From a Bachelor of Mathematics to Philosophy, the 28-year-old graduated as valedictorian from the Faculty of Humanities.

With a GPA of 3.84/4.0, Tung Duong graduated with distinction, becoming both the valedictorian of the Philosophy major and the valedictorian of the entire university. Duong confided that he was very surprised to learn that he was the valedictorian of the entire university, as he hadn't felt much pressure regarding grades beforehand.
Graduating from university at the age of 28, Duong doesn't consider it a late start. Instead, he's happy to have pursued his greatest passion in life.

In 2014, while a second-year mathematics student at the Faculty of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Hoang Tung Duong stumbled upon Immanuel Kant's *Critique of Pure Reason* – a foundational work of classical German philosophy. He gradually became engrossed in the book's content and discovered many valuable insights. That was the moment Duong realized the extraordinary allure of philosophical knowledge.
“The greatest appeal of philosophy to me is that it answers essential questions. When reading the works of philosopher Immanuel Kant, I was able to answer questions such as: What is man? What can man know? What are the limits of human knowledge? What should man do? What should man hope for? These questions are quite general, but when you think about them deeply, they are very interesting,” Duong said.
Every day, outside of school and his part-time job, whenever he had free time, Duong would go online and search for philosophical works. The more he read, the more he wanted to learn.
In 2017, Duong graduated from the University of Natural Sciences, and then worked as a math teacher for two years. There were times when the thought "what is my true passion?" crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it due to the pressure of having a stable job.
It wasn't until 2019, the immense pain of losing her grandmother, that Duong realized she needed to change: "At that time, I thought that human life is finite. I wanted to live with my passion, to do what I love," Duong confided.
So, in 2019, Duong took the national high school graduation exam as a private candidate to apply for admission to the Philosophy major at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Coming from a Natural Sciences background, and with Philosophy being a major that accepted students from the A00 group (Mathematics - Physics - Chemistry), Duong didn't face many difficulties in preparing for the exam. He scored 23 points that year, enough to be admitted to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Speaking about the secret to achieving a GPA of 3.84/4.0, Tung Duong confided that he doesn't have any special secrets. In fact, Duong doesn't study day and night. Instead, he focuses intently in class, takes careful notes, and immediately asks his teachers for clarification on anything he doesn't understand. At home, Duong supplements and expands his knowledge by researching, reading additional materials, and conducting his own studies.
According to him, most of the exams at school are written tests, essays, and oral examinations. Therefore, talking with teachers and asking thorough questions to grasp the knowledge in class is essential. In addition, a strong foundation in Mathematics also helps Duong a lot in studying Philosophy, because some subjects rely heavily on formulas or mathematical symbols for reasoning.
"I think some people find Philosophy very difficult because they haven't really focused and developed a systematic way of thinking. Philosophy has logic; you just need to grasp this logical flow to understand it. If you try to memorize every single piece of information, it's difficult, but if you remember the logical flow and deduce the concepts accordingly, the knowledge becomes simpler," Duong shared.
 

Outside of class time, Duong regularly participates in activities organized by her class, faculty, and university, especially the Student Philosophy Olympiad competitions.
Besides that, scientific research is also one of his favorite activities. In the 2021-2022 academic year, Hoang Tung Duong won first prize in his department and first prize nationwide in the Student Scientific Research Competition, with his individual topic "The Philosophy of Paul Karl Feyerabend".
At the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Tung Duong is one of the top scholarship recipients, having received the Academic Excellence Scholarship in all 8 semesters. To qualify for this scholarship, students need to have a GPA in the top 5% of their class, with no subjects below a B grade. In addition, Duong was also awarded a scholarship from the Pony Chung Scholarship Foundation in South Korea, providing $600 USD per student (approximately 15 million VND).
Tung Duong shared that practical philosophy is very close to life. “For example, a person has to decide whether to follow their interests or their responsibilities. There are certain schools of thought that support following responsibilities, while others support following interests. We will encounter these situations very often in life. Philosophical knowledge will help us make more rational and better decisions,” he cited as an example.
Duong suggests that if young people are initially interested in philosophy, they can look for books that incorporate philosophical elements into everyday stories (such as Sophie's World - a novel by Jostein Gaarder), and then gradually delve deeper into the subject.
Speaking about her future plans, Duong said she will continue her studies to obtain a master's degree so that she can fulfill her dream of becoming a Philosophy lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities or another university.