National Excellent Student Exam 2024 - 2025: Becoming valedictorian thanks to 'afternoon dreams'

Le Nguyen Thuy Duong (left) with Ms. Nguyen Thi Ai Van, head of the Literature group, Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted - Photo: NVCC

Thuy Duong is also the only student from the South to achieve the highest score in the country in this exam.

When she learned that she had won first prize in the national excellent student competition and was also the valedictorian of the whole country, Le Nguyen Thuy Duong felt her joy explode. “This is the first time I have won a prize in a large-scale competition like the national excellent student competition.

All the good things I have achieved are thanks to the companionship and guidance of teachers and the encouragement and support from family and friends. I would like to thank my teachers, relatives and friends,” Thuy Duong said.

Love literature from nap time

Thuy Duong does not remember the specific time that made her start loving the pages of poetry, stories, literary words and completing thoughtful essays. But one thing Thuy Duong is sure of is that she has memories and recollections of profound pages of books.

“The most memorable memory for me on the journey of reading and learning literature is probably the nap time in primary school. I did not have the habit of taking naps because I had slept enough at night. Lying still with nothing to do, I borrowed books from the small library in the classroom to read.

The fairy tale collections collected and rewritten by teacher Nguyen Ngoc Ky, the old poems of poet Tran Dang Khoa... were my "afternoon dreams", the official moments marking my search for literature. At that time, I did not seek literature for any specific purpose such as to study literature well, to acquire knowledge", Thuy Duong recalled.

Just like that, Thuy Duong wandered around with hours of reading books in the small libraries of the classrooms. And then, from those small libraries, Thuy Duong was empowered and nurtured her passion for learning, her love for literature more through the encouragement, the hopes of her parents, and the dedicated teachers from elementary school, middle school and then high school.

When she was admitted to grade 10, literature class 1 at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Thuy Duong became more and more confident and bold. Also in grade 10, she won a gold medal in the April 30th Olympic Literature exam.

Next, I entered the national excellent student exam after passing the rigorous qualifying rounds of selecting excellent students from the school and city.

“I don’t dare to say that I am “good at literature” or have literary talent. I don’t have any special methods or secrets. I just know that I have to try my best with the opportunities I have grasped,” Thuy Duong said.

Many opportunities from being good at literature

Thuy Duong has never wondered what she will gain from studying literature, but she was very excited to answer the question "What advantages will studying literature bring me in my studies and life?".

Thuy Duong boasted that studying literature well has given her more opportunities in her studies, such as studying in a healthy, dynamic environment, interacting with many ambitious friends and many highly qualified teachers.

In group work activities in class, studying literature well also helps Thuy Duong to support her friends in solving the task of preparing presentation content more effectively. And there are many more that Thuy Duong said if written as a national excellent student exam, she “could not tell it all”…

More importantly, for Thuy Duong, studying literature helps her have more empathy, sympathy, and share more with the pain that others encounter.

“My close friends have said that they feel understood when they confide in me. I think that also proves that literature has its own place in today's life,” Thuy Duong shared.

At the age of 17, with her knowledge and love for literature, Thuy Duong said she plans to choose a future career related to studying literature. “This is a path that suits my abilities and has a lot of potential for my development. I am considering a number of related careers, but my family and I have not decided at this time,” Thuy Duong revealed.

Although Thuy Duong is good at literature, she also does well in other subjects. To do this, she has allocated her time according to the priority of the tasks that need to be done, the important ones are done first. Every day, depending on the amount of homework, Thuy Duong will balance her time appropriately.

For Thuy Duong, the secret to mastering literature and being good at it is to appreciate her experiences in literature and life and convey them sincerely and appropriately in her writing. According to Thuy Duong, this is not something strange and is also something that her literature teachers have reminded her and her friends of throughout the learning process.

On the other hand, to study literature well, one must also know how to "understand one's current needs, desires and abilities; at the same time listen to the suggestions and guidance of teachers and friends around one."

Praise self-learning ability

Ms. Pham Thi Be Hien, principal of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, said she also learned about and knew Le Nguyen Thuy Duong since she won the gold medal at the April 30 Olympics in 10th grade.

“This year I am only an 11th grader, but I have excelled and won high prizes in the national excellent student competition. And for two consecutive years I have won high prizes in competitions in this subject. This proves my good and stable ability in literature.

The school not only praised her for her academic achievements and passion for literature, but she also deserves praise for her attitude towards learning, always being well-behaved, having the ability to self-study and improve her knowledge, always wanting to learn more from teachers and friends," commented Ms. Be Hien.

National ranking of schools with national excellent students:

Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City, leads

Teachers and students of Le Hong Phong High School, Ho Chi Minh City at the celebration of Vietnamese Teachers' Day, November 20 - Photo: NHU HUNG

According to the ranking of high schools in the national excellent student exam for the 2024-2025 school year announced by the Ministry of Education and Training, Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City ranked first with 109 students winning prizes.

Second place went to Hanoi – Amsterdam High School for the Gifted (Hanoi) with 108 students winning prizes. Third place went to Tran Phu High School for the Gifted (Hai Phong) with 101 students winning prizes.

The next high schools in the top 10 include: Bac Giang Specialized High School (Bac Giang) with 99 students winning prizes, Nguyen Trai Specialized High School (Hai Duong) with 97 students winning prizes, Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School (Nghe An) with 96 students winning prizes, Thai Nguyen Specialized High School (Thai Nguyen) with 90 students winning prizes, Vinh Phuc Specialized High School (Vinh Phuc) with 87 students winning prizes, Le Hong Phong Specialized High School (Nam Dinh) and Quoc Hoc Hue Specialized High School tied for 9th place because they both had 84 students winning prizes, Bac Ninh Specialized High School (Bac Ninh) is the 10th ranked school with 81 students winning prizes.

In the top 10 schools with the most students winning first prizes, Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted leads in the number of students achieving valedictorian titles in this year’s excellent student exam with 4 valedictorians in physics, history, geography, and English. Hanoi – Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has 2 valedictorians in chemistry and French.

Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted is also the only high school in the South to have a valedictorian in this year's national excellent student exam.

The schools with valedictorians in the remaining subjects are all located in the Northern region, except for Thang Long Specialized High School (Lam Dong) which has a valedictorian in IT.

The national high school exam for excellent students in the 2024-2025 school year will take place on December 25 and 26, 2024. Nationwide, 6,482 candidates will take the exam, an increase of 663 candidates compared to the 2023-2024 school year.

According to the current regulations for national excellent student competitions, the total number of consolation prizes and above must not exceed 60% of the number of contestants; the total number of first, second, and third prizes must not exceed 60% of the total number of prizes; the number of first prizes must not exceed 5% of the total number of prizes.

This year, the examination board selected 3,803 prize-winning candidates, accounting for 58.68% of the total number of candidates, an increase compared to last year.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ky-thi-hoc-sinh-gioi-quoc-gia-2024-2025-thanh-thu-khoa-nho-nhung-giac-mo-trua-20250120094232324.htm