The young woman who once accompanied her mother collecting scrap metal has been recruited to teach at a gifted high school.

During her four years at HNUE, spanning 48 modules with a total of 141 credits, Ngoc Anh earned an A grade in 46 modules. The only two modules in which she did not receive an A were Educational Psychology and Marxist-Leninist Political Economy during her freshman year, though she still secured a B+ in both.

Among those impressive academic records, Ngoc Anh achieved perfect 10/10 scores in nine modules, including: Introduction to Computer Science, Calculus of One Variable, Real Analysis of One Variable, Mathematical Software, Foundations of Geometry, Basic Algebraic Structures, Probability and Mathematical Statistics II, Pedagogical Internship I, and Pedagogical Internship II.

With this exceptional performance, the student from Phu Tho province achieved a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.94/4.0, becoming the university-wide valedictorian for the HNUE graduating class of 2026 (the 2022–2026 cohort).

Ngoc Anh expressed joy as her dedication and hard work throughout her university years finally paid off handsomely.

Anyone familiar with the background of the student from Phu Tho (originally from Vinh Yen City, Vinh Phuc Province under the old administrative boundaries) would find themselves even more filled with admiration for her sheer will and resilience. 

When Ngoc Anh was young, her family faced severe financial hardships; her mother worked as a scrap metal collector, while her father was a driver.

Witnessing her parents' struggles since the sixth grade, the young girl joined her mother on journeys across every road and alleyway to purchase and weigh scrap metal. As she grew older and entered high school, equipped with more knowledge, Ngoc Anh decided to work as a tutor to contribute to the family income.

"Back then, apart from my time in class, I made use of my evenings to tutor about 2 to 3 sessions a week. I was paid 200,000 VND per session, which allowed me to contribute an extra 1.5 million VND a month to help my mother support the family," Ngoc Anh recalled.

Despite her busy schedule, she still managed to win two third prizes in the National Academic Merit Competition for Mathematics in both the 11th and 12th grades.

Upon entering university, Ngoc Anh persevered with tutoring right up until her graduation. While these tutoring sessions cut into her rest time in the evenings or over weekends, they provided her with the income needed to cover her living expenses. 

"By my sophomore year, wanting to gain more teaching experience, I also applied to work as a teaching assistant at various education centers," she shared.

Becoming a teacher 

Reflecting on how to achieve excellent results at the university level, Ngoc Anh said that it simply requires devoting more time to self-study than to class hours. 

"Beyond the knowledge acquired in the lecture halls, I did a vast amount of self-study. I developed a habit of previewing the lesson content before going to class, and once back home, I would review the knowledge recorded from the lecturers," Ngoc Anh said.

Before every exam period, she allocated her study time for each subject. "Usually, ahead of an exam, besides reviewing my knowledge, I would look over the exam papers from previous years. This helped me grasp the exam format and the core areas of knowledge frequently tested. During the revision phase, I also set a goal for how many past papers I needed to solve each day.”

Ngoc Anh believes the most critical aspect of learning in mathematics is to thoroughly understand the essence of concepts and definitions, which makes reasoning and expanding upon them much easier.

"In addition to logical reasoning skills, diligence and hard work are also incredibly vital," Ngoc Anh noted.

Thanks to her stellar credentials, she received numerous job offers from prominent private high schools in Hanoi. However, Ngoc Anh decided to return to her hometown to teach at Vinh Phuc High School for the Gifted, where she has been officially accepted as a faculty member.

Anh shared that looking back at her university years, she harbors a small regret for not having traveled more to explore the world, and for not having fully tested her capabilities in other fields and dimensions. 

In the coming time, besides teaching at the specialized school, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics. 

Thanh Hung