9th grade boy in Ho Chi Minh City won Singapore government scholarship because of this…

This is one of the 10 most valuable scholarships in Asia with a very high competition ratio, about 1:50. The entrance exam is organized annually by the Singapore Ministryof Education , and successful students will be fully sponsored for 4 years of study, including food, pocket money and airfare.

Nguyen Nguyen Khoa (grade 9/8, Ha Huy Tap Secondary School, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) has just won the ASEAN scholarship from the Singapore government for two years of high school and two years of university preparation.

"Self-study helps me learn according to my own interests and pace without being bound by time, space, tuition, or age," Khoa said.

PHOTO: NVCC

In the summer of 6th grade, Khoa learned about the scholarship and took the ASEAN mock test at a center. The result was 65/100, the teachers at the center were very surprised and told him to pursue his goal seriously.

Two years ago, Khoa had the opportunity to go to Singapore to compete in robot programming at Nanyang University. The trip left him with an impression of a clean, modern, and orderly country. Khoa and other contestants also listened to the professor share about programming for 60 minutes in English. "At that time, I felt like I was in a movie. I wished I could become a student of that school," Khoa said.

In that competition, Khoa received a silver medal. This made him even more determined to win the ASEAN scholarship to study in Singapore.

Khoa started taking the SAT. His score increased from 1,280 to 1,440 after only 4 months, in the top 5% of the world . In particular, his math score was 790/800, showing that Khoa studied effectively and correctly.

This was very helpful in my ASEAN scholarship exam preparation process, as there was a lot of cross-fertilization of knowledge. In the first few months of math preparation, Khoa struggled with presenting essay lectures in English based on his friends' grading. My weakness was that I often drafted out the answers directly, because I was used to studying with multiple-choice exercises on open platforms.

"I overcame this challenge by completing my exercises and proactively reviewing the theory I didn't understand in class. I also often looked for lectures on each topic in English. Thanks to that, I perfected my skills in doing exercises in the Singaporean style, such as conquering problems calculating compound interest, pre-tax income, and VAT according to the laws of the neighboring country," he said.

Khoa only had two weeks to prepare for the scholarship interview round. He received advice from four special friends on communication, body language, eye contact, how to emphasize words to make his speech more attractive… In the end, Khoa was successful.

Nguyen Khoa also teaches Vietnamese to foreigners.

PHOTO: PHUONG VY

However, Khoa wanted to give up many times during the process of conquering the scholarship. He thought he was not good enough and was afraid of failure. During those uncertain times, his mother was the support that helped him expand his limits, accepting failure as a part of learning and development.

Learn while playing, play while learning

Not only is Khoa a good student and has won prestigious scholarships, he also participates in many activities. At school, he is a key member of the Computer Science Club and the Photography Club. He also guides children to solve difficult math problems online...

Ms. Diem Tram took a photo with the male student who just won the Singapore government scholarship.

PHOTO: NVCC

Recently, I participated in teaching programming and STEM to deaf students at Hy Vong School for the Deaf (HCMC) under the CodingSpire project founded by the Hear.Us.Now organization. The project is very meaningful, helping Khoa have a broader perspective on learning associated with sharing. In the project, Khoa is in charge of teaching 6th grade deaf students to get acquainted with the Scratch programming language. When teaching them, Khoa changes his habit of speaking quickly. I instruct them to slow down so that they can keep up. These activities help Khoa improve his math, passion for programming, STEM, etc.

Currently, Khoa has started to learn Mandarin by himself to prepare for integrating into the culture in Singapore, where 70% of the population is Chinese Singaporeans. He is practicing cooking Vietnamese dishes such as fried eggs, braised pork, pumpkin soup, etc. to prepare for the upcoming journey.

Khoa has compiled a long list of tasks to do and soft skills to improve to ensure he can adapt to the new living environment away from home. He said he will spend 4 years studying in Singapore to experience as many professions as possible, thereby verifying his passion and choosing a major when entering university.

Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hanh (Nguyen Khoa's mother) shared that Khoa showed his talent for math since he was 3 years old. This Singapore scholarship winner always combines theory and practice, often discussing with his mother about new discoveries during his studies. The mother and son are like friends with the same interests, listening and exploring different topics together.

Besides his passion for solving math problems and programming, Khoa also likes reading, playing the piano, swimming, playing soccer, dancing hip hop and helping his parents with housework. He is quite resourceful in life and easily makes friends with new people. He is an approachable and kind person.

Meanwhile, Ms. Hua Thi Diem Tram (principal of Ha Huy Tap Secondary School, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) said that all the teachers at the school were very sorry to say goodbye to their excellent and creative student.

"At the beginning of the new school year, I just awarded Khoa a 100% tuition scholarship to encourage his talent. Yet Khoa said goodbye to his teachers, saying that he was going abroad. He even played the song "Don't Make My Heart Hurt" for his teacher. However, I was still very happy for him," she said.

Khoa has received a full scholarship in Singapore, opening a new journey full of challenges and opportunities. Ms. Tram hopes that Khoa will always be healthy, active, develop his full potential, and quickly adapt to the new learning environment. "Here, the teachers are always watching over you. I hope you will study well and return to serve the country, my child," she said.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nam-sinh-lop-9-tai-tphcm-gianh-hoc-bong-chinh-phu-singapore-vi-dieu-nay-185240908115822283.htm