'Success from failure' of candidate who scored 29.4 points in university entrance exam

(Baonghean.vn) - Up to this point, Tran Quynh Trang, a 12th grader in A1 at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, has been identified as the candidate with the highest score in the 2016 National High School Exam at Vinh exam cluster with 29.4 points (group A), including 10 points in Math, 9.8 points in Physics and 9.6 points in Chemistry. This candidate is also expected to be the top scorer in group A at this year's exam.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy (teacher at Hoa Sen Kindergarten, Vinh City) learned about her daughter's exam scores late this afternoon. From school, she called her daughter, and on the other end of the phone, Trang kept asking over and over: Really, Mom? Really, Mom? Then she burst into tears of joy. At that moment, Ms. Thuy could not hold back her tears because she understood better than anyone else Trang's efforts throughout 12 years of studying. She confided that Trang's success today was partly due to "rising from failure" and the result of her joy was from "little ability but a lot of effort".

Quynh Trang and her mother on the day she received her exam results.

Trang is the eldest daughter of Ms. Thuy and Mr. Ninh. Since she was little, Trang has had a very good memory. When she was in kindergarten, even though she was only 3 or 4 years old, Trang could tell her mother the entire lecture of her teacher in class and act “i chang” like her teacher. A poem or a story, Trang only needed to hear it once and she could retell it fluently. When she was in middle school, when Trang intended to take the entrance exam for the Math major at Dang Thai Mai Middle School, her mother and family initially did not support her because they thought that studying Math was “hard, tiring and sinful” for girls. However, for Trang, Math is her passion, even “solving a difficult problem is happier than receiving a gift”. Trang’s greatest success during her high school years was being the valedictorian of grade 9 at the City Excellent Student Competition.

Quynh Trang (right, far right) with friends at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted

In high school, Trang still pursued Math even though her results in Phan Boi Chau had to be "saved" to pass. At Phan, the new environment and new friends also forced Trang to try very hard because she knew that compared to her friends, she was only at the bottom. The saddest memory was the Provincial Excellent Student Competition for grade 11. At that time, when she heard that she only got the Encouragement Prize, Trang cried for several days.

Because she knows her own abilities, Trang has never “dreamed” about national or international awards. On the contrary, she spends time and focuses on studying all cultural subjects to invest in the university entrance exam. What is special is that Trang takes very little extra classes, she mainly studies at school and online. She invests more time in subjects that are weak. For example, with Physics, which used to be her weakest subject. After analyzing, Trang found out that the main reason was because “she didn’t know how to study, didn’t have solid knowledge, and was only worried about doing difficult exercises”.

Quynh Trang (far left) takes a photo with her friends on her 12th grade farewell day.

After that, Trang focused on reviewing the theory and doing more advanced exercises to consolidate her skills. Trang also registered to study Physics online with teacher Chu Van Ben (a teacher originally from Nghe An, teaching in Thanh Hoa) to further improve her problem-solving skills. As for Chemistry and Math, the secret to getting a score of 9 or 10 is to practice a lot, do many mock tests online and regularly discuss with friends to gain experience.

Talking about Trang's result, teacher Phan Van Thai, the class's homeroom teacher, also said: I was not surprised because after the exam, I looked at Trang's answers and found that she got over 27 points. However, the happiest thing is that Trang has achieved her dream. This is a reward for a determined, strong girl who always strives to improve herself.

Quynh Trang's 12th A1 class with 6 students winning national prizes and many students achieving high scores in the National High School Exam

With this result, Trang has also taken a solid step into the Foreign Trade University, the school she has long dreamed of and cherished to become an excellent foreign economic person in the future.

My Ha