Candidates' mood before the national high school exam

The 2025 high school graduation exam has officially taken place. At this "final" moment, candidates are experiencing a range of mixed emotions: from anxiety, excitement, pressure... to excitement, looking forward to the moment of entering the most important exam of their student life.

Thanh Khe High School students review before the exam.

Despite having been prepared for three years of high school, despite having gone through countless tests, mock exams, and endless extra classes... now, as the 2025 high school graduation exam is approaching, anxiety and nervousness still creep into the hearts of every student.

This year, Da Nang has nearly 14,000 students taking the “jumping gate” exam – not only to graduate but also to win a ticket to university. Organizing the exam in the context of the extremely hot weather in the Central region, combined with the competitive pressure between admission groups, makes the students even more stressed.

Sitting by the window of a classroom on the third floor of Thai Phien High School (Da Nang), Hai Yen - a female student with deep eyes and a gentle smile - slowly shared: "I think I'm ready. The practice test I did was okay, the teachers were very dedicated in helping us. But I'm still worried. Worried that one wrong multiple choice question would be enough to make us fail our wishes. Worried that the real test might be so different that we won't be able to handle it in time..."

Hai Yen cherishes the dream of entering the University of Economics - Danang University, majoring in Marketing, with the hope of building her own brand in the future. Over the past year, she has refused many coffee dates with friends, refused long weekend trips to stay home to study, practice questions, and review each Math formula and each Geography diagram.

Unlike Hai Yen, Nguyen Thien Nam – a student at Nguyen Thuong Hien High School (Lien Chieu District) – seems more calm. Nam chose to take the entrance exam to the University of Education – Da Nang University, majoring in Literature Pedagogy. He is a core member of the excellent student team and has won prizes at the city level.

“I like studying Literature because it helps me understand myself and others better. I also want to stand in front of the class and teach like my teachers have inspired me.”

Thien Nam is not too stressed about his grades, but he still maintains a serious study routine. These days, he spends a lot of time re-reading key works, practicing writing concise and clear social essays. “I hope that after the exam, we can go on a picnic together, take some last photos in white shirts before parting ways…”

Nguyen Thanh Binh, a 12th grader at Thanh Khe High School, has a very different dream. He enrolled in Da Nang University of Technology, majoring in Food Technology. “It sounds boring, but I find it very practical. I want to research and improve familiar products, helping Vietnamese agricultural products go further, be cleaner and retain their own identity,” Binh said.

Thanh Binh is an active but very emotional student. He loves English, but is also good at Literature and was once voted by his friends as having the “most expressive reading voice in class”.

For Binh, the exam is not only a test of academic performance, but also a boundary between innocent school years and a new chapter of life full of challenges. Each page of his notebook these days seems to contain not only knowledge, but also memories, times of anger, hasty hugs during the graduation ceremony, or a look that has not yet been expressed in words.

Time waits for no one. The last classes have ended. Royal poinciana flowers bloom red in the school yard, like the burning hearts of eighteen-year-olds about to part ways. The 12th graders – each with their own dreams, worries, and expectations – are facing the first important exam of their lives.

It is not just an exam to get a diploma. It is a milestone to mark maturity. It is the day you choose your own path. It is the moment when tears, sweat and laughter will blend into each page, each exam – so that later when you look back, you can proudly say: “My youth was so brilliant.”

KHUE TRUNG

Source: https://baodanang.vn/xa-hoi/202506/tam-trang-cua-thi-sinh-truoc-ky-thi-thpt-quoc-gia-4010630/