Female student won first prize in National Physics Olympiad for students

Thanh Huyen, 20 years old, is the only female student among the nine first-place winners in the problem-solving and experimental sections of this year's National University Physics Olympiad.

Tran Thi Thanh Huyen is currently a third-year student majoring in Physics Education at Hanoi University of Education. A week ago, Huyen and four other students represented their university in this competition at the University of Science , Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

This year's competition attracted over 250 students from 43 universities. Teams had to go through three parts: a multiple-choice test, problem-solving, and an experiment. The problem-solving section was the only individual competition.

"I was so happy to win first prize in this problem-solving section. When the MC said I was the only female student among the nine winners, I was very surprised," Huyen recalled. In addition, she and two other students brought home first prize in the team multiple-choice test for the Teacher Training College.

Tran Thi Thanh Huyen poses for a photo at school after winning first prize in the Student Physics Olympiad. Photo: Provided by the subject .

Huyen, from Dan Phuong district, Hanoi , said that she "came to Physics by chance" after almost losing her foundation in science subjects in 7th grade. At that time, she received a lot of support from a math teacher. Not wanting to fall too far behind her classmates, Huyen regained her motivation to study.

Instead of studying by doing exercises and then checking the answers, Huyen switched to learning how to think critically, diligently asking teachers for clarification on areas of knowledge she didn't understand. In 8th grade, Huyen was selected to compete in the district-level math competition. She only won an honorable mention and didn't qualify for the city-level competition, so she registered for the physics team in 9th grade to seek an opportunity. Huyen subsequently won an honorable mention in the city-level math competition.

Huyen was always a top student in Physics during her years at Dan Phuong High School, but she rarely thought about becoming a teacher. Huyen even took the aptitude test of Hanoi National University to apply to economics- related schools because she was advised that "it's a hot field with clear job opportunities."

Finally, at the crucial moment, the female student chose to pursue Physics. "Even now, I don't understand why I had such strong faith in Physics back then. Perhaps the support from my teachers beforehand reinforced this choice," Huyen said.

It was only after starting her studies at Hanoi Pedagogical University that Huyen truly appreciated the beauty and value of the subject.

"Just like my teachers always say, Physics is the most romantic subject. The more I study, the more I realize it's true; Physics has many applications in life," Huyen said enthusiastically. Thanks to studying her favorite subject, Huyen didn't encounter many difficulties. She won scholarships in every semester with her current GPA of 3.81/4.

Huyen also participated in pedagogical skills competitions at the faculty and university levels, winning several awards, and joined the pedagogical skills club and scientific research group. She also tutored Physics, teaching a group of more than 10 tenth-grade students at home to review knowledge, practice teaching skills, and earn extra income.

To do everything well, Huyen usually sets goals in stages and prioritizes tasks. Besides a yearly plan, Huyen also keeps a small notebook to record daily tasks for self-monitoring.

Since she doesn't have an internship this year, Huyen set her sights on participating in the University Physics Olympiad. After passing the selection round at her school in October, Huyen dedicated all her time to the competition. Whenever the professors were free, she and her teammates would go to school to study, regardless of whether it was Saturday or Sunday.

"I still remember the first day of tutoring, the teacher gave us a test. I was the worst in the group, so I felt very guilty," Huyen recounted.

The female student said that for two months, she focused 100% of her energy, trying to grasp the lessons in class, asking teachers detailed questions about every issue, and taking advantage of group study. Huyen was then selected as one of two students to participate in the individual problem-solving competition. Therefore, she devoted even more effort to studying.

Associate Professor Ngo Ngoc Hoa, Deputy Head of the Physics Department, Hanoi Pedagogical University, highly praised Huyen's attitude and efforts.

Teacher Hoa said that Huyen was selected after several students who achieved higher scores were deemed ineligible to participate because they had already won national and international awards. After the school round of the competition, he was very worried about Huyen.

"But after two months, I was completely reassured and confident that Huyen would achieve good results," Mr. Hoa said.

Huyen and eight male students won first prize in the problem-solving competition. Photo: Provided by the subject .

Huyen remembers the team quiz the most. After answering 9 questions correctly in a row, the team from the Teacher Training College got three questions wrong, which affected their morale. Despite this, the whole team encouraged each other to focus and do well on the remaining 8 questions.

In the individual problem-solving section, Huyen had to complete four questions in three hours, covering topics such as Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electricity, and Optics. The Optics question was her strong point, so she tackled it first to build momentum for the subsequent questions.

Besides Huyen, the other member from Hanoi Pedagogical University who competed in the individual problem-solving section was Vu Van Huong, who won first prize with the highest score. Huong was also a friend who helped Huyen a lot during her preparation for the competition.

Having achieved her major goal in her third year of university, Huyen plans to dedicate her time to scientific research with the hope of winning an award at the school this year.

"I will try my best to maintain good academic results and gain more new experiences before becoming a physics teacher," Huyen said.

Duong Tam

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