Tracy Zhang

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"Hidden behind the accomplishments are the trials that people fail to see, trials from which I have learned not to rely on luck, but to depend on my own strength and determination to keep my dreams alive."

  • Alumni of: 2006 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program
  • Hometown: Chengdu, China

Biography

For nine years of schooling, Tracy-Ying Zhang scored at the top of her class in Chengdu, China. She grew dissatisfied, however, "with the test-oriented Chinese school education that, with inflexible curriculum and emphasis on class rank, neither crafts individuality nor nourishes personal goals." She wanted to study someplace where her dreams could become reality. That became possible when she and her mother moved to the US. She enrolled in a Seattle high school and, even without language school, earned top grades and honors. She began to dream of going to an American university and becoming a physicist.

Back in China, she immediately began taking English classes in the hopes of returning to the US, which she was able to do at 16. Tracy-Ying enrolled in the Running Start Program when she returned to Washington, which allows high-achieving high school students to take early college courses. She spent her junior and senior years as a fulltime community college student. Today, she is focused on physics. "A career in physics promises constant learning, collaboration with brilliant minds and the excitement of discovery." She regards physics as a promising career of learning, intellectual challenge and discovery, which she will explore with "tenacity and adventurous spirit."

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