Male student was unfairly deducted points in the Olympia final and the unexpected turning point

Bui Anh Duc (former student of Son La High School for the Gifted, Son La province) was once known not only as one of the four contestants participating in the final round of Road to Olympia in 2022 but also as the contestant who caused the Organizing Committee to announce a correction about the error in not recognizing the correct answer.

Specifically, in the 2022 final, in the Finishing round, Bui Anh Duc won the right to answer contestant Vu Nguyen Son's English question, giving the answer "Bond". The answer the program gave at that time was "Brotherhood". Right at the time of the live broadcast, the program did not accept Bui Anh Duc's answer and deducted 15 points from this contestant.

However, after the show ended, the Organizing Committee said that they had checked with the English advisor and the advisor accepted Bui Anh Duc's answer as "Bond". "Bui Anh Duc's answer is completely correct" - the program's correction announcement stated and apologized to the audience.

bui anh duc 4 1136.jpg — Bui Anh Duc (from Son La) participated in the final round of the 22nd year of Road to Olympia and is currently the valedictorian of the German Language major at Hanoi University.

The first male student to bring the year's final television bridge back to Son La province also made an impression throughout the competitions and in the final match with his comfortable, confident but equally decisive playing style. His cheerful, carefree, optimistic spirit with a smile always on his lips is a plus point, making him loved by many people.

Perhaps people would love this guy more if they knew that to come to the competition that year, behind Duc was a particularly difficult family situation when both parents had serious illnesses (father had kidney failure, mother also had a cell tumor, health declined after 2 major surgeries).

At the end of 2023, I happened to meet Anh Duc again at a program honoring valedictorians in Hanoi. This time, Duc told me 2 good news.

The first good news is that in the 2023 university admission season, Duc became the valedictorian of the German Language Department - Hanoi University by direct admission (third prize for national excellent students). This result also helped him get a scholarship from the school.

However, I was somewhat surprised by this choice. Because usually, good students, who make it to the final round of Olympia, often choose hot majors. The surprise is also because, even though he chose to study languages, Duc has won many awards in English (First prize in English at the provincial level in the 2022-2023 school year; Encouragement prize in English at the national level in the 2022-2023 school year; Third prize in English at the national level in the 2021-2022 school year).

Duc shared that this was not a “misstep” or “accident” during the university admissions season. Because German Language was the major he chose from the beginning, and had set a priority for himself.

“I feel that the English Language market is gradually becoming saturated. I also wanted a new challenge for myself, so I decided to study German even though I had never known or studied German before,” Duc shared about a completely new field of study for himself.

However, to make this decision, Duc shared that it took a long time to consider. “Because even when choosing a language to study, I was hesitant between choosing the Asian group (like Japanese, Korean, Chinese) or the Western group (like German, Italian, Spanish,...). It took me 2 months to consider my choice. I did some research and thought that the prospects of the German Language major were quite promising, either in the field of translation, interpretation or pedagogy,” Duc said.

The second good news that Duc showed off was that after a period of treatment, his father's health has improved and he can now go home, instead of having to go to the hospital in Hanoi every 1-3 months for check-ups and to buy medicine like before.

My mother also took on a part-time job at home in addition to her job as a middle school teacher to make ends meet. “Although my father is better, he can only do light work and cannot return to making honey like before. But now, instead of treatment, he only needs regular check-ups, one less worry is already a joy for me.”

z5111267745583 16828917ecc7a2cc5fbe4ab17432f5d6.jpg — Bui Anh Duc and his friends took a souvenir photo at the National Assembly Building during a program to honor and award scholarships to new valedictorians of universities and academies nationwide who are in difficult circumstances.

After more than a year since the Olympia finals, now the Son La student has not only become a student but also looks stronger. Duc shared that losing weight is not only a personal goal, but also partly because of student life, he has to get used to living independently and tighten his spending to make ends meet.

“Student life is completely different from high school. Studying by credits, I no longer have a fixed schedule. I have more free time, but I use it to review German,” the male student shared.

A poor student far from home, Duc rented a room with a classmate, getting used to living independently, going to the market, and cooking. On days when he was busy with school, he ate at school, and when he wasn't in school, the students cooked together.

“The biggest challenge for me is probably managing my expenses. Because right now, I am covering my studies and living expenses thanks to the school's scholarship for valedictorians and the bonus I received from the Olympia competition,” Duc confided.

Duc shared that student life has many challenges but is also full of fun. He is currently the class monitor of class 4D-23. With a completely new field of study, Duc said he also encountered many difficulties.

“My concept is that every language has its own difficulties, so there is no other way but to try. After a semester, I feel that I have not reached the top but it is not as bad as I initially worried. The most important thing is that up to this point, I still feel very interested in my major,” Duc shared.

z5111266390426 3cd76f1fe28a28019eb8f1ded55a4ca1.jpg — Bui Anh Duc - the first student to bring the television broadcast of the final match of the Road to Olympia to Son La province - is now a first-year student majoring in German Language at Hanoi University.

Duc shared that this Tet holiday, he will try to help his parents with housework, then reward himself with a day off on the 30th and 1st of Tet; on the 2nd, he will officially start writing and dive into learning German. “People often say that with German, at level A, you can “bully” it, but from level B and above, it will turn around and “bully” you. My weakness is that I am very slow to change between rest and work mode. That is why I have to prepare in advance to be proactive and not overwhelmed when the routine returns after Tet,” Duc humorously said.

Talking about his plans for the near future, Duc said that his immediate task is to focus on studying well in the first two years of university before choosing a major. Duc hopes that by the end of the first year, he can complete the B1 level of German well.

“Financial issues are always a concern for me and my family, so I always tell myself to try hard and hope to get a scholarship every semester to cover my living expenses and ease the burden on my parents,” Duc said.

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