Reporter: Greetings mr. Khuất Duy Dũng, I'm an interviewer from the Ams Wide Web club. First and foremost, I would like to send my gratitude to you for taking part in our club's interview today. As we may all know, the school opening ceremony has become a yearly event that any student or alumni of the school would come to cherish dearly. With that, I’d like to ask you just how important you think the opening ceremony is in the minds of each Amser in particular and in each student in general?

Mr. Dũng: For me, the opening ceremony acts as  a starting point of a new school year. More than just an annual ceremony, this occasion is also a critical moment that will make long-lasting impressions on our hearts. Needless to say, each opening ceremony is the root of the dreams and desires of millions of people, including Amsers studying at our beloved Hanoi - Amsterdam High School. This could mark the returning point where changes happen to us and the starting point where the journey of our teachers and students begin.

Mr. Khuất Duy Dũng and other teachers present at the school’s opening ceremony of  2022-2023

Reporter: That was a lovely answer coming from you there. In the ceremony, a variety of impressive art performances filled with the Ams essence were staged to celebrate this new school year. Would you mind telling us a little bit regarding your thoughts and feelings about these performances?

Mr. Dũng: For me, all the art performances that were shown on the stage on that day were perfect. These performances have both managed to preserve the old cultural values while also representing the essence of contemporary culture, leaving all of us with many memorable experiences. The one performed by the History class in particular succeeded in incorporating folk music into their dances to underline the traditional beauty of Vietnamese women. These are the values that students need to preserve, and it was truly great that this year’s Ams opening ceremony gave us the very chance to learn more about what this meant to us.

Teacher Khuất Duy Dũng - the head teacher of class 11 History of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School

Reporter: In the congratulation letter from President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, he quoted a line from President Ho Chi Minh's poem relevant to the new year’s day of opening ceremony: "Sun will come after the rain". So, to you, as we are now facing a school year suffering from the aftermath of the pandemic, what are the responsibilities that each and every student must take to help make this poem a reality?

Mr. Dũng: The responsibility of dealing with the consequences to boost education after the pandemic not only falls on Amsers of our school but also on all the students nationwide and worldwide, requiring every educator around the world to join hands, strive to overcome and make their ways through the ultimate goal of promoting knowledge. As you see in our school and across the nation of Vietnam in general, this year is the beginning of a change in our learning curriculum. With changes always come opportunities and challenges, so each Amser has to grab this chance to gain access to an education system more innovative and suitable to the current conditions. Besides, we must also learn to engage with reality and solve the inevitable problems that every one of us will face in the future.

Reporter: For years, flag day has always occupied a special place in everyone’s hearts. For this new school year, Amsers once again had a real blast witnessing all the colorful flags representing the 13 classes of Ams being unfurled. Having been attached to Ams as a teacher of the school, what are your thoughts on this year’s flag day?

Mr. Dũng: I've worked here since 2006, so it's already been 15 years. Every time it was flag day, I would become surrounded by the fierce and lively atmosphere of the whole school and, as a teacher, feel the clear burning passion and youthful enthusiasm of Amsers like you. And this year’s special on that flag day coincided with the school’s opening ceremony, as if an assertion for the slogan that our school has been proudly chanting all these years: Where dream begins. It was an atmosphere so unique to Ams that cannot be replicated in its glory.

Mr.Dung's thoughts on the flag day of Amsers during the new year’s opening ceremony

Reporter: Thank you for your responses to the previous questions. We're coming close to the end of this interview, so do you want to leave anything as a message to Ams students in particular and to the people present at the opening in general?

 Mr. Dũng: First of all, I want to send my sincerest thanks to the teachers and all the guests for making time to join Ams’ opening ceremony for the school year 2022 - 2023. For our school’s students, I would love to see all of you mature and continue your intellectual and personality growth in Ams. “Practice your attitude, hone your crafts”. Those are the two things that I hope and expect from my students. I believe that you - the talented and well-behaved Amsers of mine will be able to achieve more success in the next school year.

Mr. Dung expressed his gratitude towards the attention that the guests and leaders have directed towards the ceremony.

Reporter: On behalf of the website’s editorial board, we want to thank you for sharing your honest and meaningful thoughts today! We wish you and all students a new school year full of new achievements and memorable moments to be had at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School.

Translator: Nguyễn Ngọc Khôi Nguyên - English 2 2023

Image: Provided by Mr. Khuất Duy Dũng and the school