“Being an excellent Youth Union cadre, and good at both studying and sports” are comments and assessments that teachers and friends gave to Nguyen Viet Thanh, a student of grade 12C2 at the Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted, who is the winner of the “Students of 3 Goods” Award at the central level in 2024.

Nguyen Viet Thanh (right) and her teacher Nguyen Thi Hoang Vu

Gen Z leader

Enthusiastic and energetic in movement activities, Nguyen Viet Thanh was sent by the school's Youth Union to participate in the municipal-level “Gen Z Leader” contest. The young girl excellently bet over 70 Youth Union cadres from senior high schools and continuing education centres citywide to win the runner-up prize. To achieve this achievement, she spent time learning about historical relics, culture, and people of the city, while improving her theory and knowledge about the Youth Union and skills in receiving and transmitting Morse, Semaphore, knots, road signs, translating secret messages, etc.

Recently, she was honoured with the "Central-level Student of 3 Goods" Award, a noble title given by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) Central Committee to students with excellent achievements in studying, training, and ethics.

Mr. Le Trung Vuong, Secretary of the Youth Union organisation of the Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted, said that Thanh not only has knowledge and skills of the Youth Union, but also has the ability to organise movement activities well. Thanh always plans to implement assigned-activities effectively.

According to Thanh, the abovementioned results were partly attributed to her own efforts in studying, training, researching, learning, and cultivating skills to improve herself. In addition, she received active support from her family, teachers and friends.

“For me, balancing between studying and Youth Union activities is a challenge but it is completely possible if I have a plan and effective time management methods. I consider studying my top priority. In class, I focus on listening to lectures, and spend time completing homework to save time. In the remaining time, I participate in appropriate social activities to apply the knowledge I have learned into practice, especially History such as visiting historical sites, and making wall newspapers about historical figures”, Thanh confided.

Good at History, passionate about table tennis

Being an excellent student for 12 consecutive years, Nguyen Viet Thanh has a special love for History. In grade 9, she won first prize in the municipal-level History competition, which was considered as the motivation for her to pass the exam to enter the History specialized class at the Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted.

Since then, Thanh's journey of hard work has brought "sweet fruit" when she continuously achieved high results in national and regional competitions for excellent students.

For example, in grade 10, Thanh won the gold medal at the April 30 Olympic competition in Ho Chi Minh City, and in grade 11, she conquered the Coastal and Northern Delta competition in Hai Duong Province with the prestigious gold medal. In grade 12, she continued to grab the second prize in the National Excellent Student in History for the 2024-2025 school year. Also, in the municipal-level excellent student competition, Thanh won the first prize in History for grade 12.

“Viet Thanh is the first group of students to study and take the exam according to the 2018 General Education Programme. The History exam according to the new programme requires students to have a solid grasp of knowledge, have logical thinking and the ability to reason to draw out the essence of the problem, and apply knowledge to practice. Winning high prizes in national and regional competitions for 3 consecutive years proves that Thanh is a capable, stable and promising student" said Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Vu, a History teacher at the Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted.

Aside from her outstanding academic achievements, Thanh has won medals at table tennis tournaments many times in the individual and team events at the municipal-level Phu Dong Sports Festival.

"The Youth Union gives me confidence. Sports give me health and perseverance. I was lucky to have a chance to play table tennis when I was young. In addition to studying, playing table tennis helps me train my body, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and be persistent, patient and determined to overcome difficulties and conquer all challenges" Thanh said.

Reporting by PHAM DINH DUOC - Translating by M.DUNG