Freshman Ted Zhou works on his laptop during his free period in the Matthews Library.
In the “New Kids on the Block” series, new students were interviewed on their life outside of SCDS.
Ted Zhou, a graduate of Haikou Middle School, is an incoming freshman international student from Haikou, China. Next is freshman Bill Tsui.
Q: What was your previous school in China like?
A: This school is very small compared to my old school. There were 1,000 students in my grade. My school also only taught the middle-school grades sixth to eighth.
Q: Why did you choose Country Day?
A: The Chinese exchange-student agency, UC Education, recommended three different schools. The recommended schools were in San Diego, New Jersey and here. I chose this one because it had better SAT scores compared to the other two schools and looked to have better educational opportunities for me.
Q: Do you play any sports?
A: I have played basketball since I was born and golf for around a year. I plan to play on the golf team in spring.
Q: Do you have any hobbies or extracurricular activities outside of school?
A: In my free time, I like to play basketball, listen to music and talk to some of my friends here in the U.S.
Q: Any siblings or pets?
A: I have a brother named James that is three years older than me. He is currently in New York for college.
Q: What is an interesting fact about you that would surprise people?
A: That I am a compassionate person.
Q: What did you do over the summer?
A: I read a lot of novels, specifically English ones to help improve my reading. Most of the books that I read were from the (freshman) summer reading list, though my favorite book was “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Q: What do you miss the most about China?
A: The main thing I miss about China is the food. I went to one Chinese restaurant called Good Friends (Sacramento), and while the food was okay, it wasn’t great.
Q: What are your favorite classes? Why?
A: My favorite class right now would be physics because it doesn’t involve too much math right now, and I also like to study science in general.
—By David Situ
