The secret to studying well of the "golden boy" of the 2025 Student Math Olympiad

At the 2025 National Student Mathematics Olympiad , Tran Van Khanh , a student at the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, was the only contestant out of 650 students from 90 universities to achieve a perfect score of 30/30 in Analysis, winning the Gold Medal and becoming the valedictorian of this subject in Group B. In addition, he also won the Gold Medal in Algebra with 24.5/30 points, ranking second in Group B.

With this achievement, Khanh became one of the most prominent faces of the 2025 National Student Mathematics Olympiad.

Tran Van Khanh won a "double" Gold Medal and was the only candidate out of 650 students from 90 universities to achieve a perfect score of 30/30 in the Calculus subject of the 2025 National Student Math Olympiad. Photo: Mai Loan.

Being good at Math brings many advantages

"I feel very lucky. This result is really beyond my expectations," Khanh expressed her joy when talking to Knowledge and Life reporters at the Closing and Award Ceremony of the 2025 National Mathematics Olympiad for Students.

Khanh shared that this was the second time he participated in a large intellectual playground that gathered many mathematical talents from all over the country. At first, he felt "overwhelmed" when surrounded by many talented friends, making him both admire and worry. However, this competitive environment and opportunity to rub shoulders was a great motivation to help Khanh achieve better results, especially in Analysis. In 2024, Khanh won a Bronze Medal in this subject, but this year, not only did he "change the color" of the medal, Khanh also excellently achieved an absolute score of 30/30.

Commenting on this year's exam, Tran Van Khanh said that the exam differentiated well. The first three questions emphasized carefulness, for most candidates. The last two questions really required deeper thinking, creating a clear differentiation. "The exam helped me develop a passion for Math, and at the same time, improve my math knowledge, which is helpful for the Information Technology major I am studying," Khanh shared.

Tran Van Khanh said that studying Math well brings him a lot of experiences during his studies. He sees that Math plays a very important role in his field of study. "I study Information Technology, and Math is obviously one of the important pillars to be able to develop well in the industry." According to Khanh, studying Math well brings many advantages: "First of all, Math trains me to think logically and scientifically, helping me to organize my work better. Second, Math is the foundation of most science subjects today. Understanding the nature of Math helps me understand the core of my field and find ways to develop further."

From his experiences at the exam and the seminar, Khanh concluded: "No matter what field of science, Math plays a very important foundational role. If you are good at Math, you can easily develop in many fields you like," Khanh shared.

90% of success comes from hard work

Tran Van Khanh was a former student majoring in Mathematics at Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted. In 2023, he won third prize in Mathematics in the national excellent student competition and was directly admitted to the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT), majoring in Information Technology.

Tran Van Khanh and students with outstanding achievements were honored at the 2025 National Student Math Olympiad. Photo: Organizing Committee.

When asked about the "secret" to being good at Math, the golden boy of the 2025 Student Math Olympiad surprisingly shared that there is no special secret. "I think 90% of success comes from hard work, practice and 10% is thinking. I don't have any special secret. I believe that if anyone can arrange their work and study time reasonably, they can do well in Math," Khanh said.

Khanh said that he often studies in small topics, trying to grasp the essence before doing exercises. He has a habit of rewriting the solution to a problem in his own words, or trying to find a different way to get the same result. Khanh also often reads additional articles, stories about the history of Mathematics, or watches lectures on YouTube by foreign professors to maintain his love for Mathematics.

According to Khanh, Mathematics is not for those who seek shortcuts. It requires patience, meticulousness and a little courage to get to the bottom of the problem. “At that time, Mathematics will give you a very different view of the world, clear, logical and inspiring,” Khanh said.

Good knowledge, always trying to learn

Talking to Knowledge and Life , Dr. Le Van Ngoc, Head of Mathematics Department, Faculty of Basic Sciences 1, Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology expressed his pride and shared about the outstanding achievements of student Tran Van Khanh at the 2025 National Math Olympiad for Students and Pupils.

Dr. Le Van Ngoc, Head of Mathematics Department, Faculty of Basic Sciences 1, Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology. Photo: Mai Loan.

"We are extremely happy and proud that Tran Van Khanh has won Gold Medals in both Algebra and Analysis. This is a very impressive result, demonstrating his outstanding ability," Dr. Ngoc shared.

Notably, Khanh is the only student in this year's exam to achieve a perfect score of 30/30 in Analysis. This result, according to teacher Ngoc, shows his mastery of knowledge and sharp mathematical thinking.

As the person who directly taught and trained Khanh in the Academy's Calculus Olympic team, Dr. Le Van Ngoc shared that Khanh is a very calm student, has a solid foundation of knowledge and always strives to learn from teachers and friends. His knowledge of Mathematics is constantly improving and becoming more and more profound.

This achievement is not only a testament to Tran Van Khanh's talent and tireless efforts, but also brings glory to him personally, to the team and to the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology.

"This will be a solid foundation for Khanh to continue developing on the path of learning and scientific research in the future, especially in fields requiring high mathematical thinking such as Information Technology, Information Security or Artificial Intelligence that the Academy is focusing on training," Mr. Ngoc affirmed.

The 31st National Mathematics Olympiad for Students was co-sponsored by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations. In the university sector, this year there were 90 delegations with 649 students participating in the exam, with a total of 749 exams in Algebra and Analysis. The Organizing Committee awarded prizes to 6 students with outstanding achievements, including 4 students who were both valedictorians of one subject and won 2 First Prizes. The remaining students were valedictorians and one student won a double First Prize.