Dang Thi Hong Trang (left), who scored top marks in Literature, and Nguyen Thi Huong (right), one of the country’s three highest scorers for Literature, History and Geography, with their teacher at My Tho High School. —Photo xaluan.com

Nguyen Thi Huong was one of the country’s three highest scorers for Literature, History and Geography.

Huong scored a total of 29.25 points in the three subjects with a perfect score (10) for Geography, 9.5 for Literature and 9.75 for History.

Hailing from a poor family in Yen Phu Commune, Huong, as the first daughter of the family, has to balance her time between homework and housework.

She also has to look after two sisters, especially when her parents were in Hanoi searching for work at the start of this year due to the impacts of COVID-19. Despite all this, she has never lost her will to learn.

Pham Thi Lien, Huong’s mother, said: “We burst into tears when we found out about daughter’s exam results and immediately returned home to congratulate her.”

“Huong knows our family lives in poor conditions so she never asks for anything she doesn't need,” Lien told Vietnam News Agency.

Huong’s corner where she studies does not even have a bookshelf but it is covered by certificates for her academic achievements.

Huong said she was used to borrowing books from the school library or her friends and returning them when she had finished studying.

Not many people know that she nurtured a love for science from an early age, especially Math, but then decided to follow social sciences.

“Since entering high school, I decided to focus on Literature, History and Geography because those subjects equip me with a deep understanding about positive values in our lives and help me have a comprehensive view at the relations between the past, the present and the future as well as at the events happening around us.”

Huong has had a lot of success during her three years at high school and at the national high school exams thanks to her serious attitude towards the targets she sets for herself.

Her study tips are to listen to teachers in class, review the lectures at home and exchange knowledge with teachers and classmates.

“I often make a mind map for each subject to have a general view. Then from the main ideas, I develop into smaller ideas to dig into the lessons and to not only learn by heart but understand them well.

“I also take sample tests to practice my skills and remember what I have learnt.”

“I didn't study too much or put pressure on myself. I did not stay up late to study.

“I studied little by little day by day and did not skip lessons to make sure I understood everything. Thanks to that, I felt calm and confident before each exam.”

Nguyen Thi Hien, Huong’s teacher, said Huong was a special student with a logical mind and creative studying methods. She answered questions very quickly and always connected the lessons with reality.

Perfect Literature score

My Tho High School is also proud to have a student who scored 10 points in Literature this year, a rare score for this subject.

However, Dang Thi Hong Trang did not surprise her teachers or classmates with her result.

Trang is assessed to be an excellent essay writer with coherent and sharp arguments. In her essays to analyse literary works, Trang always puts the characters in the context of the specific society they are living in to look into the humane value of the works.

Trang said: “Scores are only one part of the study progress. I will keep reading my favourite literary works and spend time learning more because studying is an endless process.”

In Trang's class, 25 out of 37 students scored more than nine points for Literature this year.

Their teacher Pham Thi Kieu Oanh said in addition to logical teaching methods that train students to write essays, teachers must also inspire passion in students to help them immerse themselves in the lesson, thereby arousing their love for the subject. 

“Many people think that a perfect score in a Literature test never happens. But Literature, like all other subjects, has answers and marking instructions. So why can’t students get a perfect score when they can satisfy all the ideas in the answer, and even have more creative ideas?” Oanh said.

The teachers at My Tho High School are constantly innovating their teaching methods to encourage students to learn and improve education quality.

Ha Xuan Son, the school principal, said the quality of teaching at the school had significantly improved over the past ten years.

The number of excellent students and students entering universities and colleges in recent years has been increasing. The school has also recently had top scorers in Math, Chemistry and Biology, he said.  VNS

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