Thien Dang Story

Joining BVIS HCMC’s community from Bac Lieu Gifted High School in 2017, our Year 11 student – Thien Dang described his new learning journey at BVIS as “super dynamic and full of opportunities”.

Thien Dang looks absolutely delighted when someone mentions Maths in the conversation. For the past 2 years, he has been working hard both inside and outside of school, continuously challenging himself to push the boundaries in his mathematical understanding. Thien Dang owns an amazing array of medals including an individual silver at SEA MC and a silver prize from the World Mathematics Competition, which invites only a selection of the world’s most promising mathematical students to attend. “With SEA MC, I had fun in joining the contest with some of my peers Tuan Kiet and Vinh Ky from our school. Our collaboration went well and that brought us a bronze prize for the group category. In addition, I was also awarded silver for the individual category. This earned me an invite to join the World Mathematics Competition in Melbourne, Australia with nearly 100 contestants from around the world. It was a competitive run and I was lucky to gain a silver award at this round.”

Having recently finished his final IGCSE examination in the 2nd week of June, Thien Dang is now looking forward to a relaxing Summer and excitedly looks forward to his results over in August. For Dang, the experience that he has gained from his IGCSE subjects including Maths, Computer Science and Business Studies at BVIS have been instrumental in his overall academic and moral development . “The IGCSE programme in general provides all broad and practical knowledge that I found applicable in real life. For Mathematics, it’s interesting to see how the subject has developed my competence and fluency with mathematical concepts, methods and skills. It’s a stereotype that Maths is dry and boring sometimes but it’s not true here at BVIS. Our Maths teacher – Ms Akther (seen in the picture with Dang) has a creative and fun approach to each lesson so I found the subject more appealing. It’s so easier to come and talk to BVIS teachers about any problems you may be experiencing so your individual learning journey goes so smoothly as you move through the school.”

When asked about his motivations to take part in various competitions, Thien Dang shared,” One of my first impressions when I got into BVIS was the school aims to encourage students to be ambitious. It’s just meaningful and beneficial for young people to embrace themselves and be ready for new challenges all the time. This has helped me to raise my confidence and boost my sense of achievement even more. The motto (from Nord Anglia Education) somehow coincides with my favourite quote from Archimedes, who said, “Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the Earth”. For me, the achievements I have made both at BVIS and in my Maths competitions will become a solid foundation to stand and I know that I can stretch myself further to reach my dreams and targets in the future.”

Thien Dang though did not realise his potential in the subject at the beginning but through lots of strategic learning and practice.

“I was in a Literacy specialized class until Grade 4. Then I started doing Maths and saw how interesting the subject was. Through about 1.5 hours of practice every day and getting my work well organised, it amazed me how much I have improved myself with Maths. For me Maths is not always about numbers, I sometimes feel like you do need a level of creativity so the problems can be solved accurately and logically. The cutting-edge technology that we have access to now enable us to do so many interesting things. “If I were to give advice to any BVIS student who wanted to improve their own mathematical learning, I recommend that they work out a good schedule in which you have time for different mathematical topics and practice, practice, practice. I used my textbooks but nothing compares to the excellent teaching I receive from school.”

Aiming to follow his dream career in Software Development after his graduation from BVIS, Thien Dang is optimistic and confident about his future thanks to school’s guidance and curriculum. “I really enjoy my IGCSE programme. This is an excellent preparation for my A Levels next year and the first step in gaining entrance to my desired university. My objective is improving my English skills and competency now and BVIS is really helping me with that. There are opportunities to take part in a wide range of different activities and challenges both on and off campus, which is great for me to improve my profile when applying to my desired university”.