Academic year 2016-17

Bùi Trọng Chương scholarships for the academic year 2016-17 have been awarded to three students at the Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted: Đinh Công Khánh, Thái Hoàng Ngọc Vỹ, and Đỗ Thế Thùy Trang. In addition, each student also received  a complementary scholarship, worth up to 7.5 million VND, for language study at the Centrepoint (Hợp điểm) Foreign Language School, contributed by Mr. Trần Hữu Phúc Tiến, CEO of Centrepoint/Hợp điểm Ltd.

Attending the scholarship award ceremony on December 21, 2016 were Vice Principal  Trương Thị Lệ Hà of the Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted, and three members of the Management Committee of the Bùi Trọng Chương Scholarship Fund, Mr. Võ Anh Dũng (Vice Chair of External Affairs of the Management Committee and former Principal of the Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted), Mr. Lương Văn Hy (Chair of the Management Committee), and Mr. Trần Hữu Phúc Tiến (member of the Management Committee).

1.     Thái Hoàng Ngọc Vỹ, 11^th grader (specialized in Mathematics)

Mr. Thái Hoàng Ngọc Vỹ has stood out both in his academic pursuits and in other activities. As an eighth-grader at the Phan Châu Trinh Junior High School in his native Quảng Nam province, Vỹ received the second prize and the “Invention” prize for his software program (Learn Pronunciation) in the software competition for youth in Quảng Nam province. He also regularly wrote stories for the youth newspaper Thiếu niên Tiền phong. The earnings from his contributions to the newspaper helped to pay for his school-related expenses during his junior high school years, and thus alleviated the burden on his own parents with their limited economic resources and five children in school.

Succeeding in the highly competitive entrance examination to the Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted, Vỹ moved to Saigon and lived with his elder siblings in a rented housing unit. In his 10^th grade, Vỹ got the silver medal in Information Technology in the academic Olympic competition for high school students in the southern half of Vietnam. He also got the prize “Writer with Promise ” in the 2016 national young writer competition organized by the Vietnamese Writer Association and the Youth Association. In January 2017, as a 11^th grader, Vỹ also got the third prize in the ISEF (International Science and Engineering Fair) competition in Hồ Chí Minh City.

Vỹ also actively participated in extracurricular activities. He joined the Bung camp 2016 to help orphans at the Thủ Đức Picasso orphanage. Vỹ also established a “Flying Fingers” fund-raising campaign and, together with friends, has raised more than 4 million VND to help 4 students in his native Quảng Nam province during the flooding in 2016.

Vỹ speaks with enthusiasm, confidence, and strong determination about his academic and extracurricular interests, despite adverse circumstances. Every day, he leaves home at 4-5 a.m., takes bus to the high school (20 kilometers away from home), and returns home around 6-7 p.m. 

Vỹ plans to study either computer science or medicine after graduating from high school.

2.     Đỗ Thế Thùy Trang, 11^th grader (specialized in Literature)

Miss Đỗ Thế Thùy Trang is an outstanding student in the 11^th grade specialized in Literature at the Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted. Besides Literature, she also loves to study Mathematics and Geography.

In the 2015-16 academic year, as an 10^th grader, Trang won the Literature gold medal in the academic Olympic competition for students in the southern half of Vietnam. In 2016-17, she won the first prize in the student writing competition “Rise with the Nation”. She was also selected to participate in the national student competition in January 2017, a competition with mostly 12^th graders. She won an honorary mention in literature in this competition.

Trang’s father is a carpenter who works for construction projects and travels with them. Her mother stays home to take care of Trang and her younger sister; she works part-time as a garment home worker.

Trang pursues her academic interests with enthusiasm and determination, despite the fact that her family is not well off.

Trang plans to study either business or human resource management at the university level.

3.     Đinh Công Khánh, 12^th grader (specialized in Physics)

Mr. Đinh Công Khánh is an outstanding student in the 12^th grade specialized in Physics at the Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted. He ranked first in his class in grade 10 and grade 11 (in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years). In both years, he won the Physics gold medals in the academic Olympic competition for students in the southern half of Vietnam. In grade 11, he was selected to participate in the annual national academic competition, and won an honorary mention in Physics. Most participants in this competition are grade-12 students. He won the second prize in Physics in this national competition in 2016-17.

Besides Physics, Khánh also has strong interests in Mathematics and Literature. He has also received the Yola scholarship to study English. He plans to study Engineering in university.

Khánh’s parents, originally from Đồng Nai province (north of Saigon), are small-scale merchants in Phan Thiết. He is currently living with his elder brother in a rented room in Saigon.