Volleyball may seem simple, but it actually has high requirements for skills and coordination. Basic moves like serving, passing, setting, and blocking are often daunting for beginners. "When I first started practicing, I often felt frustrated because I didn’t have enough strength for overhand serves, and my arms were always bruised from high-intensity hits," she shared with us.
Despite facing many difficulties, Zheng Hao was not defeated. Instead, with a group of like-minded volleyball partners, this companionship and persistence gradually gave her the strength to face challenges. "Many classmates in my class love playing volleyball, and there is a group of us who go to the outdoor court for training every day," she recalled with a smile. In the days that followed, Zheng Hao practiced skills day after day with everyone. As she got better at volleyball, she gradually felt a sense of accomplishment.
Not long after enrolling in ZJUI, during a physical education class, Zheng Hao caught the attention of the coach of the Zhejiang University Women's Volleyball Team with her solid skills and excellent performance. Soon after, she received an invitation to try out for the team. At the trial, her stable technical moves and unyielding spirit in the face of high-intensity confrontations helped her stand out and successfully join the team. Now, Zheng Hao is representing ZJUI in the Zhejiang University "Sanhao Cup" Women's Volleyball Match. After winning consecutive games, the team has successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.
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Beyond volleyball, Zheng Hao has had a passion for vocal music since she was a child. "In junior high school, I signed up for weekly choral classes, and later successfully joined the school choir. At that time, I sang the second part, which is the mezzo-soprano," she recalled.
As her choral training deepened, Zheng Hao’s vocal skills gradually improved, and she also began to get opportunities to participate in more important performances and competitions. In her third year of junior high school, her school choir successfully entered the 7th Jiangsu Provincial Art Exhibition for Primary and Middle School Students and was invited to participate in the finals at Wuxi Grand Theater. However, such an important competition would inevitably take up a lot of her study time—on one hand was the imminent pressure of the senior high school entrance exam, and on the other was her vocal passion she couldn't bear to give up. She was once caught in a difficult dilemma.
After consideration, Zheng Hao still decided to take on her responsibility as a member of the choir and spare no effort to prepare for the competition. During that period, she seized every minute during the day to catch up on her lessons, and immediately devoted herself to choral practice in the evenings and spare time. Although those days of juggling studies and choir practice were tough, they made her deeply understand the importance of time management and planning ahead, and gradually enabled her to find a balance between study and interests.
Shortly after entering ZJUI, Zheng Hao was selected to serve as ZJUI's soprano section leader of Zhejiang University's 2025 freshman chorus, taking on responsibilities including daily section rehearsals and coordinating with seniors. From section joint practices to refining every detail of the performance, she worked with her peers to reach Zhejiang University's stage. There, they not only performed the university's alma mater in full but also presented their chosen piece, Zhui Xun (Pursuit). Finally, on the final stage, their seamless teamwork and resonant voices earned them the highest score of the entire event.
Zheng Hao shared, "Since senior high school, ZJUI has been my ideal university. When I visited the International Campus in my third year of senior high school, its English instruction, interdisciplinary education, and international academic atmosphere left a deep impression on me."
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To adapt in advance to learning at ZJUI, Zheng Hao signed up for the National Scientific and Technological Innovation Talent Training Program (Talent Program) during senior high school. Under the guidance of university professors, she participated in many basic research projects—not only did she gain first-hand experience of the research process, but she also learned standardized experimental methods. This experience not only cultivated her research ability but also helped her better identify her interests and even clarify the professional field she wanted to study in the future. "Actually, I was quite interested in physics in senior high school," Zheng Hao added. "Besides, seeing that cutting-edge technologies have an increasing demand for research in the electrical field, I finally chose the program of Electrical Engineering after comprehensive consideration."
When talking about her freshly started university life, Zheng Hao spoke openly: “Back in high school, my days were pretty much packed with a fixed class schedule—I barely had big chunks of time to plan for myself. But in university, I’ve got more free time to work with after class. This feeling of ‘being able to control my own pace’ makes me really want to plan things out well.” On top of that, she has a more specific “small goal”: “I hope to focus on learning my professional courses, and as soon as my first year of university, find a chance to join ZJUI faculty’s research projects. That way, I can put the theories from textbooks into practice, and gradually figure out which of the many fields I’m more interested in—so I can get a clearer idea of my future research direction.”
May the coming four years let Zheng Hao build not just a strong foundation in her field of study, but also keep broadening her horizons as she dives into her interests.
