Hello Codeforces.

Usually, I don't post blogs about my personal life to any online social media platforms, but today, I want to share with you the story of my school life.

First of all, here are some information about me. I am a 14-year-old boy (15 this June) who lives and studies in Hanoi, Vietnam. I am in 9th grade in a prestigious gifted school in the city. I like to play football, watch cooking shows and Classic Tetris. My dream is to one day make it to the International Mathematics Olympiad and win a gold medal. Codeforces is more of a fun hobby for me, and I don't take ratings too seriously, rather just solve problems for fun.

But right now, my mental health is at an absolute low.

In the beginning of June this year, all 9th graders in my city (including me) have to take a very important examination. This exam not only determines the high school we go to, but it basically determines our future. Whether or not a student is accepted into a gifted school is because of this test.

Most of my problems I will be getting into shortly is because of this test. You see, here in Hanoi, students are very competitive. Every time we attend a mock test, from the day we take the test to the day the results are published, people argue with others about their work, and the smallest score margins can basically break friendships and bonds. And this is true for everyone in my class. Even when I don't want to talk about test scores, they drag me into conversations and make me feel bad for scoring just a quarter of a point higher than theirs. And this toxic environment has really gotten into me.