(Dan Tri) - Hoang Khanh is studying Computer Science at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. He was quite happy to meet the Olympia champions he admired and was proud to witness their success in a foreign land.
After more than a year of winning the Road to Olympia and receiving a prize of 40,000 USD (about 980 million VND), earlier this year, Nguyen Hoang Khanh (born 2004) went to Australia to study Computer Science at Swinburne University of Technology.
As the plane slowly landed at Tullamarine Airport, the young man felt quite emotional.
"In my head, I replayed the entire process of studying for the Olympia trip, the nights I stayed up all night without my parents knowing to study. And now I'm here," he told Dan Tri reporter.
Hoang Khanh is the 3rd Olympia champion from Quang Ninh province (Photo: Anh Thang).
I wanted to do great things to be worthy of being a "champion"
From the moment he was named Olympia champion, Hoang Khanh, like his "predecessors" and "successors", became a "public figure". His every word and action easily became the center of attention.
A few months later, Khanh appeared quite frequently on social networks. The young man surprised everyone with his "transformation" in appearance, even having a video channel with nearly 30,000 followers despite only posting 4 videos, including a clip reaching millions of views. This made the audience excited with the image of a friendly, youthful Olympia champion.
However, after a while, he suddenly "disappeared".
Hoang Khanh once "disappeared" from social networks because he was overwhelmed by the glory of the past (Photo: FBNV).
Recalling that time, Hoang Khanh said that the year 18 was quite special to him.
"If at 17, I was a very ambitious person, wanting to change big things to be worthy of the title of "champion", then at 18, I felt different. I shrank back and focused on changing small things within myself.
I realized that I was not mature enough in both awareness and ability to dream of great things," the Olympia champion confided.
Seemingly feeling overwhelmed by the glory of the past, Khanh chose to "disappear" for a while to stabilize himself both physically and mentally.
Currently, the male student only occasionally shares his daily life with his family and close friends. He feels comfortable because he has enough privacy to keep his focus, time and enthusiasm for his passions.
Study Computer Science to develop your ideas
Starting life away from home in faraway Australia, Hoang Khanh felt lucky to be introduced to a house filled with mostly Vietnamese students.
"It seems like I hear Vietnamese more than when I'm at home with my parents," the young man said humorously.
Everyone in Khanh's "common house" is quite united, everyone is cute and has their own personality. Among them, the male student is especially close to Hung and Bao - two boys studying in the same major as him.
"Hung and Bao are both computer science majors since high school, so they study very well. They have guided a lot for a "newbie" like me who is just starting to get acquainted with programming.
We are also nurturing many projects together and during the upcoming summer vacation, our group will have more time to work together because during the year everyone is busy studying and working part-time," the young man said.
Talking about his choice to study Computer Science instead of Economics as he originally planned, Khanh revealed that he always believed that as long as he had an idea, he could find good programmers to accompany him.
However, Khanh realized that there were many ideas he wanted to implement but had not found them or had not worked with a satisfactory partner. Therefore, he decided to study Computer Science to develop his own ideas.
In addition, the rise of AI (artificial intelligence) tools like today helps people to be able to come up with ideas, develop, analyze, test and then sell products with only one person: themselves.
According to Khanh, many people think that "Teaching economics to engineering students is much easier than teaching engineering to economics students." He once had the chance to talk to Trung Nguyen - the creator of the "billion dollar" game Axie Infinity - who started out in engineering, so he became more confident in his decision to change his major.
"I want to become a product manager, so I don't set a goal of becoming a truly excellent software engineer. Having a degree in Computer Science will help me have a common voice and easily evaluate the effectiveness of the programming team I will work with in the future," Khanh shared.
Proud to see Olympia champions succeed
After his first semester, Hoang Khanh applied and was accepted to work at a virtual reality game company. His role was to build a membership program for loyal players and create advertisements on digital platforms, which in Vietnam is jokingly called "running Ads".
"I'm happy because I'm lucky to have a job that brings me a good income and has many transferable skills for other positions in the future that are related to my major," the male student shared.
When asked about his friendship with other Olympia champions in Australia, Khanh smiled and boasted that he had dinner with Phan Manh Tan (champion for the 2nd year), lunch with Huynh Anh Vu (champion for the 8th year) and met the family of Dang Thai Hoang (champion for the 12th year).
Among them, Dang Thai Hoang and Nguyen Hoang Cuong (champion of the 18th year) are Khanh's fellow Quang Ninh natives. He had talked with the two seniors long before appearing on stage at S14 studio.
"However, when I first met you two, I was still overwhelmed because I got to see my idol in the flesh," the young man said.
Hoang Khanh met the 8th Olympia champion Huynh Anh Vu in Australia (Photo: NVCC).
Recently, Khanh flew to Sydney (Australia) and met Ho Dac Thanh Chuong (champion of the 16th year). He was grateful to his senior for taking him to visit Google headquarters in Sydney. The day before, the two brothers also went mountain climbing together.
"Witnessing the success of champions in foreign lands makes me very proud of the intelligence and determination of Vietnamese people. This gives me more motivation to try harder," said the 2021 Olympia champion.
Sending a message to the 4 contestants of the Olympia 2023 final that took place a few days ago, Hoang Khanh shared: "When you leave the stage, it is easy for us to feel satisfied with what we have achieved and give ourselves a break.
But I don't think 17-18 is the time to allow yourself to rest, so always win from the smallest battles with yourself. Just being more mature and healthier than yesterday is a victory."
Thu An
Dantri.com.vn
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