The valedictorian likes to give math problems to 'challenge his friends'

Nguyen Hao Thien (middle) in a school activity with friends - Photo: NVCC

Nguyen Hao Thien, a 12E1 student at Le Thanh Tong Primary - Secondary - High School, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City, became the national valedictorian of block A1 (math - physics - English) in the 2024 high school graduation exam with a total score of 29.6 points.

"After finishing the exam, I gave myself 29.6 points but still didn't think I would become valedictorian," Hao Thien shared with Tuoi Tre Online .

Love math, love game programming

Although Thien was surprised, this result was worthy of him. Since childhood, Thien has loved math. Since 7th grade, Thien has loved programming and learned how to program online. Therefore, although his family has a tradition of working in medicine, Thien wants to study computer science so that he can program games in the future, with the hope of contributing to the development of the Vietnamese gaming industry and affirming his name on the world gaming map.

"My parents wanted me to become a dentist, but I found myself best at computers. I had a passion for it, so I applied to Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Faculty of Computer Science, and University of Natural Sciences," Thien said.

Thien also loves English and has an IELTS 8.0 certificate. He also teaches himself English through YouTube and videos online.

"My English vocabulary, especially difficult words, has also increased a lot thanks to learning from videos," Thien said.

Hao Thien said that math is the subject he enjoys the most while studying. "I really like solving math problems. Whenever I have free time, I make up math problems and solve them myself. I also like making up math problems to challenge my friends. It feels great to make up good math problems to challenge my friends. My friends are very responsive and are also a source of inspiration and material for my math problems" - Thien shared.

Valedictorians also have times when they... get low scores.

Hao Thien in an activity with friends and teachers - Photo: NVCC

Hao Thien said that in this year's high school graduation exam, he got 9.8 points in math, the same as his English score.

To get good results in math, Thien studied a lot on his own: "I found many different ways to solve each problem and found it interesting that different ways of solving gave the same result. I found that self-study would help me absorb the lesson and master the situations."

Mr. Dong Van Chien, homeroom teacher of class 12E1 at Le Thanh Tong Primary - Secondary - High School, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City, said: "Nguyen Hao Thien is a polite, well-behaved student and especially has a very high spirit of self-study. He is loved by teachers and friends. I am happy with his result and think he is very deserving."

Hao Thien and his mother on the day he received his certificate of merit at school - Photo: NVCC

According to Mr. Chien, in grade 12, Hao Thien won two prizes in math in Ho Chi Minh City. That was the first prize in the Handheld Calculator Math Competition and the second prize in the Ho Chi Minh City Math Competition with the highest score (there was no first prize in this competition). He also scored more than 960 points in the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam.

Not only that, for many years Hao Thien has won prizes in solving math problems on handheld calculators.

Ms. Nguyen Khoi Hanh, Nguyen Hao Thien's mother, said she was very happy with her son's efforts and achievements.

"There were times when I got low scores. However, my family never scolded me for getting low scores, but only encouraged me. My family also did not force me to pursue a medical career, but let me choose for myself. Maybe thanks to that, my spirit is better and I can do my tests more comfortably," Ms. Hanh shared.

"I would like to thank my teachers, friends and family who have always been by my side during the past few years of study. Teachers gave me knowledge and love; friends encouraged and motivated me to try to be "on par with my peers"; parents and brother gave me encouragement and care," Hao Thien shared.

Quang Nam's top student in graduation exam scored 55.25 points

Candidates taking the 2024 high school graduation exam at the exam site of Nguyen Binh Khiem High School for the Gifted, Tam Ky City - Photo: LE TRUNG

On the morning of July 17, Mr. Thai Viet Tuong - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Quang Nam province - said that the department has just released statistics on the average scores of subjects and exams with a score of 10 in the 2024 high school graduation exam.

Accordingly, the province has a total of 91 exams with a score of 10. Specifically, 17 were in chemistry, 26 in history, 33 in geography, 9 in civics, and 6 in foreign languages.

The top scorer of the exam was female candidate Ngo Bao Chau, Nguyen Khuyen High School (Dien Ban town, Quang Nam) with 55.25 points. Specifically, the scores for the subjects were: math 8.00, literature 9.50, history 9.75, geography 9.75, civics 9.25, English 9.00.

The top candidate of group A00 is Nguyen Van Tinh, Nguyen Binh Khiem High School for the Gifted with a total score of 28.90.

The top scorer in subject group B00 is candidate Doan Ngoc Thinh, Le Thanh Tong High School for the Gifted with 28.60 points.

The top scorers in the C00 subject group are Phan Thi Minh Tuyen, Luong Thuc Ky High School and Ho Thi Thanh Tuyen, Ho Nghinh High School, both with 29.50 points.

In subject group D01, the valedictorian is candidate Le Nguyen Ngoc Han, Ho Nghinh High School with 27.90 points.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chang-thu-khoa-thich-ra-de-toan-do-cac-ban-20240717104133793.htm