Dam, a former student of class 12A1, My Loc High School, Ninh Binh province (formerly Nam Dinh), achieved remarkable scores in the national high school graduation exam. According to the Ministry of Education and Training's announcement on 16/7, he scored a perfect 10 in math and physics, 9.75 in chemistry, and 9.25 in literature. Out of over 1.1 million students, only two achieved a total score of 39/40.
"I was thrilled when I saw my scores. Literature was the biggest surprise, significantly boosting my total," Dam said. He explained that he didn't dedicate excessive time to literature, primarily focusing on practicing different question types and reading newspapers to stay updated on current events for supporting evidence in his essays.
Among the science subjects, Dam felt most confident in physics due to a smooth performance. In math, he hesitated on two probability questions in the short-answer section, taking longer than usual. Although chemistry was his strongest subject, he lost 0.25 points due to carelessness, making a mistake on one question.
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Tran Xuan Dam. Photo: Provided by the subject |
Tran Xuan Dam. Photo: Provided by the subject
Dam emphasized self-study, setting goals and maintaining discipline. He divided his preparation into two phases. Initially, he focused on practice tests, completing two tests per subject (math, physics, chemistry) daily. Besides studying at home, he used breaks during school hours to finish practice tests assigned by teachers. On motivated days, he completed up to 10 tests. Afterwards, Dam listed his mistakes to learn from them.
The second phase was closer to the exam. Dam practiced timed tests to acclimate to exam conditions. In the final three days, he reviewed common mistakes and revisited the Ministry of Education and Training's sample tests.
Outside of studying, Dam helped his family with farming, cooking, and caring for his two younger siblings.
Nguyen Thi To, vice principal of My Loc High School, described Dam's family's financial struggles. His father suffered a workplace accident, leaving his mother, who has health issues, as the sole provider. Throughout the past three years, the school sought scholarships to support Dam.
"Despite this, Dam consistently excelled academically," To said, adding that Dam is the school's first national valedictorian.
Tran Thi Hong Don, Dam's homeroom teacher in class 12A1, described him as diligent, determined, and proactive. Dam has won first and second prizes in English-language computer science competitions, second prize in chemistry, third prize in computer science at the provincial level. He also participated in emceeing events, achieving excellent results in a STEM competition and winning third prize in a high school startup idea competition within the province.
Before the national high school graduation exam, Dam scored 77.03/100 in the Hanoi University of Science and Technology's thinking assessment test (TSA). Out of approximately 28,700 test-takers, fewer than 200 achieved this score.
"Dam is a rare, multi-talented student. He's also an inspiration to his classmates," Don said.
Dam plans to apply to the Control Engineering and Automation program at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
Binh Minh
