If
Vincent Zhou had a motto, it might be "Learning never stops."
Reaching out to new people, exploring different ways of working and pushing beyond his comfort zone helped Zhou exceed even his own expectations last season. A campaign that opened with a disappointing fourth-place finish at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in September ended with a World bronze medal in March.
"It was about finding the kinds of training that worked for me, making adjustments to my technique, becoming more confident with my capabilities," Zhou said. "Reaching out to different places helps me constantly absorb new information. I was able to take in a lot of information in ways that could expand my skating."
Now, the 18-year-old from Palo Alto, California, is searching again. This time, it's to expand his mind; Zhou will matriculate this fall as a freshman at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
The distinguished Ivy League school checked all of his boxes: small class sizes; a diverse, eclectic curriculum and student body; and, of course, an international reputation.
"I like the environment and the city around it," Zhou said. "It's not super crowded and busy, and there are something like 979 available courses, so I think I'll discover things I didn't even know I wanted to learn about."
Brown's sprawling Main Green, a campus center with majestic elm trees and a seven-foot Brown bear statue, appeals to him as a perfect setting to form new ideas and friendships.
"There are big trees growing everywhere, and students are lounging on the grass discussing things and enjoying themselves," he said. "It's got an ice rink on campus (Meehan Auditorium) and some of my other choices did not. I will be able to keep training for the coming season when I do my semester on campus there."
Read the full story in the August-September issue of SKATING Magazine.
