Although he was only a fair student in high school, Thai Trong set a goal of becoming valedictorian as soon as he entered the Air Defense - Air Force Academy.
Duong Van Thai Trong, 24 years old, born and raised in Krong Nang district, Dak Lak province, was honored by Hanoi city as the valedictorian of the excellent graduation on the evening of October 10. The male student graduated from the Aviation Engineering major of the Air Defense - Air Force Academy with an average score of 8.27/10 and good training results.
"I am very honored and proud to achieve this result. This has been my goal since my first year of studying and training at the Air Defense - Air Force Academy," said Thai Trong.
Duong Van Thai Trong. Photo: Character provided
Born in the Central Highlands, conditions for studying and accessing science , engineering and technology were difficult, but since childhood, Trong liked to explore things related to engineering.
Trong remembers that even when he was not yet able to hold a wrench or screwdriver firmly, he was already playing around, taking apart toys or electronic devices in the house. However, throughout high school, his academic results were always only average, and Trong had not yet decided which major to pursue related to his interests.
It was not until the stage of choosing a major and school in grade 12 that Trong seriously thought about it.
"Questions like What do I want to become and What do I live for haunted me every day. Then I suddenly thought of my childhood passion and decided to enroll in the Aeronautical Engineering major at the Air Defense - Air Force Academy, along with some wishes to enter Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology," Trong recalled.
Having determined his goal, in the last 4 months of grade 12, Trong threw himself into studying, sometimes sleeping only 3 hours a day. As a result, Trong was admitted to the Air Defense - Air Force Academy in 2017 with a combined score of 27 points in Math, Physics, and Chemistry. That year, the standard score for the Aviation Engineering major for male candidates in the South was 23.25.
Entering the new environment, Trong was overwhelmed by the discipline and the formal, elite military training environment, but he quickly adapted. The young man remembered his first year, when he participated in the source building course at the Army Officer School 1, Trong boldly declared "I will graduate as valedictorian" with the other students in the platoon.
When he returned to the academy to study, Trong determined to always learn from people who were better than him, then sought out seniors to ask questions. There were questions that Trong himself considered "stupid" such as "What did you do to become a competitive soldier?", "Is it difficult to do a research topic?".
From there, Trong built his own plan to accumulate knowledge and achievements. Before each school year, Trong had a list of things to do, from easy to difficult, and carried them out one by one.
"Many things are very difficult, but I always think everything can be done. If others can do it, I must be able to do it. Even if I don't achieve it, I'm happy because I tried my best," Trong said.
In studying, Trong concentrates highly on absorbing knowledge from lecturers, prioritizing content that is not included in the curriculum. When returning to the unit, Trong summarizes his understanding in the form of a mind map, then focuses on connecting and remembering important knowledge. When practicing, Trong takes advantage of every moment to concretize the knowledge he has learned onto equipment.
Whenever he encounters a problem that needs to be solved, the first thing Trong does is sit down, calm down, and write the problem down on paper.
"Recognizing the problem is 50% of the problem solved," Trong shared.
Thai Trong was honored by the Ministry of National Defense as "Valedictorian" of the Air Defense - Air Force Academy in 2023. Photo: Provided by the character
With this learning method, Trong smoothly passed all subjects in class. The Dak Lak boy Trong spent more time on scientific research and had 4 research topics achieving excellent results at the academy level. Among them, the topic "Research on design of simulation model of power supply system on Su-30MK2 aircraft" was used by the Department of Aviation Equipment in teaching the subject of Power Supply System.
According to Trong, scientific research brings him many emotions. When doing his graduation project "Research and design of vertical take-off and landing aircraft", many times, the aircraft Trong designed crashed and broke, leading to a waste of time, effort, materials and components.
"The moment the device successfully flew over the academy's sky was the happiest moment I've ever had," Trong said.
In addition, Trong also participated in the Math Olympic team of the Air Defense - Air Force Academy and was often on the academy's basketball team to exchange and compete.
Trong has continuously achieved the title of Emulation Fighter at the grassroots level for 5 years, once as Emulation Fighter of the whole army, Outstanding Young Face of the Army, received two certificates of merit from the Minister of National Defense and three certificates of merit for party members who have excellently completed their tasks.
Currently, Lieutenant Duong Van Thai Trong works at Regiment 935, Division 370 with Su-30MK2 aircraft.
"I hope to become an excellent aeronautical engineer, serving and contributing long-term to the Air Force in particular and the Vietnam People's Army in general," Trong said.
Vnexpress.net
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