Nguyen Khanh Linh, born in 2002, is one of four valedictorians graduating with a perfect score of 4.0/4.0 from the National Economics University this year. This is also the first time the school has had four students achieve a perfect score.

Khanh Linh is a math major at Thai Binh High School for the Gifted. Therefore, studying International Economics has many advantages for the female student. “I feel like I fit in well with this school. My strengths are logic, clarity and numbers. Therefore, in my first year at school, I set a goal of graduating with honors and thought this was within my ability.”

With a clear goal, Khanh Linh focuses on studying. Many Linh friends choose to study and work part-time to improve their soft skills. Linh believes that this is not wrong if you know how to balance both. “In general, it is still mainly up to each person’s choice. I choose to focus on studying quickly in 3 years and enter the labor market soon,” Linh said.

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Nguyen Khanh Linh is one of four valedictorians graduating with a perfect score of 4.0/4.0 from the National Economics University this year (Photo: NVCC)

In addition to the required core subjects, students will register for elective subjects. Linh often chooses subjects that she wants to learn and that will serve her future career instead of choosing subjects that are “the easier to get grades, the better.”

“For example, my classmates often avoid the International Tax subject because it is difficult, but I feel that this subject is quite useful and I need to know it. Therefore, I will register and really study it,” Linh said.

In addition, according to Linh, it is also very important to always feel happy when coming to class every day. Of course, students will not always be full of energy during the lessons, but most female students always feel "interested and excited".

“If I pay attention and 'study for real' during two two-hour lessons, it will save me a lot of time when I get home,” Linh shared.

Besides, in class, instead of taking a photo of the entire slide but not reviewing it at home, Linh often writes down what she has learned and concluded. In her opinion, this is more valuable because just taking photos without reviewing them is quite meaningless. Thanks to that, before each exam, reviewing old knowledge also saves time.

Another special "secret", according to Linh, which is also a key factor in helping her achieve high scores in all subjects, is finding two close friends who "share the same ideology".

“You are all extremely talented people, graduating with a GPA of 3.99/4.0. We met each other randomly, without selection, but then we accompanied and progressed together in most activities such as studying, scientific research, and participating in competitions,” the female student shared.

The “ideology” that Linh mentioned is the passion for learning, and the joy of going to class every day. “For example, when mentioning macro knowledge, many friends often say why learn those things, they will not use them later when they go to work. But my two friends do not think so. They all think that this is basic knowledge, covering all the activities they will need when they go to work later.

In addition, we often ask each other questions about the economic and social situation, for example, the impact of the monetary policy of the FED (Federal Reserve). Even if we are not clear, we can research and answer questions that are not related to the lesson.

According to Linh, having friends who “share the same ideology” will save the three of them a lot of time searching for documents. If they only study in class, they will not see the full value of teamwork. “When I participate in scientific research, I realize how important it is to have a group of ‘quality’ friends,” Linh said.

Within 3 years, the three of them did 3 scientific studies together, including one topic published in a domestic journal and two topics published in international journals.

“The economics industry revolves around big topics such as commodity exchange, import and export. Therefore, the first topic we did also approached the industry, which is tracing the origin of goods for export to China.

In the second year, the whole group seriously wanted to carry out new, more specific and practical topics. Therefore, the following topics we did revolved around the green economy field, completely breaking away from our major.

Doing research early also helped Linh learn how to research documents quickly and systematically, so she didn't feel "overwhelmed" when approaching new subject content because she didn't know where to start.

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Khanh Linh (middle) and two close friends graduated with honors. (Photo: NVCC)

Thanks to effective learning methods, Khanh Linh completed her studies in 3 years as planned, achieving all 6/6 scholarships of the school.

Since August 2023, before finishing her studies, Linh has had an official job at an import-export company. In April 2024, Khanh Linh took the civil service exam and was admitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. In the list of successful candidates at that time, the female student was the youngest.

Achieving the goals set when entering the university gate, Linh said that there is one thing she always keeps in mind: "Do not FOMO (Fear of missing out), look at others and doubt the path you choose". In addition, "learn everything passionately, you will get complete results".

During this time, Linh still wants to focus on her work. In the future, the female student hopes to seek scholarship opportunities in the Netherlands to continue her professional development.

More than 38% of students at the National Economics University graduated with Distinction. Among the full-time university graduates of the National Economics University this year, 38% graduated with Distinction. The four valedictorians of the school this year all achieved 4.0/4.0.