Chemistry valedictorian shares secret to overcoming difficulties to 'always come first in tests'

Convince by scores

18.75 is a very high score in this year's Provincial Excellent Student Exam, but when he received this result, Phan Tri Dung admitted that he was a bit regretful, because with just about 30 seconds more, he would have had a much better score. Before that, with 150 minutes, Dung had almost completed his exam. The most regrettable thing was the last exam, a problem about ester decomposition, Dung had calculated with the correct result on scratch paper. But in the end, there was not enough time for Dung to write the answer on the official exam.

After 3 years of teaching Chemistry and being a homeroom teacher, teacher Pham Thi Hong Ha said that she "trusts Dung very much". Perhaps that's why, on the day Dung took the exam, on the way home, even though she knew Dung was sad because he couldn't complete the exam, just one question "Did you do well on the test" and receiving the answer "I'm fine" made the teacher feel at ease.

Phan Tri Dung and teacher Pham Thi Hong Ha - homeroom teacher, directly teaching Chemistry. Photo: MH

Dung is a quiet male student and rarely shares about himself. For that reason, the most effective way of "dialogue" between teacher and student is through tests and exams, and during his 3 years of high school at Le Hong Phong High School, Dung has never disappointed his teacher.

Saying this, teacher Hong Ha confided: The examexcellent studentsThis year, our school has 2 quotas to compete, but to choose the 2 most outstanding students, the teachers have to really "weigh their brains". Particularly in the Chemistry team, Dung is always the number 1 choice.

That said, it is not that Dung's path to the provincial excellent student competition was easy. However, what Dung convinced his teacher was that he "always came first in the tests". Like this year, before choosing the official team, the Chemistry team had 8 students. After the first round, the team selected 5 students, studied for 5 months, took 6 tests and then finalized 3 students. From this list, the team teacher had to take 5 more tests to choose 2 official students. Persevering for nearly a year of studying, going through many qualifying rounds and Dung still being stable at the number 1 position is not easy.

Before the exam day, the school also had high expectations for Dung because in the competition rounds between other schools in the province or between district schools, Dung had very good results and was often in the group of candidates with the highest test scores.

Mr. Phan Van Nhan - Dung's father is very proud of the results his youngest son has achieved. Photo: MH

Dung was noticed right from the time he entered 10th grade because before that, in 9th grade, he had won second prize in the provincial competition for excellent students in Chemistry. With this achievement, Dung also had the opportunity to study at a specialized school in the city, but he chose Le Hong Phong High School - "district school" because of his family's circumstances and also wanted to be close to home.

With a good starting point, when entering high school, Dung received attention from teachers and the school, creating conditions for him to develop his abilities. Before taking the Chemistry exam, Dung was also named in the team to train excellent students in Mathematics. But in the end, he chose this exam because "Chemistry is an interesting subject, associated with a lot of practical knowledge".

Principal of Le Hong Phong High School rewards Phan Tri Dung. Photo: MH

More importantly, Dung found his love for this subject. Talking more about this, Dung said: When I first got acquainted with Chemistry, I, like many other friends, thought this subject was very difficult because it was complicated and had many formulas. But if you go deeper into it and understand its essence, Chemistry is very interesting and very attractive. For me, to study Chemistry well, I also do a lot of exercises with many different types and after each exercise, I will draw my own experiences.

Because of his passion and self-study, Dung did not study much. Besides studying with teachers in class and studying with the team, Dung spent the rest of his time mainly self-studying and searching for documents online to supplement his knowledge.

Don't want to let down teachers and family

Not only has a good foundation, teacher Pham Thi Hong Ha also said: "Dung has a quality of an excellent student, that is, he is very intelligent, hard-working, highly focused and sure of his ability to do any test." With this advantage, after completing the Provincial Excellent Student Selection Exam, Dung also hopes to score over 17 points and possibly get a high prize. However, with the titlevaledictorian, not only the teacher but Dung himself was surprised: I thought that if I did well, there would be many other students who would do better. I didn't think that I would get the highest score. I am really happy and pleased with the above result."

Dung is a student who gains the trust of his teachers through his grades and academic results. Photo: MH

With the achievement of being the valedictorian of Chemistry, Dung has almost reached the gate of the University of Science and Technology - the school he has dreamed of for a long time. This is also the wish of Dung's whole family because his parents are both farmers, both of whom are elderly. Before Dung, his older siblings had the opportunity to go to school but were not successful. Because Dung was "the best student in the family", all the family's dreams were placed on Dung.

Dung also calculated: “If I go to Hanoi to study, my family will have a lot of difficulties. However, from now until the end of the school year, I will try to study really well, get a high score on the high school graduation exam to get a scholarship. I can also work as a tutor or part-time to earn more income.”

Because of his family's difficult circumstances, Dung studied at a university for 3 years.Le Hong Phong High School, both parents entrusted everything to the teachers at school. The day Dung won first prize and was valedictorian, Dung's father went from Hung Thong to school to meet the principal and the homeroom teacher to give a bag of oranges to thank them. That was also the first time the homeroom teacher met Dung's father.

Dung's father also said that during the Covid-19 outbreak, even though it was summer, the Chemistry team still studied normally. At that time, although the family tried very hard, they could only buy Dung a phone so that he could study online with his teacher. Afraid that Dung would not be able to keep up with the team's progress and would affect his health if he studied on the phone, the homeroom teacher also lent him a desktop computer so that he could study at home. Thanks to his parents and teachers, Dung only knew to try his best to study well and do well in the exam so as not to disappoint everyone's trust.

The Board of Directors of Le Hong Phong High School awarded students who won prizes at the Provincial Excellent Student Competition. Photo: MH

Phan Tri Dung's achievement is also the highest achievement of Le Hong Phong High School up to this point. The joy was multiplied when in this year's exam season, Dung's class 12A1 had 6 other students also winning prizes at the Provincial Excellent Student Competition for Grade 12, including Nguyen Phuong Dat who won prizes in both English and Math.

Teacher Nguyen Bich Hanh - Principal of the school said: For a school quite far from the center and with a low starting point like ours, having a valedictorian and 7 provincial prizes is not an easy thing. This is a joy and also a motivation for the school to continue to try, make efforts and achieve more achievements in the coming school years.