Nguyen Thu Binh, a 12th grade English 1 student at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, recently received news that she was accepted to Hamilton College, a school in the top 16 best liberal arts universities in the United States. Hamilton College awarded Binh a scholarship of about 6.2 billion VND for 4 years of study. This is the result Binh has always expected, because the dream of studying abroad has been cherished by her since primary school. At the age of 3, Binh followed her parents to Australia to study for a doctorate. At this time, her grandfather also went with her to help her take care of her grandchildren. During more than 5 years living in Australia, Binh was taught by his grandfather to speak her mother tongue, study Math and Vietnamese according to the Vietnamese program. Thanks to that, when she returned, Binh did not feel disappointed and quickly caught up with her classmates. "But since returning to Vietnam, I always remember my home in Australia. That aroused in me the desire to study abroad," Binh said. The time studying abroad also helped Binh improve his foreign language skills. Thanks to that, when he returned, Binh continuously achieved many achievements and awards in English. Being admitted directly to Cau Giay Secondary School, Binh then took the exam and won the second prize in the city-level excellent student competition in grade 9. He also passed the entrance exam to 3 specialized schools in Hanoi including Foreign Language Specialized High School, Hanoi National University of Education Specialized High School, and Hanoi - Amsterdam Specialized High School. Despite many concerns, Binh decided to choose Ams because he thought "this is a dynamic, vibrant environment with many activities and clubs, creating a premise for me to apply for studying abroad".

Nguyen Thu Binh, 12th grade English 1 student, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted

Having a passion and spending a lot of time learning English, Binh participated in the national excellent student competition since grade 11 and won second prize. However, it was not until June this year that the female student took part in the certificate and standardized test. With the IELTS certificate, Binh said that her review has many advantages. Having a love of reading stories in English, when she was in Australia, Binh was fascinated by Harry Potter, The Hunger Games or classic stories like Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers. This helped Binh have a solid vocabulary and know many idioms. "In the Reading section of the IELTS test, I got a high score probably because I read a lot of stories," Binh said. Meanwhile, the Listening and Speaking sections are also an advantage for Binh because she studies in an English-specialized class, most of her friends often talk to each other in this language. Therefore, the female student also practices every day in class. When she comes home, Binh also often talks to her parents in English. Of the four skills, Binh considers the Writing section the most difficult. “I often practice this skill by writing stories. In my free time, I often write short stories and post them on several story writing websites.” Up to now, Binh has completed 15 works with a total of about 90,000 words. After a period of preparation, the Ams student achieved a 9.0 IELTS and a 1560 SAT on her first attempt, just in time for the application submission period in November. Determined to study Psychology, most of the activities Thu Binh participates in are related to this field. One of the projects that Binh is passionate about is Tiny Wrist, a project to introduce Vietnamese culture to children and overseas Vietnamese. Binh said that when he was living in Australia, he did not have many opportunities to be exposed to Vietnamese culture. Therefore, through the project, he hopes to spread Vietnamese culture so that children living abroad can better understand their roots and homeland. In addition, Binh is also a member of the Content Committee of the Teen Wellness project, related to mental health for young people in Hanoi. Binh's group has organized a number of workshops, inviting psychological experts to share, talk, and advise young people who are facing difficulties to relieve their personal psychological problems. In her essay, Thu Binh also focuses on this passion. Binh said that since she was a child, she has always liked to observe, listen, talk, advise, and help people psychologically. But at the beginning of high school, some of my friends showed signs of depression, even thinking about suicide, but I couldn't help them because I didn't know how to approach and advise them. From then on, Binh wanted to delve deeper into this field. In 11th grade, I started to look for more information online and joined some psychology clubs. Thanks to that, Binh gradually understood more and helped some close friends overcome their psychological problems. These stories helped me feel more confident and confident in the path I chose. Always having a unique personality and showing a passion throughout my application, according to Binh, was an important factor that helped American schools choose me. One of the things that Binh regrets the most during her journey of applying to study abroad in the US is not starting to prepare early, even though she had intended to study abroad for a long time. “It was not until the end of grade 11 that I started to prepare my application. Because I had to prepare in a hurry, I no longer had time to do the things I like, such as writing stories or playing the piano. That is something I regret.” Before that, Thu Binh did these things every day. The female student also passed 8 levels of the British Royal Society of Music (ABRSM) certificate. Binh is still more than half a year away from leaving for the US. During this time, in addition to preparing for the high school graduation exam, Binh plans to focus on writing stories, playing the piano and learning martial arts. Although she decided not to officially study at an art school, Binh still wants to pursue piano to satisfy her passion.

Vietnamnet.vn

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