If it weren't for the strictness of his teachers, perhaps Vu Quang Nam (born in 2003) would be working as a factory worker or selling pho for hire somewhere now.
“My future is created by me”, that thought pulled Nam back to the path of studying, step by step passing the high school entrance exam, entering university and graduating early from Hanoi University of Science and Technology with the highest score – 3.96/4.0.
Vu Quang Nam, a student majoring in Computer Engineering at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Photo: NVCC
Born in Dong Son commune ( Nam Dinh ), a famous place for making pho, Quang Nam said that many of his friends had to stay home with their grandparents while their parents went to work far away. Like his friends, Nam's father also spent time away from home selling pho for hire. His mother, who was a kindergarten teacher, decided to quit her job because of the low salary and go to Hanoi to collect scrap metal.
Overcome the past of often neglecting studies and gathering to fight
When Nam was 3 years old, his father unfortunately had an accident and had to go to the hospital for treatment every month. The economic burden therefore fell on his mother's shoulders.
Living far away from his parents, with no one to supervise him, during his junior high school years, Nam was naughty, often neglecting his studies to hang out, play video games, and even fight. Many times, his friends had conflicts with their families and were bored with studying, so they invited Nam to go to Hanoi to work to earn money to buy new phones and motorbikes.
Luckily, when he entered grade 9, Dong Son commune decided to merge 3 middle schools, and Nam was transferred to the central school. Studying with new friends, Nam gradually distanced himself from his previous friends who had neglected their studies.
Also at the new school, the teachers were stricter, forcing Nam and his friends to study day and night. “I was lucky to be able to study in that environment. If I had continued to be naughty and skip school like before, I would definitely not have been able to pass the high school entrance exam,” Nam recalled.
Thanks to the constant encouragement of teachers and his good learning ability, Nam gradually recovered and passed the entrance exam as valedictorian of a public high school in 2018.
In high school, Nam enrolled in the school’s natural science elective class, where he studied with the best teachers, which fueled his passion for learning. In particular, according to Nam, his Physics teacher was the one who “activated” his ability to explore and be creative.
“She often shares great knowledge on Physics forums in Vietnam and the world. Thanks to her support, I achieved the highest score in Physics in the provincial excellent student exam,” Nam recalled.
Nam and his family on his sister's graduation day, who is 1 year older than him. Photo: NVCC
However, another motivation that urged Nam to study hard was his mother. Nam recalled that because his mother often worked far away, they did not have much time to talk to each other, so he did not fully understand her difficult life.
The urge to rise from the image of a hard-working mother
But in the summer of 10th grade, when I went to Hanoi to work part-time and lived with my mother in an old, damp rented room of only 6 square meters, I finally understood what my mother had gone through.
“My mother didn’t just collect scrap metal. There were days when she also cleaned the house and washed dishes for hire. She would take on any job that paid well. At that time, I thought I had to study to repay my mother’s kindness,” Nam recalled.
In 2021, Nam took the university entrance exam and scored 28 points, passing the Computer Engineering major at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. After finishing the exam, the first thing Nam did was apply to work at a garment factory as a worker, thereby having more money to cover expenses.
Having gone through a period of “falling”, Nam was determined to study hard when entering university. Consulting with his seniors, Nam knew that the general subjects in the first year were often difficult, and it was easy to fail, so whenever he had free time, the male student would wander around forums to find “10 point” questions in Math.
Not waiting until the last minute, Nam always took the initiative to review early before each exam. Thanks to that, at the end of his first year, Nam achieved a score of 10 in Analysis - a rare score at Polytechnic.
In order not to be a burden to his mother, when he first entered university, Nam applied to be a Physics tutor. One week, the male student took the opportunity to teach 3 students with a tuition fee of 200,000 VND/session. In addition, Nam still tried to maintain good academic performance in class. But because of studying and working continuously, at that time, Nam's body was seriously weakened. "At that time, I determined that my most important goal was still studying. After 2 months, I reduced the frequency of teaching and spent most of my time studying," Nam recalled.
Thanks to that, in the first semester, Nam achieved a perfect GPA of 4.0 and won a scholarship of 150% of the tuition fee. "That's when I realized that studying well can also make money. I tried my best to study with the goal of getting a scholarship every semester."
Nam is always proud of his mother - the woman who collects scrap metal to raise her children. Photo: NVCC
At the end of his first year, Nam maintained a 4.0 GPA and began to think about graduating early with honors. With a clear goal, Nam made friends with many good friends, and from there, he created a study group to exchange lessons.
“If I had studied alone, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to go this far. Thanks to the help of my friends, we all got good grades in all subjects,” Nam said, adding that many of his friends call him “Say Why Brother” because he often wonders and asks many questions to teachers and friends.
Thanks to this method and his diligence and in-depth study of lessons, Nam won scholarships every semester and became the person with the highest score in the early graduation this year of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
Before graduating, Nam also had the opportunity to intern at a large corporation's AI engineering training program for a year. Here, Nam received an attractive internship salary, was trained by experts, and continuously updated his basic knowledge of AI.
"I hope this will be a premise for me to accumulate experience and continue pursuing new directions in the future," Nam shared.
To get to where he is today, Nam said he is grateful to his family, especially his mother. “My mother’s hard work for the family has become the motivation for me to constantly try. Without my mother, I certainly would not be able to become who I am today,” Nam said emotionally.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/me-nhat-ve-chai-20-nam-nuoi-con-tot-nghiep-xuat-sac-dai-hoc-bach-khoa-ha-noi-2396844.html
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