Seniors of CPS: Bethany Zhao

Interview conducted by Elsa Chun '28

Monday, October 27th, 2025 at 3:20 PM.

Bethany: I remember when Samana used to do this.  

Elsa: She did it with me last year! Okay, I have some rapid fire questions. Favorite Trader Joe snack?

Bethany: Maybe those cookie bars, like the really long ones.

Elsa: The dunkers? 

Bethany: Yes! If I didn't have self control, I'd eat the whole thing.

Elsa: Freshman physics or Asian worlds?

Bethany: Asian worlds.

Elsa: Gym deck or Student Commons?

Bethany: Gym deck. Student Commons smells.

Elsa: Eugh. Go-to karaoke song?

Bethany: "Let It Go." 

Elsa: Oh, nice. Best way to spend a rainy day?

Bethany: Inside? Yeah, I don't know. Like I can watch people frolic outside, but I need to be inside with a hot chocolate or something.

Elsa: Okay, Favorite day of the week?

Bethany: Friday. Then you can go home.

Elsa: One item on your bucket list?

Bethany: To go to China and eat Chinese food. 

Elsa: Oh my goodness, sounds so fun! All right, I have some longer response questions, so you can talk a little more about these. What is something that not a lot of people know about you?

Bethany: I don't know?? This is a hard one. Maybe I should have prepped beforehand. 

Elsa: No, no need to do that. We can come back to it.

Bethany: Can I enlist the help of a friend to help me?

Elsa: Sure! 

Bethany: I could probably find them. Okay, let's come back to this one.

Elsa: If you could say thank you to one place on campus, what would it be and why?

Bethany: Oh, the art room. It has those really, really big windows so you can see everything, and the sunlight makes you happy and not depressed. Then you get to see people's artworks that are, like, unfinished. I keep seeing Sophie's pieces, and she just has great artwork. 

Elsa: All right, What's one of your favorite CPS memories?

Bethany: Hmm, I think… Well, I'll give you one that’s most memorable. It was sophomore retreat on the rafting [trip], and it was really, really cold and people were falling in the water, and then once you got out, you were so cold, like walking was painful. 

Elsa: Oh!

Bethany: I feel like a lot of people cried that day. [But] there's like, a good experience in that. I feel like that’s the best retreat I've ever had.

Elsa: Oh, yeah, like trauma bonding. 

Bethany: Yes! Like trauma bonding.

Elsa: Okay, If you could give advice to your freshman year self, what would it be?

Bethany: Wait, hold on. Can I just tack on one more thing? We all got to be intense, and with our friends.

Elsa: Nice! If you could give advice to your freshman year self, what would it be?

Bethany: Uh, stop worrying so much about what other people think of you and about if your friends, like, secretly hate you. This is coming across as really negative [laughs] maybe cut that out. And you know, just enjoy life, talk to lots of new people. I think I used to hyperobsess on specific relationships, and that's just really not great. And I think, you know, branch out, meet as many people as possible, and also study more [laughs], like actually focus on your studying. 

Elsa: Oh, that was pretty deep. All right, last question, where do you see yourself in five years?

Bethany: Graduated from college, I see that in me, also, possibly with a job. I'd like to have a job.

Elsa: Like what?

Bethany: I don't know. I have no idea, but we'll see.

Elsa: Do you know what area you want to go into?

Bethany: Probably something in economics or business if all goes well, although I don't know if I'm gonna have the skill set for that. We'll see. And then, you know, I'd love to see my sister more.

Elsa: Awww, older or younger?

Bethany: Older by eight years.

Elsa: Wow, that's a lot. All right, should we come back to the first question? What is something that not a lot of people know about you? 

Bethany: Can I just call those two people over there?

Elsa: Yeah.

Bethany (to friends): Claire! Samana! What's a little known thing about me?

Friend (Samana): You skate and sing really well. 

Elsa: Oh yeah, figure skating! You figure skate! You have a YouTube channel with like five subscribers.

Bethany: How do you know that?

Elsa: Wasn’t I just talking about how I subscribe to your youtube?

Friend (Samana): Can I just say it? So something people might not know about Bethany is that she gives really, really good advice for all situations. So if you have a problem… actually, she might not appreciate that [all laugh].

Bethany: Oh, you know what? I’m also good at giving advice about romantic relationships, even though I've never been in one. [Friends agree] If you ever want help about that, I'm right here.

Friend (Samana): Yes, and she can sing really, really well, and will randomly start singing, and it's always very nice because it brightens our days.

Elsa: Awww, all right, that's the very end of our interview. Thank you so much!

Bethany: Thank you!