The City-ranking Contest for Excellent Students is annually held by the Department of Education & Training - Ho Chi Minh City in order to help students systematize and enhance their knowledge as well as encourage their awareness of self-study. The contest includes: Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Literature, History, Geography, English, French, Japanese, and Technology. The tests are based on the content of current textbooks. There were 2,916 students taking the tests at Tran Van On High School in district 1, and 374 others at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, and the Centre for Career and Technical Education in District 11. In the contest, each district had about 12 contestants per subject. If a district had at least one winner in a subject in the previous school year 2010-2011, they could send 5 more students to take part in the contest in that subject this year. (According to the website http://edu.hochiminhcity.gov.vn)

Being one of the prize-winners in the District-ranking contest for excellent students of the school year 2011 – 2012, Phan Thi Minh Tam from class 9/16 of The Asian International School made the whole school proud for achieving an even higher prize – First prize in the City-ranking contest on March 27th 2012.

Phan Thi Minh Tam – First prize in the City-ranking contest for excellent students

Phan Thi Minh Tam is one of the most active and exemplary students of 9/16. She has been studying in The Asian International School since the first grade, and her record remains extraordinary with an excellent title in 5 years with IPS (Primary School of The Asian International School) and 4 years with AHS (Middle & High School of The Asian International School). Especially, her English skills have gradually improved and recognized as proficient at the state-of-the-art environment of The Group of Asian International Education. It is clearly shown in the "Excellent" results of every English subject she attends at school.

Minh Tam and her mates from the City-ranking contest candidate team

Having a passion for English, Tam spends most of her time studying the subject. Her listening and speaking skills are particularly impressive. She said: “My secret to be good at English is simple: Do as many grammar exercises as possible and always concentrate on any English subject to practice listening and speaking. Studying at The Asian International School helps me improve English a lot because I could talk to many native English-speaking teachers and study with them. I could learn how to pronounce and intone exactly the sounds from them. Moreover, I always try my best to learn by heart the vocabulary. I think this is very important to study a foreign language.”

Minh Tam in the Music class of the International English programme

Delighted in her recent achievement, she said: “We have had many strict hours of extra classes for the contest candidate team. Our teachers gave us various test samples from previous examinations to give experience and practice with higher level exercises. Thanks to their teaching methods and devotion to us for 9 school years, I had strongly believed that I would win this competition from the very beginning. It is my honor to give this achievement as the most valuable gift to my school, teachers and parents. Thank you all for your encouragement and support from which I got what I have today.”

In spite of spending so much time on English, Minh Tam always works hard at other subjects as well. She knows how to organize her time in order to get the best results in all subjects. She is also gifted in painting and music. The school’s extracurricular activities have never been without her. She is a good performer who always attends all of the events in the community. Particularly, in the school’s annual Christmas event, she takes the task of designing beautiful costumes for her schoolmates.

Minh Tam and her team mates being instructed by
Mr Bill Ngoc Norrie

So proud of her school, she expressed: “I enjoy studying at The Asian International School very much. The teachers here are very enthusiastic in teaching and take care of our daily activities. My schoolmates are friendly and easy to get along with. Altogether, we help each other out whenever there is a difficulty. The Asian International School is truly my second cozy home. I really love it!”

Determined to study hard and dedicate her strength and intelligence to the country, Minh Tam wishes to become a great designer one day and achieve more success in studying – get a scholarship to study abroad, show her qualification and abilities in English to the world.

With a modern educational environment based on American standards, The Asian International School has provided a wide range of relevant knowledge for Minh Tam and exposed her to be globally integrated. It is almost certain that her strong commitment towards studying will fulfill her dreams to come true.

List of The Asian International School students achieving the city-raking prizes in the academic year 2011-2012:

No.	Full Name	Class	Subject	City-level Prize	Campus
1	Phan Thi Minh Tam	9/16	English	First	Cao Thang
2	Vasudevan Janani Quynh Mai	9/2	English	Second	Pasteur
3	Tran Anh Khoa	9/8	English	Second	Cong Hoa
4	Phung Nguyen Khang	9/5	English	Second	Tran Nhat Duat
5	Ho Vuong Anh Khoa	9/14	English	Third	Cong Hoa
6	Tran Chan Hung	9/19	English	Third	Cao Thang
7	Liu Khai Hung	9/16	English	Third	Cao Thang
8	Tran Ngoc Phuong Thao	9/4	Math	Second	Tran Nhat Duat
9	Nguyen Duy Hai Dang	9/5	Math	Second	Tran Nhat Duat
10	Pham Hoang Phuc	9/11	Chemistry	Third	Cong Hoa