I’m Zizai, a sophomore at Duke university. “Zizai” means Liberty.
My personal goal is to be a Renaissance man and my career goal is to be a philanthropist. My undergraduate education goal is to understand the ideas and forces shaping the contemporary society.
In 2020, I am most interested in learning the landscapes of Mathematics. Clean Maths are pieces of art.
I have also recently became interested in prediction making. I began tracking the developments of the coronavirus before the lockdown of Wuhan, and gave Duke University Administration an action plan in response to the coronavirus right after the lockdown took place.
In 2019, I read a few books. I also did some internships in Legal, Educational, and Financial industries, and they were very boring. In September, I started college. During my first semester at Duke, I was involved in the production of As You Like It. I played Duke Frederick and Duke Senior.
In 2017 and 2018, I was fortunate to study in the Humanities Programme, Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore. HP is a truly magnificent place, a major manufacturer of the intelligenstia and ruling elite in the country. It is the place I call home. Recently, though, there are forces from the Ministry of Education at dismentaling the best educational programmes (instead of uplifting the worst ones) for more equality.
At Hwa Chong, my friends and I built the Hwa Chong Invitational Philosophy Olympiad. I represented Singapore in International Philosophy Olympiad 2018 in Montenegro and presented in 2017 Australasia Postgraduate Philosophy Conference. My interests include the Gettier Problem.
In 2015 and 2016, I studied in the Science and Math Talent Programme, Centre for Scholastic Excellence, Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore. I enjoyed doing the Olympiads. Unfortunately, I could not compete at the international level.
Before that, I mostly lived in Hangzhou, China. The more cities I travel to, the more I find Hangzhou an impressive place. I was briefly in the Class 13 (the “experimental” Sciences Olympiads Programme) of the Hangzhou No.2 High School. Between 2012 and 2013, I was the president of Hangzhou Jianlan Middle School Students’ Council.
During my free time, I enjoy music and sports. I have performed in many school concerts. As a sprinter, I ranked 12th nationally in 400 metres. I am also a second Title National Athlete.
The list of classes I’ve taken at Duke follows.
| MATH | 531 | Real Analysis | Tau Shean Lim |
| MATH | 501 | Algebraic Structures I | Robert Calderbank |
| MATH | 421 | Differential Geometry | Robert Bryant |
| MATH | 403 | Advanced Linear Algebra | Paul Aspinwall |
| ENGLISH | 390 | Bob Dylan | Taylor Black |
| THEATRST | 350 | Main Stage Production: As You Like It | Jules Odendahl-James |
| ENGLISH | 273 | Classics of Am Lit: 1915-1960 | Victor Strandberg |
| MATH | 240 | Intro to Applied Maths | Ingrid Daubechies |
| PHYEDU | 167 | Aikido: Japanese Sword & Staff | Steven Kaufmann |
| WRITING | 101 | Congress | Jacob Smith |
| MUSIC | 101 | Intro Guitar | Randy Reed |
My 2020 Fall semester classes follow.
| POLSCI | 522 | Comparative Party Politics | Herbert Kitschelt |
| POLSCI | 291 | How to Predict the Future? (Independent Study in Political Theory) | Michael Munger |
| MATH | 631 | Measure and Integration | Lu Jianfeng |
| MATH | 333 | Complex Analysis | Paul Aspinwall |
You can reach me at cui@math.duke.edu
