This isn't the first time Minh has attended such competitions. Earlier, as a 5th grader, he received awards in youth informatics at both city and provincial levels for secondary school students.

Talking about the provincial level Informatics exam, Minh said that it was challenging for students of his age, yet he performed well. With a score of 18.3 points, he earned first prize.

Minh credited his success to a strong foundation of knowledge accumulated over time, combined with guidance and support from his teachers. This set the stage for him to enter the competition with confidence and determination to do his best. He completed the exam in just half the allotted time.

Teachers noted that 7th graders' inexperience compared to 9th graders can be a disadvantage in competition. To overcome this, Minh needed to have very good knowledge in Informatics, allowing him to secure first place.

Minh said that his passion for mathematics started at a young age, and then for informatics, and that he can quickly understand informatics lessons. The more he learned, the deeper his passion grew, and he developed his own methods of studying.

"Informatics fascinates me because it allows me to use Scratch to create games and comics. Additionally, it helps create operations applied to real-world problems," Minh explained.

To enhance his knowledge, Minh regularly seeks specialized materials in English. Besides support from teachers at school, he also has the companionship of his father, who is an Informatics teacher.

"For specialized terms, I need to look them up multiple times. For difficult algorithms, I try to find the most scientific way to solve them. I also prioritize practicing exercises available online to deepen my knowledge in this subject," Minh said.

Apart from his passion for math and informatics, the young student admits to being a "bookworm." Whenever he has free time, Minh is engrossed in reading, often choosing scientific books.

Tran Thanh Kien, Principal of Le Van Thiem Secondary School, said that Minh has a solid grasp of knowledge, is talented and very brave. His superiority is clearly shown when he participates in advanced level exams and wins first prize in the provincial-level IT competition.

With his constant efforts, Tran Anh Minh won prizes at the city-level and provincial-level IT competitions for young people in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, a gold medal at TIMO, and a silver medal at SASMO in 2023-2024.

Dau Tinh