Male student refuses to study at specialized school, leads Vietnam delegation at Science Olympia

(Dan Tri) - Although admitted to many specialized schools at the same time, Hoang Pham Minh Khanh (Newton Secondary - High School) decided not to pursue specialized studies. However, he won the highest prize of the Vietnamese delegation at the Science Olympiad.

Hoang Pham Minh Khanh, a 10G0 student at Newton Secondary and High School, is one of six Vietnamese students who have just won medals at the International Junior Science Olympiad. This is also the first time in 12 years that Vietnam has participated in the competition that a student from a "non-specialized" school has been on the official team. "Although I'm a bit regretful because the practical part of the competition did not meet my expectations, I'm also very happy with this result," Minh Khanh shared after winning the silver medal - also the highest achievement of the entire Vietnamese delegation. "Hunter" of awards and medals Minh Khanh has been known as a "hunter" of awards since he was a student at Hoang Mai Secondary School. Ms. Pham Minh, Minh Khanh's mother, said that when he was nearly 2 years old, the boy showed early signs of being quick with numbers. "At that time, he already knew how to count and recognize letters. This also surprised me," Ms. Minh recalled. The boy is curious and often asks his mother questions about the world around him. When faced with difficult questions from his son, sometimes Ms. Minh is "given up" and has to ask for help from Google.

Minh Khanh is a "prize hunter" of Newton Inter-level School (Photo: NVCC).

Her child has developed remarkably, however, she did not put too much expectation and pressure on her child. In primary school, Minh Khanh was still allowed by her mother to study at the "village school". During that time, the male student admitted that he studied quite lightly and without much pressure. "I did not go to extra classes anywhere. After finishing school, I put my school bag on the table, and went to the cultural house yard to play basketball until late at night before returning home," Khanh said. In secondary school, Minh Khanh studied at Hoang Mai Secondary School. In 8th grade, the knowledge started to become more difficult, Ms. Minh researched and let her child try some online classes in physics and chemistry. Her wish at that time was just to help her child improve his knowledge and to make studying at school less difficult. But Minh Khanh learned very quickly, even finishing the 8th grade program in a short time and asked his mother to let him continue studying the 9th grade program. Every time he learned something new, Khanh was very satisfied and studied passionately. Thanks to that, he gradually formed his interests and inclinations towards math and natural sciences. Seeing that his student was outstanding in chemistry, when Khanh was in 8th grade, Ms. Chu Thi Xuan Huong, Principal of Hoang Mai Secondary School, proposed that the student compete in the city-level excellent student competition with his 9th grade classmates. That year, Khanh won third prize. He was also the first student in Hoang Mai district to participate in the "skipping grade" competition and win a prize. In 9th grade, the male student continued to win 2 second prizes in math and science at the city level.

Minh Khanh, third from left, takes a photo with the international delegation (Photo: NVCC).

In 2021, Khanh participated and won a number of awards when competing in a number of competitions such as: Gold medal in the American International Mathematical Olympiad (AMO), Gold medal in the International Science and Astronomy Olympiad (CISO), Gold medal and runner-up cup in the International Science Olympiad (HKISO)... Not choosing a specialized school In grade 10, Minh Khanh decided to try the specialized exam and passed the specialized math and chemistry classes of the High School for the Gifted in Natural Sciences and the specialized math and physics classes of the Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. Among many good choices, Minh Khanh finally made the surprising decision not to pursue a specialized study but set the goal of focusing on hunting for scholarships to study abroad. "I didn't hesitate too much because in fact, I had an early orientation and a desire to study AI and automation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. I chose a school that suited my orientation and could help me both study specialized subjects and be equipped with the necessary luggage such as SAT, IELTS... to be ready to step out into the world," Minh Khanh said.

Minh Khanh took a souvenir photo with the principal of the school he is attending (Photo: NVCC).

During his time in high school, Khanh was a 10th grade student representing 12th graders in Hanoi and won third prize in the city-level math competition. He also represented a "non-specialized" school in the International Youth Science Olympiad held last November. This is a rare achievement for a 15-year-old student. The knowledge of the exam requires comprehensiveness, integrating 3 natural science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology). Candidates will take the exam in English with 3 tests: multiple choice, theory (individual scoring) and practice (team scoring). Therefore, in addition to scientific knowledge and good English proficiency, candidates need to have math knowledge, teamwork ability and many other skills. To be in the top 6 representatives of the contest, the male student had to compete with 180 students who won the first and second prizes for excellent students at the city level in the subjects of math, physics, chemistry, biology and science. "During the exam preparation time, I had the opportunity to practice experiments at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted and Hanoi National University of Education High School for the Gifted. The amount of knowledge in this exam is quite large and spread across many subjects, so it requires serious and high concentration and practice," Khanh said. Going into the exam, the male student said that the practical part was the weakness of Vietnamese students because they did not have much time and facilities to practice continuously. Unable to be as fluent as other students from other countries, the team had no choice but to complete the theoretical part as well as possible. However, all 6 Vietnamese students won medals. According to Khanh, this was also a worthy achievement after many days of hard work by the whole team. Minh Khanh also believes that if you observe carefully, the knowledge in these subjects is directly related to life, so when you dig deeper to find out and explain, learning will be much easier. With that passion, Khanh hopes that in the future he can go to the US, study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to continue explaining the things he is passionate about. Ms. Pham Minh is also happy with the results her son has achieved. According to her, when exposed to natural and scientific subjects, Khanh is very interested because he can explain phenomena in the life around him. "Therefore, he studies because he is passionate about it, not because he is forced to."

Dantri.com.vn