Where They’re Headed: Youkun Zhou ’17

With College Possible, the Spanish major will counsel and support Philadelphia high school students through the college application process.

Youkun Zhou ’17 knows firsthand that the college application process is hectic and can be daunting. So after graduating with a Spanish major and linguistics minor, she’s helping Philadelphia high schoolers take on the tests, essays, and forms that pave the way to college acceptance.

With College Possible, a non-profit affiliated with AmeriCorps, Zhou will mentor roughly 40 low-income high school students (both individually and in small groups) to guide them through the college application process and help improve their standardized test scores.

“College app is an extremely exciting yet stressful time and I was lucky enough to have support and guidance,” she said. “The coolest part is that I’ll be alongside high schoolers who have goals but not enough guidance and support assisting them on their journey to achieving this goal— earning their college degrees.”

Zhou knew she wanted to fulfill a year of service after graduation. She has taught SAT prep and worked with marginalized youth in past summer work. And as a former peer tutor and teaching assistant at Haverford, she has experience teaching individually and in small groups.

After working with College Possible, Zhou expects to remain in the non-profit or NGO sectors. She foresees earning a degree in public administration with some work experience under her belt. As she delves into her profession, she expects to use the skills and values she gained from her undergraduate career.

“Haverford also provided me a space where the academic world and the real world complement each other,” she said, “and where I could learn how to coexist with others who are different from myself.”
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates.