoc Huong also gave her all praise because Linh has all the weaknesses of a good, obedient, and hard-working student. In particular, Linh is not only good at Physics but also good at all subjects, especially Math.

Linh also did not take many extra classes. Linh’s teachers were her mother, a Physics teacher, and her father, a Math teacher. In addition, Linh also had another “private” teacher, her brother, who was the runner-up in the Physics class at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted in the previous school year.

After being admitted to Phan School, both siblings began their lives away from home, living in a dormitory. However, she was very excited because this was a school with a tradition, helping Linh continue to pursue her dream of furthering her favorite subject, Physics.

Cao Thi Yen Chi - Valedictorian of Literature (student of Ha Huy Tap Secondary School, Vinh City)

Talking about Yen Chi, the biggest advantage when deciding to choose Literature to pursue is that her family has a tradition of Literature, her mother and sister both teach and study at the province's specialized school.

Valedictorian of Literature Cao Thi Yen Chi. Photo: NVCC

However, this is also a pressure. Therefore, when she was in middle school, Chi did not choose a specialized school in the city but chose a normal secondary school near her home. She did not become complacent because her mother taught Literature. On the contrary, she had to be more diligent and hardworking.

Regarding Cao Thi Yen Chi, teacher Mai Thi Ha - Chi's tutor at Ha Huy Tap Secondary School was also very impressed, although compared to other members of the team, Chi was not the most outstanding member. Chi's biggest advantage is that she is obedient, hard-working and always takes advantage to absorb all the lessons from her teacher and her mother.

In addition to Yen Chi, this year Ha Huy Tap Secondary School has 32 other students admitted to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Photo: NVCC

Yen Chi is also a student who makes a breakthrough very quickly. Therefore, although in grade 9, Chi only won the Encouragement Prize in the City's Excellent Student Competition, after that, she tried to improve every day: If there were ten exercises, today Chi could get 4 points, 5 points, but after that, Chi's score would increase every day and almost never fall back...

This is also the quality that helped Yen Chi break through, rise up and win the valedictorian position in the Literature class - one of the most traditional and quality specialized classes of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted.

In addition to the four valedictorians mentioned above, nine valedictorians in specialized classes of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted come from schools in Vinh city, including Dang Thai Mai Secondary School, Le Loi Secondary School, Quang Trung Secondary School, Hung Dung Secondary School, Ha Huy Tap Secondary School and Le Mao Secondary School. Of these, Dang Thai Mai Secondary School has the most valedictorians.

My Ha