10th grade male student from village school won first prize in Hanoi 12th grade excellent student competition

Coming from a school in the suburbs of Hanoi, Ho Nhat Hao not only "skipped" the excellent student exam which was reserved for grade 12 students but was also the only grade 10 student to win first prize in Information Technology.

Twice "level up" with impressive results

In 2025, among 142 first prizes in the Hanoi city-level 12th grade cultural subject excellent student contest, there were 3 10th grade students who "skipped the level" and achieved impressive results. Among them, Ho Nhat Hao (class 10A2 of Quoc Oai High School) was the only 10th grade candidate from a suburban public school to win first prize in Information Technology.

Sharing with VietNamNet reporter, Nhat Hao said he was very happy and surprised because he did not think he could do so well. "After the exam, I thought my work was okay but I did not expect to win first prize in the city-level excellent student exam," the male student shared.

Hao soon showed his ability and was selected for the school's city-level excellent student selection team because the teachers knew he had previously taken "advance grade" exams.

Coming from a school in the suburbs of Hanoi, Ho Nhat Hao not only "skipped" the excellent student exam which was reserved for grade 12 students but was also the only grade 10 student to win first prize in the IT subject. Photo: NVCC

In 6th grade, Hao became familiar with computers. By 7th grade, realizing his interest in programming, Hao studied more deeply about Computer Science.

That same year, Hao participated in the district-level 9th ​​grade excellent student competition and won third prize in Information Technology. In 8th grade, he won first prize at the district level and second prize at the city level. In 9th grade, Hao won first prize again in the city-level excellent student competition.

Regarding learning methods, the male student said that he has no special secrets compared to his peers.

For IT, according to Hao, you need to do a lot of exercises and read more theory. Every day, Hao prioritizes spending about 2-3 hours studying IT; the remaining time is for other subjects.

“For IT, I do a lot of different types of tests and read more knowledge online. While doing a test, if I encounter new knowledge, I will read it back and supplement it, practice that knowledge many times. That way, I know where I am lacking. One of the sites I often visit to find more knowledge is VNOI Wiki,...”, Hao shared.

The male student also has a very good ability to learn Math, as evidenced in the 10th grade entrance exam, he scored 9.75 points. “In terms of thinking, Math has similarities with IT. But I have more passion for IT. The knowledge and thinking in Math helps me a lot in the process of learning IT”, Hao shared and said that in IT, there is a lot of new knowledge that is not in the textbook. That allows him to be creative.

Many times felt discouraged but never gave up

With Computer Science, every time he solves a problem, Hao feels happy.

“In this subject, there are many lessons that seem difficult at first, so it’s easy to get discouraged, but the more you solve them, the more interesting they become, satisfying your curiosity. In fact, I’ve had times when I felt discouraged because the knowledge was too difficult to understand, but I’ve never given up,” Hao said.

Whenever he encountered difficulties, Hao often went online to search for relevant documents or videos explaining the group of knowledge he wanted to learn. Then, he just practiced a lot.

“It once took me a whole day just to find a direction and solve a problem. The key to doing well in IT is to be persistent and never give up. When I can’t solve a problem myself, I will ask for help from my teachers,” Hao shared.

The male student is said to have good academic ability but is very modest and always serious about his studies. Photo: NVCC.

Ms. Phung Thi Nhu Quynh, the homeroom teacher and also the Math teacher of class 10A2, said she was very happy with her student's results, because this "level-skipping" assessment was more difficult than the previous one at the middle school level that she had experienced.

Ms. Quynh commented that Hao has a very good academic ability and is always humble and willing to support his classmates. "Hao has a very quick mind; every time I give him math problems, he quickly comes up with many ways to solve them. Being good at math, applying it to computer science is an advantage for him. In class, Hao is always a very good student, serious in his studies, mature and sociable in everything," said Ms. Quynh.

Sharing his plans for the future, Hao said he will still focus on studying to complete his high school program. He set a goal and also hopes that in grade 11 he can be on the Hanoi team to compete in the national excellent student competition.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nam-sinh-lop-10-truong-lang-gianh-giai-nhat-thi-hoc-sinh-gioi-lop-12-ha-noi-2453167.html