Senior Spotlight: Karen Zheng (12-4)

You’re on Masterman’s Volleyball Team. What are some of your memories of it? What has it been like during the pandemic?

Being a part of the volleyball team was an absolute blast and has led me to meet amazing friends. Last year’s team dynamic was incredible, I was always hunched over from laughing so hard. Some stand-out memories include our hotel motel chant, circling around Coach Jones for no apparent reason, and pretending to help set up the nets. In my opinion, it was a healthy team that didn’t get upset at each other over mistakes. Even managing boys’ volleyball with my teammates was always full of smiles; we would often get food from Chinatown after their practice. I chose not to play this year because it would be too much of a hassle for my parents to drive me to practice everyday, and I would not be allowed to take SEPTA. I’ve daydreamed about my senior game countless times, but I suppose the continuous postponing of the season has helped me accept it because I was expecting things to turn out this way.

You are a talented artist and very crafty. What is something that you’ve created that you feel especially proud of?

Towards the beginning of the pandemic, I started working on a black and white painting of Rice University’s campus. It was connected to a theme in one of my supplemental essays, and there was a part of the application where I had to submit any photo I wanted. I felt proud of the painting because I’ve never done something in b&w before - usually my paintings are very colorful.

You work at your family’s restaurant. What has that experience been like? What’s your favorite thing on the menu?

I only help at my restaurant during the summers and holidays usually just clearing tables or being an extra cashier. It’s been okay, I don’t particularly like working there but I don’t mind it either. I get a lot of customers that claim they’ve known me since I was *this* tall, yet I don’t know them. My favorite thing to get is definitely any sushi roll. Unfortunately, we stopped selling sushi for the time being since we closed our restaurant to indoor dining.

What’s your favorite book or movie and why?

I don’t have an absolute fav, but if I had to choose on the spot, I’d say Train to Busan.

If you could live in one fictional universe, where would you live?

In a Studio Ghibli film, maybe My Neighbor Totoro or Howl’s Moving Castle. The Ghibli universe is just so peaceful and beautiful.

If you could add a class or club to Masterman, what would it be? Why?

I would add a Japanese language class because I want to visit Japan one day.

If you could give advice to your freshman self, what would it be?

Try Sweetgreen.

What are your hopes and dreams for the future?

I will be majoring in biochemistry, but I’m not exactly sure what job I want to hold. I’m interested in the research field and hope to get internships at the Texas Medical Center as part of my undergrad experience. I have a list of clubs/organizations that I plan to join once I’m at Rice, and I’m really excited to get involved with them. Some are cultural, some academic, and others involve community service. I want to make the most of my four years there. Looking further into the future, I also want to own a really cool aquarium with unique marine life (a small octopus, starfish, cowfish… ) and pretty corals.

In a world where everyone has the vaccine, what is the first thing you’d do?

I would invite people over to bake/decorate a cute cake which we would then take on a picnic with lots of other food. I’d get many bottles of sparkling apple cider that we’d drink out of wine glasses.