From passion to gold medal

Tran Quang Nhat, a student of class 12A2, Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted. Photo: Provided by the character

• The 2nd Turkmenistan Mathematical Olympiad was held from April 21 to 26 in the capital Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) with the participation of more than 230 students from 15 countries. Of which, the delegation of 6 Vietnamese students all won Gold medals. The competition not only demonstrated the students' excellent abilities in the field of Mathematics, but also affirmed Vietnam's increasingly solid position in international academic arenas, and at the same time demonstrated the spirit of deep international integration of Vietnam in general, and Da Nang city in particular in the fieldof education .

Quang Nhat's impressive achievement is not accidental, but the result of a process of persistent training, discipline and passion for Mathematics since childhood. Winning first prize in Mathematics at the National High School Excellent Student Competition in the 2024-2025 school year, Nhat soon affirmed himself as one of the outstanding students in the field of Mathematics in the city. His love for Mathematics came to him very early, through the guidance and inspiration of his grandfather, who used to be a Math teacher at Nguyen Khuyen Secondary School.

Since his elementary school years, Nhat has been directly tutored, trained, and introduced to math problems from basic to advanced levels by his grandfather. “Studying with him not only helps me grasp knowledge but also trains my perseverance, logical thinking, and critical questioning skills, which are essential skills when studying advanced math,” Nhat shared. In addition, his father also specializes in math, often chatting and sharing good math problems, creating an inspiring learning environment in the family.

On his journey to the top, Quang Nhat could not avoid failures and there were times when he wanted to give up. He recounted the time when he failed to make the national team of excellent students at school level in grade 11 as a big shock: “At that time, I felt like all my efforts had disappeared. I stopped studying Math for 3 months because of disappointment. That was the time when I thought a lot about my passion, and finally I realized that if I gave up, I would never know where I could go.”

From that incident, Nhat stood up stronger, changed his learning method, and practiced many new skills. He spent an average of 8-10 hours a day to review for the exam in Turkmenistan. Not only studying from books and teachers, he also actively searched for academic documents in English on the internet, and familiarized himself with international Olympic exam questions to improve his thinking and reflexes in his writing.

Mr. Le Xuan Truong, Head of the Math Department and Nhat's direct instructor, expressed: "It was a joy that no words can describe, I felt like I was bursting with tears of pride. This is a wonderful achievement, recognizing the tireless efforts of students and teachers, and Nhat's efforts to rise up. Because after 11 years, our school has had a candidate win the gold medal in international Math." This is the result of the tireless efforts of a student with a scientific learning method, sharp logical thinking and especially an extremely high self-study ability.

What is special about Nhat is that he is not only good at Math but also very proficient in foreign languages. With an IELTS certificate of 8.0 and a SAT score of 1,560/1,600, almost perfect results, Nhat affirms that he is a well-rounded student, with a solid foundation for international academic integration.

Sharing his secret to learning a foreign language, Nhat happily said: “When I was young, I often watched English cartoons with Vietnamese subtitles. Over time, I gradually got used to the pronunciation, vocabulary and usage context. English came to me very naturally like that.

Later, I actively practiced more by reading documents, watching academic videos and practicing international standard exam questions. Nhat believes that, with any subject, to be good at it, you must have true passion and persevere through difficult and discouraging periods. "Besides, you must practice hard every day to be able to absorb and master knowledge well," he said.

As someone who has been with Nhat throughout his exam preparation journey, teacher Le Xuan Truong shared that Nhat is a student with a scientific learning method, sharp thinking, always searching for and discovering new knowledge. Besides, he has a very high self-study spirit, is persistent, tenacious and serious, and focused during self-study hours.

His achievements are not only a testament to his own abilities but also an inspiration and motivation for other young people. In his journey to conquer knowledge, passion, discipline and love, the encouragement of his family and the guidance and education of his teachers have become the guiding stars for Nhat to succeed.

THIEN AN

Source: https://baodanang.vn/xa-hoi/202505/tu-niem-dam-me-den-tam-huy-chuong-vang-4006256/