From 'village school' to first prize in national excellent student competition of a male student from Nghe An

Specialized schools are only the second choice.

Tran Quang Khai was only a student at a village school when he spent 9 years of primary and secondary school at Nghia Thuan Primary and Secondary School -Thai Hoa town. The boy is the youngest child in the family, his father is in the army, his mother runs a business in the market so his parents do not have much time for him. What the family is most assured about Khai is that he is very studious, at the age of 5, thanks to studying with his older sisters, he was able to read and write fluently.

During his years studying near home, the pressure of achievement never weighed heavily on Khai. However, that was what helped Khai develop his abilities, not just in one subject but in all subjects. That was also the reason why, from grade 6 to grade 9, Khai was successively named in the gifted student team.English, Chemistry, Physics and Math. In which, the highest achievement in grade 9 was First prize in Physics and Second prize in Chemistry at the Town's Excellent Student Competition.

Tran Quang Khai is currently a student in class 11A3 - Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Photo: MH

With such a favorable starting point, as usual, Khai certainly dreamed of getting into a specialized school in the province. But, Khai was the opposite because he only wanted to study near home. After finishing junior high school, Khai enrolled inPhan Boi Chau High School for the Giftedpartly because of teachers and family encouragement and simply wanting to try my best.

On the day of the exam, from Thai Hoa, Khai and his father took a bus to the exam site at Le Viet Thuat High School and after the exam, they went back the other way. From then until the time he entered school, Khai did not know what Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted looked like and he also could not imagine that one day he would be away from his family to go to school. During the summer break, preparing for grade 10, Khai bought books and carefully labeled them with the name of the school he registered for his first choice - Dong Hieu High School, even though at that time, he had a very high admission score of over 43 points.

Having never thought of studying at a specialized school, Khai was surprised to learn that he was the valedictorian of the Physics class at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, and this was the main reason why Khai changed his decision. On the day he enrolled in Vinh, Khai was surprised because he did not think that 'Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted would be so big and spacious, very different from many schools in his hometown that he had attended.

This school year, Khai is the only student from Nghe An province to win first prize in the national Physics competition. Photo: MH

Deciding to go to Vinh to study, at the age of 16, Khai gradually got used to the collective life, living with friends in the dormitory. In the first days of school, because he missed home, Khai took the bus to visit his parents almost every week. Later, the school schedule was tight, and the time to go home became rarer. The longest time away from home was when Khai accelerated his training for the school's national excellent student team, and this was also the time when Vinh city and many other localities in the province were locked down according to Directive 16 due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Confidently master knowledge

Although specialized schools were only the second choice, as soon as he entered Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, Khai set a goal for himself to join the national team. Khai also admitted that specialized schools attracted him because he knew that this was almost the only place in the province where students had the opportunity to go to national, regional and international arenas.

To achieve this dream, since entering grade 10, Khai and his friends had to rush into a rather intense race to choose the school's excellent student team. During that time, Khai and his friends no longer remember how many tests they had to take, how many challenges they had to go through. After each assessment, the number of students who could pursue to the final list was not much. Not to mention, on the journey to the national team, they not only had to compete with their classmates in the specialized class but also with their seniors in grade 12, one grade older.

Confidence and mastery of knowledge help Khai succeed in competitions. Photo: NVCC

Before becoming one of the 10 members of the national team of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, Khai also shared that it was not easy. Even though his name was on the official list, he still had to make a lot of effort to be able to complete the exercises as required. Talking more about this, Khai said: There are some knowledge that although I have learned the theory, when applying it in practice it is very difficult, even though I have looked at the answers in advance but still cannot understand. At that time, I had to go online, find related keywords and reread the theory. In addition, I would mark difficult formulas and write them down in my notebook so that every time I could not remember them, I could look them up. I also had to find calculation exercises to practice the questions.

Using a notebook is also a learning method that Khai has applied since his junior high school years and although it is a time-consuming task, Khai thinks it is very effective. With this scientific learning method, Khai has a solid grasp of knowledge and is confident in his abilities. Before the National Excellent Student Competition was officially held, Khai scored himself second place after deducting all errors. In the school team, although Khai may be younger than some members, he is also trusted by teachers and has high expectations.

Members of the Physics team of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Photo: NVCC

In fact, at the 2022 National Excellent Student Exam held earlier this year, Khai did better than he thought when he was the only student from Nghe An to win first prize in Physics. Moreover, his score was quite high, although Khai shared that he was sorry because "he lost points on a fairly easy test due to a mistake in the given data".

This result also helped Khai enter the second round of the national team selection for the Asia-Pacific Physics Olympiad. Unfortunately, in this exam, he did not complete the practical test well, so he was not allowed to continue even though his score was quite high. In his 11 years of studying, Khai said that he did not fail many exams, but this was the most regrettable failure. After this exam, Khai also learned from his own experience and said he would try to overcome his limitations to test himself in the next exam in grade 12.

After nearly 2 years of training for the national team, Khai also shared many memorable stories. That was the time the team gathered in the middle of the extremely tense Covid-19 epidemic. At that time, because Vinh city and many other localities were under lockdown, he and some members almost stayed at school throughout the summer.

The teachers who trained the students, such as Mr. Tran Van Nga, Mr. Tran Ngoc Thang, and Mr. Le Xuan Bao, also had a hard time coming to school to train the team to keep up with the progress. This year's exam also had some regrets because due to the impact of the epidemic, the organizing committee canceled the theory test at the National Excellent Student Exam. In the second round, Khai and the members only had a very short time to go to Hanoi to review, so there were more or less disadvantages...

Tran Quang Khai is cherishing the dream of becoming a teacher to impart knowledge to his students. Photo: MH

Talking to Tran Quang Khai, this male student also revealed many interesting study secrets, but one of the important things to succeed according to Khai is not to "put pressure on yourself". Instead, to confidently enter the exam, the most important thing is to master your knowledge. Khai also shared that because of his love for Physics and his love for conquering knowledge, his dream is to become a good teacher in the future. That not only gives him the opportunity to impart knowledge to his students, but also helps him to be closer to his family, his hometown and contribute a small part to the education of the younger generation.