Student Impact
5 Reasons to Know...
Who: Cheng Zhu, Ed.M.’02
What: Doctoral student, human development and psychology
Where: Beijing, China
Why: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Or in this case, the student doesn’t fall far from her dissertation research topic. Cheng Zhu spent the summer figuring out what makes up-and-coming Chinese leaders tick, but it’s clear that after six years at Harvard, she herself is an up-and-coming leader who is working hard to make Harvard a better place for all graduate students.
1. As president of the Harvard Graduate Council, the student government for the university’s 11 graduate schools, she’s a uniter pushing for uniform cross registration policies and a common academic calendar. She’s also trying to make graduate students less isolated from one another. A sign that it may be working: tickets for the council’s annual speed-dating event sold out in 20 hours.
2. She grew up, literally, at the famous Peking Opera, where her grandfather is an actor and the opera’s stage director. Fascinated by the performers, she also began performing: ballet, modern dance, Chinese folk dance, fan dance, and hip hop. She’s even tried her hand at stand-up comedy at the Ed School’s annual multicultural festival.
3. She wants people to know that Harvard graduate students care about more than just academics. Using a grant from the provost’s office, she’s organizing a day of public service for students to paint schools and clean parks.
4. As a peer advisor, she helps other international students navigate the sometimes confusing American culture. She also helps them pick classes and even encourages them to take one they think they’ll hate. (For her it was statistics.) “It can tell you a lot about your own limits,” she says.
5. She’s infectiously optimistic and happy. “When I came here, I adopted an open mind and open heart attitude, which is why I was able to adapt to a new environment,” she says. “Both of my parents taught me to be happy and even to enjoy failure.”
About the Article
A version of this article originally appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Ed., the magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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photo by Martha Stewart
