People of PBPS: Jenna Zhang
What’d you do this weekend?
I went home this weekend, to Acton, MA. It’s 40 min west of here, but it’s not Western Mass (i.e. the middle of nowhere). Fun fact: Greg and I are from the same school district!
Since you’re from nearby, do you have a favorite restaurant in the square?
Felipe’s is always a classic. For a more formal occasion, Spice I guess. Though if I were to go on a date I’d go to Felipe’s.
If you could go to dinner Felipe’s with anybody, who would it be?
Maya Angelou. I’ve never been a humanities person, always lotsa science, but her poetry is on point.
Why does her poetry speak to you, as opposed to, say, Shakespeare?
Shakespeare does NOT speak to me, that’s a whole different language. Her poetry manage to achieve meaning without coming off as pretentious, patronizing, or contrived.
Special talent?
I play ukelele. I can do a cartwheel too!
Favorite woodland creature?
Bunny, because my sister is year of the rabbit. While I’m year of the pig. That’s why when my mom texts me she includes little pig emojis. (“Shoutout to PBPS mothers part 2” - Apu)
Most embarrassing moment?
So this is almost too long, should I do like top 5 or top 3? Here I got 2 (“I’m surprised, I thought it would be more than 2” - Kevin Yang).
When I was in 1st grade, this kid in my class convinced me I had a hole in my cheek (it was a dimple), and that I was dying. I literally cried for like hours. First I decked him, so I got sent to the principal’s office. Then he had to call in the nurse (“for you, or for Ben?” - Apu, “ME!” - JZ) to convince me that I was not dying. But I was young though, so it’s okay!
On my 16th birthday my sister had to go to the ER because she needed stitches. So I’m sitting with her in the ER, trying to be there for her, y’know? They pull out the anesthetic needle and I just pass out, topple off the ER table, and fracture my elbow. I wake up in the NMRI. (“Who ended off worse?” - Apu) Probably me, flesh wound vs. bone wound. I had to wear a brace for a month and a half. When I walk past counters I still experience ghost pain.
Since you and Kevin Yang are both from relatively close by, did you two know each other before coming to Harvard?
We knew of each other. Kevin played in the Boston Youth Symphony, and he was good friends with two guys named Eliot and David, who went to my school. When we got into Harvard, Eliot placed a large sum of money betting that we would get married. I told David this, and he was like, your children would be perfect together. And then we got placed into the same entryway, what are the odds. But we wouldn’t get married because I hate math and Kevin is allergic to peanuts.
Advice to a large group of people?
My advice would be don’t listen to my advice. You get a lot of advice, but it’s hard to sift through it. Sometimes you have to live life and make mistakes for yourself.