The top student in the national history exam wrote 23 pages.

In three hours, Quynh Trang wrote almost 6 full exam papers, achieved 18.5/20 points and became the top student in the national excellent student exam in History.

At the end of January, Pham Quynh Trang, a 12th grade History major at Bien Hoa High School for the Gifted, Ha Nam, received the results of the national excellent student exam. The female student scored 18.5 points, winning first prize in History, also the highest score among nearly 580 candidates taking the exam in this subject.

"I just hope to get third prize or higher, I never thought of becoming the national valedictorian," the female student said.

Pham Quynh Trang, 12th grade History major, Bien Hoa High School for the Gifted, Ha Nam. Photo: Provided by the character

During her junior high school years, Quynh Trang was part of the school's Literature team. When she was in 9th grade, she found it difficult to compete in the provincial competition for this subject, so Trang proactively asked her teachers to let her try History to find opportunities, and then "fell in love" with this subject.

Trang said that when she changed subjects, the exam to select the national team was only one month away. She was a newcomer, while her friends had been taking History training for years. With no other choice, Trang "rushed her feet" to catch up with her friends.

The female student admitted that at that time, she tried to find a way to memorize and learn as quickly as possible. Trang's advantage was that she could generalize and present the problem in a more engaging way than just making bullet points. Trang said that these were skills she learned after many years in the Literature team.

After winning third prize at the provincial level, Trang was admitted to the History class at Bien Hoa High School for the Gifted. Through in-depth and systematic study, the female student realized that History is not boring, but on the contrary, very interesting. She was also introduced to new perspectives from familiar events, so she felt like "opening up another world".

With good academic performance, since grade 11, Trang was in the national excellent student competition team in History of Ha Nam province, winning third prize. This school year, participating in the national competition for the second time, Trang aims to win a higher prize than last year.

Trang (fourth from left) with members of the 2024 National Excellent Student History Team of Ha Nam Province. Photo: Provided by the character

The Ha Nam Province National History Competition Team was established in October 2023 with 9 students. Every day, in addition to regular school hours, the students receive intensive training.

Because History is not only about memorizing dates and months, students also need to understand the causes, impacts and influences of an event on other issues. Therefore, Trang finds learning by mind map the most effective, helping to cover knowledge and remember it for a long time. The female student usually goes to bed at midnight every day, rarely studying later.

In her free time, Trang reads comics, watches movies and reads newspapers. Regularly updating news helps her expand her vocabulary and gain more real-life examples.

The 18-year-old girl likes studying modern Vietnamese history (1858-1945) the most, with many events in the resistance wars against France and the US. On the contrary, the female student thinks world history is "harder to learn", especially about industrial revolutions.

This year's exam has 7 questions, worth 20 points in total. Candidates have 180 minutes to complete the test. When receiving the exam, Trang was shocked because some of the content she had studied carefully did not appear.

Question 4, according to the female student, was the most difficult. This question required candidates to present new perceptions of the path to national salvation of progressive patriotic scholars in Vietnam from the beginning of the 20th century to World War I in 1914, then comment on the impact of those new perceptions on the Vietnamese patriotic movement at that time.

Trang believes that the difficulty of the question lies in the fact that candidates must be able to synthesize and generalize knowledge, then choose appropriate content to answer. The female student spent about 10 minutes carefully analyzing the question's requirements.

Initially, Trang thought that the general new point in the perception of patriotic scholars in the early 20th century was to save the country and save the people, instead of loyalty and patriotism (saving the king and saving the country) like in the previous period. But after evaluating the question, seeing that the question mentioned "new perceptions", Trang decided to add other new points, based on the goals, forms, and forces of the struggle, with specific evidence.

In three hours, Trang wrote almost all 6 exam papers, leaving only a few minutes before the end to review her work. The female student said that in order to be able to write so much and so quickly, a month before the exam, every day the teacher gave the whole team a test with a format similar to the real exam.

"During the practice test, I often skipped 1-2 ideas because I couldn't finish them in time. So when I finished the real test within the time limit and wrote a very long essay, I understood why the teacher let the whole team practice like that," Trang said.

As Trang’s homeroom teacher since grade 10 and in charge of training the History team, Ms. Tran Anh Dao assessed that Trang has a good memory, reasoning ability and logical thinking. These are important qualities to study History well.

During the learning process, Trang is self-motivated and proactive. Trang's strengths are thinking questions that require practical connections.

"Trang is a special student, I rarely meet a student like that," said Ms. Dao, adding that although she thought Trang could win first prize, the fact that her student became valedictorian was still a surprise, beyond expectations.

National excellent student team in History, Ha Nam province, January 2024. Photo: Bien Hoa High School for the Gifted

Having completed the national excellent student exam with excellent results, Trang can relax more than before. Many universities and academies directly admit candidates who have won national prizes, so Trang is not too worried. The female student is interested in the People's Security Academy and is considering applying to this school.

The female student frankly admitted that when she first started studying History, she considered it a "second option". However, this subject has helped her develop a new passion, get accepted into a specialized school, and now is a ticket straight to university.

"Every subject has its own value. If you have the opportunity to study deeply or participate in academic competitions, you should take advantage of it and try your hand. Who knows, the choices that are not your priority will make you proud, like my experience," Trang said.

Thanh Hang

Source: https://vnexpress.net/thu-khoa-thi-hoc-sinh-gioi-lich-su-quoc-gia-viet-23-mat-giay-4714276.html