The 15-year-old student's journey to the International Olympic Silver Medal

At the 2024 International Junior Science Olympiad held in Romania from December 2-11 with 52 countries and territories participating, Le Tung Lam (10th grade student of Physics 2, Hanoi Amsterdam High School for the Gifted) was the contestant who won the Silver medal with the highest score of 79.8 points.

Returning from the exam, Lam shared that he felt a bit regretful at that time, but quickly calmed down and was happy with the results achieved.

“Since 8th grade, I have dreamed of becoming a member of the International Youth Science Olympiad team. Practicing and competing has partly satisfied my passion for science, so I don’t focus too much on achievements,” Lam shared.

According to the male student, the questions in the 2024 International Olympic exam are all difficult and have the purpose of classifying students. In particular, this year's exam has questions that are updated with technology and practical applications, which surprised him and made him "a bit panicked". However, after regaining his composure, he applied the knowledge taught by his teachers to find a solution.

According to Lam, taking part in the Young Science Olympiad, in addition to basic knowledge of Natural Science subjects, also requires candidates to have perseverance, thinking skills, speed of doing the test as well as reasonable time division. Because in addition to 30 multiple choice questions, candidates must solve the essay part with computational thinking requirements up to 36 pages long. With such an exam, candidates who lose their composure, or focus too much on solving some difficult questions can easily run out of time.

During the competition in the host country, Lam was excited to participate in many activities with the contestants. "The international students are all excellent representatives of each country and are very talented. Some of them not only study well but are also very confident in showing off their dancing and singing abilities in front of a crowd. That makes me feel like I have to improve myself even more," Lam said.

Loving natural subjects and passionate about science, Lam plans to continue participating in Physics-related exams in the future to satisfy his passion.

Le Tung Lam (left) was welcomed and congratulated by friends at the airport after winning the 2024 International Junior Science Olympiad.

Love science

Ms. Mai Thuy Ha, Lam's mother, shared that since childhood, her son has shown interest and love for natural subjects. He often asked questions for his parents to answer or curiously learned knowledge in books about constellations, planets and the sky. After primary school, Lam began to read Physics, Chemistry, and Biology books borrowed from his middle school siblings and was very interested in Physics.

After finishing junior high school, Lam passed the entrance exam to the Physics specialized class of the prestigious Hanoi Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. Studying at the high school for the gifted, under the guidance of highly qualified and dedicated teachers, Lam "like a fish in water", surpassed about 200 candidates from all over Hanoi to become a member of the International Youth Science Olympiad team.

Along with other contestants, Tung Lam was trained and educated by teachers for 2 more months before going to Romania to compete. During the training process, teachers created conditions for the team to practice in modern labs of prestigious universities in Hanoi to ensure the practice part.

The “Silver” boy shared that during the exam preparation process, there were nights when he had to stay up late until 2-3 am to study and research documents. To relieve stress, outside of studying time, he often played badminton . This is a sport that does not take too much time to prepare and can be played anytime, anywhere.

6 Vietnamese students attending IJSO 2024 in the Republic of Romania with team leaders.

According to Mr. Pham Quoc Toan, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, in the International Junior Science Olympiad, candidates must take the Natural Science exam in 3 subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology. Each subject has 3 tests including: objective test; theory test; practical test.

The exam, developed by the IJSO World Academic Committee, is open and requires candidates to fully develop their individual abilities as well as teamwork abilities, while the exam has high practical application.

"For example, the Chemistry exam had questions about water pollution caused by metal ore mining, and about the applications and exploitation of halide ore from the Carpathian Mountains. Interestingly, the mineral Sylvinite is named after the famous Transylvania region of Romania. The Biology exam mentioned the conservation of wildlife, namely bears," said Mr. Toan.

(Source: tienphong.vn)

Link: https://tienphong.vn/hanh-trinh-den-voi-huy-chuong-bac-olympic-khoa-hoc-tre-quoc-te-cua-cau-hoc-tro-15-tuoi-post1700964.tpo

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/hanh-trinh-den-voi-huy-chuong-bac-olympic-quoc-te-cua-cau-hoc-tro-15-tuoi-ar913844.html