Stumbling helps me improve

Fluent in five languages, double valedictorian of the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022, Duong Kien Khai (grade 11 IT major at Gifted High School, Ho Chi Minh City National University) also has 'secrets' that few people know.

Duong Kien Khai shares about his studies and life - Photo: CONG NHAT

I realized that I need to work on being a happy person, not trying to be a perfect person.

DUONG KIEN KHAI

The five languages ​​that this Gen Z friend owns, in addition to Vietnamese, are Chinese (Cantonese), Mandarin, English and German. And last night, January 25, Khai just received the result of winning second prize in the National Excellent Student in Information Technology. Talking to Tuoi Tre , Khai expressed: - Being able to use the above languages ​​is not necessarily because I am exceptionally intelligent or innate. With my experience, I think we need a suitable environment to interact and practice seriously, with clear goals, over time we will conquer the languages. For example, when I was young, because my mother tongue was Chinese (Cantonese), I did not speak Vietnamese very well. So much so that when I went to school, my parents had to ask my friends for a lot of support to help me gradually improve my Vietnamese. Recently, besides English and Vietnamese, I have had few opportunities to use other languages, so I am not very confident in them.

Used to be harsh with myself

* Looking at your "shocking" achievements, many people think that Khai's study schedule must be very busy? - I'm just like many of my friends around me, I usually sleep from 11pm to 7am the next morning. Besides school hours, I spend about two hours studying at home every night. On days when I feel tired, I only study for a little over an hour and then stop. When I focus on studying for the national team, I study for about three hours every morning and afternoon and try to concentrate as much as possible while studying. During my breaks, I often sleep or talk with close friends. This is when I relieve stress and recharge my energy effectively. During the 10th grade entrance exam preparation period, I used to be quite strict with myself. At that time, I almost did not interact with social media accounts for several months, limiting playing games as much as possible. But now I'm not so strict with myself anymore. Whenever I feel suffocated or overwhelmed by something, I choose to take a walk around and my mind gradually becomes more clear and focused. (laughs)

* Do you have any so-called failures? - It's true that in retrospect, I have never encountered any major failures. If I have, it would probably be a few stumbles when the results are not as expected. However, I think failure is not a bad thing, if not to say it is a driving force to help promote and develop myself. In the past, I would feel very uncomfortable with any failure of my own and almost could not accept it. But over time, I realized what is more important and meaningful to myself and whether I can see, accept, and then stand up from failure or not. In a way, if we are always successful and only successful, will we always be in a comfortable state, leading to less motivation to strive or try?

Become a happy person

* What "stumble" are you talking about? - An undesirable experience I had was during the school's 30-4 Olympic team selection exam. I was confident that I was almost certain to get a spot because I entered grade 10 and was the valedictorian of the whole school. However, when the results came out, I was quite surprised because I was far from the top 3. Needless to say, I was both disappointed and skeptical about myself. But I calmed down, tried to think, faced it frankly and gradually accepted the fact that I still had many things that needed to be improved. I turned that failure into motivation, forcing myself to work harder. And then I was selected for the school's national excellent student competition team, which is usually only for grade 12 students, and won the national IT encouragement prize that year. * What lesson did you learn from each failure or need to solve problems encountered in life? - I used to try to become a perfect person. But actually, this is what I wanted and it is true that I put pressure on myself, no one told me or needed me to push myself like that. My family, teachers and friends all consider me a child in the family, a student in the school or just a very normal friend of theirs, not a valedictorian. Realizing this helps me to be more confident, more comfortable, and to live according to my age and my mistakes. In the long run, I always aim to become a happy person, constantly striving but knowing how to enjoy the joy of things, big or small, around me. I know I am very lucky to have a loving family and an educational environment that many people dream of. I am satisfied with this and always strive every day.

16 years old and multi-talented

In the 2022 10th grade entrance exam, Duong Kien Khai applied for the specialized IT class at the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University) and achieved a total score of 46.65 (double specialized subject), becoming one of the valedictorians admitted to grade 10 with the highest score of this school since its establishment. At the same time, he was also the valedictorian of the specialized class in Ho Chi Minh City with a perfect score of 10 in all three subjects: math, foreign language and IT. Khai also won second prize in English at the city level and several awards in chess and Chinese chess. It is worth mentioning that in the four years of junior high school, Khai only had one semester in the first year of grade 6 with an average score of 9.9, the rest all achieved an absolute average score of 10/10.

Tuoitre.vn

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