Valedictorian of the Pedagogical College studied at university for 10 years

Thủ khoa trường sư phạm từng học đại học 10 năm - Ảnh 1. — Doan Ba Trang - valedictorian of Hanoi National University of Education 2, class of 2025 - Photo: NVCC

Doan Ba Trang, 29 years old, from Thanh Hoa , is one of 95 valedictorians honored by the Hanoi People's Committee as this year's valedictorian on the evening of November 14 at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam.

Valedictorian of 10 years of studying at 3 universities

Talking about his university journey, Doan Ba Trang summed it up in two words: "difficult", because he had to go around in circles for 10 years for a career he truly loved.

Before entering university, Trang was a chemistry major student at Lam Son High School for the Gifted (Thanh Hoa province), dreaming of entering a police-military school to satisfy his own and his family's wishes and also to reduce some of the economic burden on his parents.

With 6/6 school scholarships, and the encouragement prize for national excellent students in chemistry in grade 11, it seemed like a good stepping stone for Trang. But in 2014, in his first university entrance exam, the male student failed both the People's Security Academy (block A) and the Military Medical Academy (block B, missing half a point).

"At that time, if I stayed at home, my mind would be very heavy and I wouldn't know how to face my father. To 'put out the fire', I registered to study at the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture for a semester and determined to retake the exam," Trang said.

In 2015, Trang took the university entrance exam for the second time to enter the Army Officer School 1 but still fell short by half a point. Once again, the military school gate closed to the male student. However, this time, Trang decided not to retake the exam and instead chose to study his second choice at the University of Mining and Geology to pursue the field of chemistry.

At this time, the school's chemical engineering technology department does not recruit second-choice candidates. Trang must register for admission to the school by studying civil engineering, then studying for a dual engineering degree.

"Because I had so many expectations for my child, there was a long time when my father and I could not talk to each other. My mother was still there, encouraging me to keep going," Trang said.

Studying two engineering degrees at the same time, Trang has to take 34-35 credits per semester. There are days when he studies from period 1 to period 13 (from morning to 8pm). Besides, to cover living expenses, Trang has a tight schedule of tutoring.

"Now thinking back, I don't know how I was able to learn like that," Trang said.

At the University of Mining and Geology, Trang also won impressive academic awards such as second prize in the 2018 National Student Chemistry Olympiad and consolation prize in the 2019 and 2020 National Student Mechanics Olympiad.

In July 2020, Trang received a diploma with honors, graduating with two university degrees at the same time, and was accepted as a teaching assistant at the school.

"Up to the time of graduating from the University of Mining and Geology, I had worked for 3 years as the head of the academic committee of the club for training students for the national Olympic competition in the school. The process of participating in teaching and supporting students inspired me a lot about the teaching profession.

In 2021, I realized that teaching was really the career I wanted to pursue, so I applied to Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 and was admitted directly to specialized school students," Trang said.

sư phạm - Ảnh 2. — Doan Ba Trang received the January Star Award - Photo: NVCC

Participated in many groups and still won the title of valedictorian

Becoming a freshman at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 at the age of 25 (7 years older than his classmates), Trang said that this was not an obstacle but an advantage. Having two previous engineering degrees made the male student's learning process not difficult, many subjects felt like he was studying for the second time.

Instead, Trang has more time to focus on subjects related to teaching methods, especially time for group activities.

At the teacher training college, Trang was assigned important positions in the school such as secretary of the course union; member of the school's standing committee and president of the school's student union, managing more than 7,000 members. Since then, Trang has received dozens of certificates of merit from the union, and the titles of 5 good students at the school and city levels.

In addition to impressive extracurricular achievements, Trang also won 7/7 consecutive incentive scholarships; won the encouragement prize at the National Student Chemistry Olympiad in 2023; third prize at the school-level pedagogical competition in the 2021-2022 school year...

Thủ khoa trường sư phạm từng học đại học 10 năm - Ảnh 3. — Ba Trang at the graduation ceremony of Hanoi Pedagogical University 2, June 2025 batch - Photo: NVCC

Talking about his study secrets, Trang said that he did not take too many notes during his studies, because "before he was not a studious person, he was quite lazy to copy notes". Instead, the male student focused on taking notes of important ideas from the teacher's documents, actively participating in study groups with teachers to privately discuss knowledge he did not understand.

In June 2025, Trang graduated with honors from Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 with a GPA of 3.64/4.0. Currently, Trang holds the position of student political affairs specialist at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2.

Trang plans to continue his graduate studies to realize his dream of becoming a university lecturer.

"After 10 years of wandering around, the education sector gave me the final direction. But without the Vietnam National Academy of Agriculture or the University of Mining and Geology, I wouldn't be here today," Trang confided.

NGUYEN BAO

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thu-khoa-truong-su-pham-tung-hoc-dai-hoc-10-nam-20251113124902611.htm