Kevin Zhen

It is dangerously close to lights-out when prep Troy Morrero creeks op the fourth floor door. “What’s up?” asks four-year senior Kevin Zhen, who sits hunched over his desk, typing away on his laptop.

“Can you look over this?” Morrero asks, waving his English narrative.

“It’s due tomorrow, isn’t it?” Zhen chuckles and slides his laptop over. “Okay, pass it this way.”  The two sit on Zhen’s couch, at first talking about the prep narrative, but as the night passes, their conversation drifts into something much deeper.

This, for Zhen, is an almost nightly occurrence, as the proclaimed English tutor in Cilley Hall. However, Zhen doesn’t mind, and takes comfort knowing that the future leaders of the place that he loves will succeed at something that he is so passionate about.

From personal experience, Zhen knows the impact that proctors and mentors have on the younger students. “I can remember the first day I arrived here, scared about the common prep struggles, making new friends or possibly missing my first class,” Zhen said. “When, out of nowhere, a massive upper comes bursting into my room and introduces himself as Nick DuPont.”  Not only did DuPont’s entry intimidate Zhen so much as to make him forget about his troubles, but after the introduction, the two became close friends. Zhen often went to DuPont to talk about his day, about grades or about family back home. These talks, Zhen remembers, were some of the times he felt most connected to the dorm and its residents during his prep year.

“He’s never one to shirk away from making tough decisions and he never fails to go above and beyond in everything he does.”

“There’s something really special about a 6’2” lacrosse player pouring his heart out on a random Thursday night to a miniscule prep like I was, only after being at the school for three months,” he said.

Besides becoming his close friends, Zhen feels that those proctors and mentors he knew as a prep helped him not only to refine the passions that he carried to Exeter from his middle school, but also pushed him to discover new ones such as breakdancing, writing and the management of girls’ volleyball.

Zhen remembers wanting to emulate the selfless traits that he recognized in all of his mentors, and now, as a fourth floor proctor in Cilley Hall, he has grown into the position that allows him to do just that. Zhen considers Cilley Hall his home, and more specifically as, “a place where you figure out who you want to become.”

Living on the fourth floor, in such close proximity to the preps, Zhen feels that he has an extraordinary opportunity to inspire them to act in the same way his proctors did and inspire them to follow their passions. One of the many ways he accomplishes this is by hosting a weekly writing class in the Cilley Hall basement. In the class, he teaches them the basics of solid narrative writing and Harkness.

“It’s incredible how much better my writing has gotten, and I think that’s just a testament to how much effort he [Zhen] puts into the class every week” Cilley Hall prep Will Kalikman said. “It’s his senior spring, and he would be doing anything, and yet, he chooses to spend his time with us.”

Besides hosting the writing workshop, Zhen also shows his admirable selflessness in even the most basic aspects of his life and personality. Cilley Hall senior Hiro Kuwana commented on spending several hours a night working, relaxing and mostly talking in Zhen’s room during their upper years. “His door is always open, no matter what, and you can just walk in. The room’s ambiance just sucks you right in and makes you feel at home, and often you will just find yourself in a deep three-hour conversation with Kevin even if you know you had an unfinishable amount of work that night,” he said.

Senior Josh Forbes agreed with Kuwana and explained how Zhen, over his time here at Exeter, has become the selfless, honest person he is today. “Kevin started out as a dreamer, I would say, and over time, through the good and the bad, has become really honest with himself and with others, a trait that I feel makes him both easy to talk to and always completely genuine,” Forbes said.

Forbes said that this transition has not only made Zhen honest, but also altruistic. “He’s one of the only people I know who are willing, like Kevin is, to spend just as much time doing other people’s homework as they are with their own,” he said.

Zhen also finds ways to use his selfless nature outside of the dorm, as senior class president to affect his entire grade. Senior class representative Levon Brunson commented on the attitude that he brings to whatever task the team is trying to complete. “Kevin always has an infectious “can-do” attitude and truly cares about his classmates,” Levon said. “He’s a natural leader and it’s easy to see why—he’s always incredibly thoughtful. He’s never one to shirk away from making tough decisions and he never fails to go above and beyond in everything he does.”

Besides spending hours working with Brunson and senior representative Chudi Ikpeazu to ensure the quality of class events, Zhen has managed the girls’ varsity volleyball team for the past three years. At first, Zhen just wanted to spend some time with a few of his friends on the team during his lower year, but over time he grew to really enjoy working for the team and seeing them succeed.

Co-captain and senior Katya Scocimara described Zhen’s unconditional commitment to the team. “He comes to many practices and all of our games, but most importantly, he always makes sure that all of the players are doing well in all aspects of their life,” she said. “Over these two years, I’ve gotten really close with him—you could say we watch out for each other.”

Senior Pranay Vemulamada agreed with Scocimara’s opinion of Zhen, reiterating how important it is that everyone at least gets a chance to meet Zhen before graduation. “If you haven’t had a conversation with Kevin, you’re missing out,” he said. “He’s the only person I know that truly dedicates an equal amount of time and energy into not only making a future for himself, but also one for the people that he knows and cares about.”

Vemulamada added, “It’s been an honor to grow up with him, and I’m sure he’ll succeed wherever he ends up in life.”