Nguyen La Vi Na (born in 2007), a student of class 11A1, Nghe An Province Boarding High School for Ethnic Minorities, is a Dan Lai ethnic minority. This is one of the very few ethnic groups, mainly distributed in Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district ( Nghe An ).
Vina with her homeroom teacher Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh.
In the past, the ethnic people lived isolated from the outside world . They mainly lived in the core area of Pu Mat National Park (Con Cuong district), bordering Vietnam - Laos. The fear of enemies haunted their sleep, forcing them to choose to sleep sitting up so that they could get up and run away at any time they sensed danger.
Living in the forest, hunting animals, and fishing in the river, poverty surrounded them. In addition, incestuous marriages lasted for many years, putting the Dan Lai people at risk of extinction. Later, thanks to government policies, the Dan Lai people were able to move to more favorable resettlement areas.
However, compared to other ethnic groups, Dan Lai students still face many difficulties and disadvantages. Therefore, the fact that Nguyen La Vi Na won a Silver Medal at the TIMO International Mathematics Olympiad has created a miracle.
Portrait of strong-willed female student Nguyen La Vi Na.
Sharing about her special name, this female student said that it was a combination of her father's surname Nguyen, her mother's surname La and her grandmother's surname Vi. Although living in a difficult place, Vi Na has always been encouraged and given favorable conditions for her studies by her family since she was a child. In her subjects, she is especially interested in numbers in Math. In grades 4 and 9, Vi Na was an excellent student in the district for this subject.
“During my studies in my hometown, many of my classmates dropped out to stay home and work. But I always thought that only studying would give me a better future. I wanted to prove to everyone that ethnic minority students can also study well,” Vi Na confided.
In her final year of secondary school, she decided to register for the exam and got a place at Nghe An Province's Ethnic Boarding High School. Having been in grade 10 for less than a month, Na was discussed by her homeroom teacher Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh about the TIMO International Mathematical Olympiad (Thailand International Mathematical Olympiad). This is a useful intellectual playground for students who love and are passionate about Mathematics to stimulate and nurture the love of Mathematics among young people, enhance students' creative thinking ability, and expand international cultural exchange relationships.
Given the opportunity by her teacher, despite her limited English, female student Dan Lai still decided to grasp it. With an average foreign language foundation and a score of only 5 points on the high school entrance exam, Vi Na clearly understood that she had to make more efforts. Therefore, in addition to class hours, she studied foreign languages on her own to prepare for the exam. At the same time, Vi Na also had to "plow" through more knowledge of Math.
Vi Na is the first female student from Dan Lai to win an international award.
“The exam questions in this competition are quite difficult because the knowledge must be a synthesis of all 3 years of high school, while the students are only in grade 10. Therefore, in addition to focusing on reviewing basic knowledge of Mathematics from all 3 years, teachers and students also supplement their English knowledge. At the end of December 2022, the students will take the National exam and in early April 2023, the International final round will be held in Thailand. This is the 9th exam held in the world and the 4th in Vietnam. The team of Nghe An Ethnic Minority High School is the only representative of the province to participate in this exam,” said Ms. Thuy Linh.
Because they only had about 5 months to review, Vi Na and her teammates spent days reviewing Math and English at the same time. The late nights spent reviewing helped female student Dan Lai grasp the knowledge better.
The day the shy and timid student “brought the bell to strike a foreign land” and excellently won the Silver Medal made the school and family happy. Recalling that moment, Vi Na was moved: “When I received the results, I still couldn’t believe it. I wanted to dedicate this achievement to my teacher, the school and the villagers”. This was also the first international achievement of a Dan Lai student. Her achievement is an example for her peers to follow and strive for.
When asked about her dream, female student Nguyen La Vi Na shared her desire to become a teacher to teach children in the village, so that her hometown can develop more and more.
Article and photos: Thao Nguyen
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