Female student with "modest" studies in high school becomes early valedictorian of "top" university

"Not very confident about humble beginnings"

During high school, Thu Hien studied at Dong Loc High School (Can Loc, Ha Tinh ). The young girl said that she was not a student of a specialized school or selective class, and her academic performance in high school was average.

Nữ sinh học khiêm tốn ở phổ thông thành thủ khoa sớm đại học top - 1 — Portrait of valedictorian graduating early from Foreign Trade University in 2023, Tran Thi Thu Hien (Photo: NVCC).

When she first entered Foreign Trade University, Thu Hien was quite "overwhelmed" by the learning environment that gathered students with excellent and dynamic achievements.

She recalled: "Here, there were many good students, valedictorians, national excellent students, and specialized school students... I was not very confident about my somewhat modest starting point. Besides, I went to school far from home, so in the early days I was a bit homesick and had difficulty concentrating on studying.

But luckily, I later received encouragement from some seniors, from which I boldly expressed myself, participated in activities and studied actively to achieve good results."

During her 3.5 years of college, Hien got A's in 47/48 subjects. Only Political Economy in her first year of college was a B. Hien expressed regret for not enrolling in remedial classes to graduate with a perfect GPA.

Sharing the secret to "learning ahead" and graduating early, Thu Hien said: "To do this, I built a strategy when registering for courses.

I will register for 10-11 subjects, including general and fundamental subjects in the first semesters, because at this time the amount of knowledge is still limited; register for 6-7 subjects including specialized subjects in the following semesters to be able to focus on the most important knowledge, serving future work."

Never set a goal to become valedictorian

Since entering school, she never thought of graduating as valedictorian. The goal Tran Thi Thu Hien set for her university time was to try her best to complete all tests and courses to graduate as soon as possible.

The day she received the news that she had the highest score in the school’s early graduation, the young girl was moved to tears of surprise and pride. Hien dedicated this gift to her family - the people who have always accompanied and supported her in every decision.

Nữ sinh học khiêm tốn ở phổ thông thành thủ khoa sớm đại học top - 2 — Thu Hien dedicates her excellent achievements to her parents and family (Photo: NVCC).

At the same time, Hien also considers this achievement a valuable gift to prove her efforts throughout her university years.

The valedictorian of Foreign Trade University also emphasized: "I consider my achieving the highest score in this early graduation exam as a sweet mark to conclude the years of striving at school, not completely thinking of this as a victory. I realize that I still have a lot to strive for and learn to improve my value and upgrade myself."

University valedictorians do not decide salaries

Talking about the job ability and income after graduating as a prestigious valedictorian, the girl honestly said: "In my opinion, being a university valedictorian is a title, not a basis for deciding the salary for new graduates. The salary and income of employees are based on their working ability and ability to contribute to the company, not on the reputation of the school they attend or their grades at school."

However, the young girl is also aware that if she pursues a job in the right field of study, the knowledge gained at university will be a foundation that can serve the job, helping employees to approach problems more quickly.

Nữ sinh học khiêm tốn ở phổ thông thành thủ khoa sớm đại học top - 3 — Hien believes: "Don't let yourself be "surrounded" by pressure from other people's success (Photo: NVCC).

Besides, Thu Hien believes that soft skills are a very important factor to help candidates make an impression on employers.

Sharing her experiences with part-time jobs from tutor, freelance writer to social media manager, customs declaration intern, she said that each job brought valuable lessons.

"Being a tutor helps me improve my communication and problem-solving skills. Being a freelance writer and fanpage manager helps me improve my writing, time management, and teamwork skills. When working as a customs declaration intern, I have the opportunity to apply the knowledge I have learned into practice, practicing carefulness and meticulousness. I believe that these will be the foundation to support me in future jobs," the female student concluded.

Outstanding achievements of the valedictorian of Foreign Trade University in 2023

- GPA for the whole course 3.99/4.0.

- Outstanding student of the entire course, outstanding student of the 2021-2022 school year.

- 5 Good Students at school level in 2022.

- 5 Good Students at City level in 2020.

- 6/6 semesters received the school's scholarship to encourage learning

- 5 times won business scholarship.

- Third prize in the School-level Student Scientific Research Competition, Second prize in the Institute-level Student Scientific Research Competition.

- Co-author of an article in the international journal Cogent Business & Management.

Source