One year of "going slow" became the motivation for Hoa to improve, becoming the valedictorian after graduation from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Natural Sciences.

Four years ago, Hoa, born in 2003, was also the top incoming valedictorian of the faculty with a score of 28.7. That was the second time the Bac Ninh native had received a university admission notice.

In 2021, Khanh Hoa joined the Information Technology Faculty at another university in Hanoi. However, after a year of online learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and realizing the direction was not suitable, Hoa was determined to retake the exam.

After struggles with anxiety and guilt over disappointing his parents, Hoa withdrew from university to focus on this goal. He reconnected with his high school Math, Physics, and Chemistry teachers for guidance. Recommended by his teachers, Hoa enrolled in online courses and built his own revision plan.

With a three-month sprint before the exam, Hoa chose not to cram blindly but divided his roadmap into three clear phases: consolidating fundamentals; revising by topic and problem type; anf practicing exam papers and conquering high-application questions.

With systematic preparation, Hoa achieved a total admission score of 28.7. This time, Hoa registered a single preference for Electronic Engineering and Informatics.

“Electronics is like the 'body,' while programming is the 'soul' controlling the system. What I love most is not just writing lines of code on a screen, but directly seeing them operate circuits that I design with my own hands,” Hoa shared.

Disciplined and goal-oriented

Being "a year behind" compared to peers did not make Hoa feel insecure. On the contrary, he considered it motivation to enter the university lecture halls with greater focus and discipline.

From his freshman year, Hoa set a target to study well to earn scholarships while achieving financial independence to ease his parents' burden.

After four years, he received over 250 million VND from scholarships and awards, maintained a GPA of 3.76/4.0 across all eight semesters, and graduated with Highest Distinction (Summa Cum Laude).

According to Hoa, those results did not come from innate intelligence, but from academic discipline. Instead of rote learning or spotting questions to cope with exams, Hoa sought to trace every circuit diagram or algorithm back to core Physics and Mathematical principles. 

Once understanding the essence of a problem, Hoa could retain knowledge long-term and avoid confusion when facing new questions.

Additionally, he maintained a habit of processing knowledge immediately after each class. Every day, Hoa spent 30–45 minutes reviewing notes, asking teachers and friends right away whenever encountering anything unclear. As a result, before every exam, Hoa had mastered the most necessary knowledge and entered the exam room with a comfortable mindset.

Aspirations

Under the guidance and inspiration of faculty lecturers, by the end of his second year, Hoa discovered a passion for research. Working in the laboratory helped Hoa not only verify lecture knowledge but also shape a research mindset.

“I came to understand that in science there are no failed experiments, only new data,” Hoa said. Thanks to that process, he became a co-author of an international journal paper indexed in the first quarter of the year.

The laboratory experiences also reshaped Hoa's career direction. Previously, he planned to graduate and work in industrial parks to earn a stable income. However, the more he researched, the more Hoa wanted to develop himself on academic path.

"If working in an enterprise, I would operate existing technologies. But scientific research gives me the opportunity to create new technologies, bringing tangible value to society," Hoa said.

After graduation, Hoa has chosen to remain in the lab to complete research projects while maintaining part-time tutoring jobs for financial independence.

Hoa's next goal is seeking opportunities for a PhD scholarship abroad in the interdisciplinary field of Electronics, Informatics, and Biomedicine.

Hoa expects that he will return to Vietnam, contributing to developing highly practical biomedical devices serving public health directly.

Thuy Nga