Male student won double first prize in Hanoi's excellent student competition

Hanoi With first prize in Chemistry and Science , Thai Minh is the only student to win these two prizes in the city's excellent student competition.

Nguyen Thai Minh, class 9 Song Bang 1, is also the first student of Cau Giay Secondary School to achieve this achievement.

"I am proud and admire myself," Minh said, adding that his scores in both subjects exceeded his expectations. He received the news of his achievement a week ago.

Previously, because the exam schedules for Chemistry and Science did not overlap, Minh registered for both. Minh assessed that the Chemistry exam in previous years was heavy on calculation, but this year it was more theory-based. He spent 3-5 minutes reading the exam, finding the easiest questions to get points, then doing the difficult questions. As a result, Minh got 17.1/20 points.

In Science, the exam consisted of three subjects: Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. He prioritized getting points in Chemistry and Physics, then tried to do the theory part of Biology. After the exam, the male student was only sure to get about 35-36/60 points, but the result was 43 points, in the first prize bracket.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, the homeroom teacher, Minh was able to achieve this result because he is intelligent and has a very high ability to concentrate.

"He studies effectively without having to 'work hard'", Ms. Huong commented.

Nguyen Thai Minh won double first prizes in Chemistry and Science in the Hanoi City Excellent Student Competition. Photo: Provided by the character — Nguyen Thai Minh, class 9, Dual Language 1, Cau Giay Secondary School, Hanoi. Photo: *Family provided*

Minh's family has oriented him to study abroad since he was young. Minh's mother, Viet Anh, said that they have outlined a long-term roadmap for him to accumulate knowledge in STEM subjects (Science, Engineering, Technology, Mathematics). In elementary school, Minh studied the American general education program (online), and in secondary school followed the Cambridge program (UK) of the Dual Degree system. Therefore, he does not set a goal to participate in domestic or international competitions.

However, in 7th grade, when the school organized some experiential activities in science subjects, inviting experts to guide the experiments, Minh found it interesting. When substances were combined together, they created reactions, sometimes Minh could predict the results, sometimes not. He decided to explore and learn more.

According to Minh, learning natural subjects requires learning from basic to advanced. For the basic part, I studied the Chemistry program for grades 8 and 9 in advance during the summer. Once I was sure of the knowledge, I did advanced books and practiced excellent student questions from previous years. Minh also read Chemistry handbooks, and wrote down any unknown reactions in his notebook to remember.

Selected for the school's Science team, Minh also practiced test questions every week. When teachers corrected his papers, he wrote down how to do them, both to understand the lesson and to learn how to present it.

Minh sometimes feels stressed because he studies for both subjects. Because he excels in Chemistry, he finishes his homework in class. At home, Minh does many Chemistry and Physics test papers, and draws a mind map for Biology to help him remember. He allocates three hours for Chemistry and two hours for the other subjects.

In addition, Minh jogs every day to balance with studying.

"It's important to exercise, don't try to tire your body out, studying won't be effective," Minh said.

The male student said he was aiming for the Chemistry specialized class at the High School for Natural Sciences, Hanoi National University, with the goal of studying for the national excellent student exam in this subject. According to the school's policy, he was eligible for direct admission to grade 10.