In Their Words: Yu Zhang

Name: Yu Zhang

Department: Psychology

What Award/Scholarship did you receive? Federico and Rena Perlino Award

What year do you expect to graduate? 2020

Where do you call home? Kunming, China

With all of the choices for college, what made UC Santa Cruz stand out? Beautiful environment and lovely people.

What is your field of focus? My research focuses on parental use of communicative behaviors (e.g., gestures, languages) in their children’s everyday learning and development.

What do you hope to do once you graduate from UC Santa Cruz? I hope to become a faculty member at a four-year university.

What is one memorable moment that stands out for you as a student here? When I saw a banana slug in the forest for the first time.

What is your one piece of advice for incoming students about life at UC Santa Cruz? Bring your hiking shoes, and be ready for the beautiful hiking trails around the campus.

How will this scholarship impact your academic life/research? This scholarship will enable me to continue my study on parental augmentative gesture use in their everyday communication with their young children. It will also give me opportunity to serve the deaf and hard of hearing community.