The journey to becoming double valedictorian of a boy who used to be addicted to games

With their dynamic, brave, talented and creative qualities, Generation Z students have created very proud achievements in many fields. From this issue, Thanh Nien will introduce the outstanding marks of students towards the 11th National Congress of the Vietnam Student Association, term 2023 - 2028.

The first time we met Tran Duc Luong, we were quite surprised because from a guy who was addicted to games, Luong tried his best to become the valedictorian of Ho Chi Minh City University of Information Technology. And now that guy continues to be honored as the valedictorian of the information security industry.

Dream of becoming a good hacker

It is not an exaggeration to say that Tran Duc Luong has now become the idol of many Generation Z students. Four years ago, Luong was one of the valedictorians participating in the Exam Season Consulting program of Thanh Nien Newspaper, and every time he went to high schools, this student was always surrounded by students. The students admired Luong not only for his talent but also for his story of determination to overcome the temptation of online games to achieve the title of valedictorian.

Tran Duc Luong (middle) had a fulfilling student life as the double valedictorian.

Luong said he started playing games since... first grade. To get to the game shop, sometimes the student at that time waited for his parents to fall asleep and then sneaked out or secretly climbed over the fence... He was so addicted that one year Luong played games for 3 months in the summer and at that time he felt he was too addicted. Luong once shared with the writer: "Many nights I lay awake, sometimes because of games, sometimes because of studying, and from then on I felt I had to give up games because they affected my studies too much. And finally I was determined to pursue my passion in another way, becoming the valedictorian of the information security major with the dream of becoming a really good hacker in the future". With a student who was so addicted to games that he could not sleep but was determined to transform his passion in a positive direction, I believed that Luong would reap many sweet fruits.

Double valedictorian Tran Duc Luong has become the idol of many Generation Z students.

NVCC

Now, talking to Luong again, I asked about his dream of becoming a good hacker back then, the double valedictorian shared: "To say that I am not good yet, but now I have enough foundation to pursue and am still on the path to conquering my dream". Luong said that the information security industry is very broad, each new technology that comes out always comes with risks regarding security and safety. All aspects of technology are related to information security, and this is also an important factor in digital transformation today. "Besides, going to work, I get to meet and know that there are many good hackers, like everyone was born to be a hacker. I admire them so much that I also want to pursue this industry and do it like my predecessors", Luong said. The valedictorian added: "There are many different types of hackers, some specialize in spreading malware, attacking other people's systems... to get information and sell it for money, these are bad hackers. As for us, we are hackers who specialize in finding system errors and reporting them so that people can fix those vulnerabilities."

Full student life

All the sweet fruits that came to Luong did not come naturally. Luong had to be very determined and have a very disciplined study and review schedule to pass the high school graduation exam. And right at the time of attending the valedictorian ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City 4 years ago (Luong was the valedictorian), the young man told himself that he would try to come back here for the second time (meaning he would be the valedictorian). Luong shared: "The first two years, I only set the goal of getting high scores in the general subjects... But starting from the 3rd year, my score was already quite good, so I just had to try to maintain it to graduate as valedictorian. From then on, I set clearer goals and it was almost mandatory to have the most fulfilling student life."

Luong and members of the school's information security laboratory participated in the presentation at the SoICT 2022 International Conference

NVCC

Luong's four years as a student ended very well with the title of valedictorian. One of the secrets that helped Luong achieve this success was scientific research. According to Luong, scientific research not only helps update new knowledge but also trains many soft skills necessary for future work. "Our research is about information security combined with artificial intelligence. Thanks to scientific research, in addition to expertise in information security, I have learned about AI, initiatives, and ideas to combine information security and artificial intelligence into practice. These things are very useful when going to work," Luong shared. In addition to scientific research, according to Luong, there are 3 important factors that determine success: discipline, initiative, and self-awareness. Discipline here means setting clear goals, doing the best you can to pursue them to the end, and not getting caught up in unrelated matters. Because for Luong, college is very different from high school, you have to take care of most things yourself, so discipline is very important.

Thanks to discipline, self-awareness and initiative, Luong has reaped many sweet fruits.

NVCC

"In addition, there is self-awareness and initiative. In studying, when you are self-aware and proactive, you will learn about the lesson in advance, making it easier to absorb when you come to class, helping you save a lot of time. Also thanks to proactively learning about AI, when doing scientific research, with the same information security foundation as your friends, but I have one more advantage: I have knowledge about artificial intelligence, thanks to which research is easier and more convenient", Luong shared. Master Phan The Duy, Deputy Head of the Information Security Laboratory, Ho Chi Minh City University of Information Technology, is very proud and highly appreciates Luong's initiative. "In the assigned tasks, Luong proactively seeks information to discuss with the instructor, instead of waiting for the assignment in a passive manner. In addition, Luong is very enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge and skills with students of the following courses. And especially, Luong has many qualities in terms of creativity and the ability to explore new things", Master Duy acknowledged. With his achievements, many people think that the double valedictorian must bury himself in studying and researching all day, but in fact, that's not the case. Luong's secret is to... study and play at the same time. "I also participate in sports, hang out with friends and have a lover (laughs) . I always believe that it is not necessary to bury myself in studying, but to have time to relieve stress and reduce pressure, such as when chatting with friends, my mind will be more relaxed, and from there, studying will also be better. Being good at expertise but also having good soft skills, and having to interact with life to develop these skills," the double valedictorian suggested. With his efforts in scientific research, Tran Duc Luong has had his work introduced at international conferences such as NICS 2021, SoICT 2022 and 2023, ISPEC 2023... Luong is currently an employee of Viettel Cyber ​​Security Company. Looking forward to the 11th National Congress of the Vietnam Student Association, Tran Duc Luong hopes that generations of Vietnamese students will always strive and achieve many great and breakthrough achievements to build and develop the country, especially in the digital transformation period.