Female valedictorian of block C00 rides bicycle to work 12 hours/day, dreams of becoming a teacher

GD&TĐ – Before she could immerse herself in the joy of victory, Nguyen Ngoc Linh had to go to the industrial park near her home to work extra.

Nguyen Ngoc Linh - student of Van Giang High School (Hung Yen province). Photo: NVCC.

Born and raised in a poor family, Nguyen Ngoc Linh - a student at Van Giang High School (Hung Yen province) has always been steadfast in her choice to study to escape poverty and help her parents have a better life.

Work 12 hours/day

When the Ministry of Education and Training announced the exam results, Ngoc Linh still had to cycle to the industrial park near her house to be on time for the 6 a.m. time slot. The female student confided that that morning she was “burning like fire”, just waiting for lunch break to come quickly so she could check her exam scores.

“When I found out that my C00 score was 28.25 and I became the valedictorian of Van Giang High School in the 2024 High School Graduation Exam, I was so happy that I cried. I wanted to dedicate this gift to my parents, who sacrificed a lot so that my brother and I could go to school without being at a disadvantage to anyone,” Ngoc Linh said.

The female student’s current part-time job lasts from 6am to 6pm and she only gets a 45-minute lunch break. In the early days, Ngoc Linh always returned home tired and her legs ached, but she never thought about quitting her job.

Ngoc Linh scored 28.25 points in block C00 at the 2024 High School Graduation Exam. Photo: NVCC.

According to the female valedictorian, this part-time job not only helps her practice perseverance and hard work, but also helps her earn some extra money to prepare for her upcoming trip to Hanoi to enroll in school.

“Because my family is not very well off, I have to consider carefully when choosing a major and a school. I don’t want my parents to have to work harder. I plan to enroll in the Literature Pedagogy major at Hanoi National University of Education to receive tuition support and be able to work as a tutor to earn extra income to make up for living expenses,” the female student said.

In addition to working part-time, Ngoc Linh also takes advantage of her time to help her mother with housework and learn from her seniors to equip herself with life skills, preparing for her upcoming time studying away from home.

Don't stay up past 11pm

Ngoc Linh once felt it was a mistake not to set her goals earlier to strive for, but to wait until grade 11 to prepare everything. Every day, the female student spends 8 hours studying at home and maintains the habit of going to bed early.

Ngoc Linh dreams of becoming a teacher. Photo: NVCC.

The time to study each subject is divided equally by the female student, not studying one subject more than another. “During the day, I will study theory, and at night, I will practice and memorize some important knowledge. In the morning, I usually wake up at 3 am to review some knowledge and prepare lessons before going to class,” Ngoc Linh said.

For Literature, female students often analyze a work many times to understand the problem deeply. During the exam, Ngoc Linh also divided the time to do the test. As for the Reading Comprehension and Social Essay sections, the female student tried to complete them in 30 minutes and spent the remaining time on the Literature Essay section.

Ngoc Linh added: “The Literary Essay section takes up the most points, so I always outline my ideas on a piece of scrap paper first and then develop them. In my opinion, this method will help me not miss any main ideas and my essay will be developed coherently and clearly, creating a good impression on the examiners.”

Meanwhile, female students have difficulty with Geography and History, because they find that the knowledge of these two subjects is very broad and if they do not clearly understand the nature of the problem, they cannot get high scores.

In addition to focusing on learning knowledge in class, Ngoc Linh also learns from teachers on social networks and solves mock exams from other schools. After each time solving a test, the female student feels that she remembers the knowledge longer.

“I also study using mind maps and memorize key words. In particular, History has many events that require memorizing dates, so I divide the timeline into smaller ones to memorize and see if the events are related to each other, so I can remember them longer,” Ngoc Linh said.

Ms. Vu Thi Nga - a teacher at Van Giang High School (Hung Yen province) admitted that she had never met a student with such a strong determination in studying as Ngoc Linh. In grade 10, Ngoc Linh's academic performance was average, but in grade 11, Ms. Nga's student began to make a breakthrough and achieved many high results.

“As I observed, Ngoc Linh always paid attention in class, asked the teacher about any lesson she didn’t understand, and even used a tape recorder to record the lesson and listen to it at home. During recess, instead of spending time doing her own things, she would wear headphones to review her knowledge and prepare for the next class.

Ngoc Linh also often writes at home and brings it to me for me to correct and grade. Therefore, I was not too surprised when Ngoc Linh got a high score in the recent exam, that score is completely worthy of the student's efforts," said Ms. Nga.

In addition to studying, the female student also excellently fulfilled her duties as Secretary of the Youth Union. She was always at the forefront of all activities and achieved many high achievements with her class. "Ngoc Linh always knows how to balance between studying and activities, she does not let them overlap, so I feel very secure about her," Ms. Nga shared.