In Elite Daily’s sequence Big Name On Campus, thought-major and achieved university pupils share their enthusiasm jobs, how they get it all performed, and what’s subsequent soon after graduation. Below, Emme Zhou tells Elite Every day about what led her to Yale College, TikTok information development, and fencing.

You’d consider double majoring at a renowned university like Yale would make up the beginning, center, and close of any school student’s agenda. Cramming for not a single, but two Ivy League majors? See you in four decades, snooze. But for 22-calendar year-outdated Emme Zhou, performing toward a Yale degree in economics and graphic layout is just her day occupation.

Zhou is also a recruited college student athlete who was named an All-American in women’s foil fencing in May perhaps 2022 — and a TikTok star with virtually 750,000 followers, very best known for her Yale dining corridor food video clips, where she shares “What I Take in in a Day” recaps. 1 scroll via the foodie’s TikTok is enough to have any one envious of a Yale meal strategy — think product cheese-glazed, graham cracker-dusted blueberry cheesecake pancakes for breakfast, contemporary fried mango fritters with mango sauce for lunch, and cheeseburger and s’mores pizzas for supper and dessert. Zhou also offers viewers a close-up glimpse at her university journey: from leaning into her heritage in her Chinese language class to fencing observe to producing crafty “broke intern meals” on a budget.

Underneath, Zhou shares a little much more about her journey as a double-majoring, Ivy League college student athlete-turned-material creator and how she balances almost everything (mainly because, yeah, that is a lot), as well as her most important tips for her freshman self.

Elite Each day: You are a senior at Yale College, graduating this month. What led you to Yale?

Emme Zhou: My sister really went to Yale and was also recruited for fencing. I listened to nothing but terrific matters from her, irrespective of whether that was about the crew lifestyle or academics or tradition on campus, and I visited and actually favored it, so I dedicated.

ED: How and when did you get began putting up meals movies on TikTok?

EZ: I was a scholar worker for Yale Hospitality, which oversees all the household eating halls. It was during the pandemic, and I would see video clips of NYU pupils consuming quarantine meals and believed, “Oh, which is amazing, I guess people today enjoy seeing what other college college students are consuming in the dining halls. I could share that, far too.” My manager, who is a single of my favored persons, inspired me to submit one thing about the eating hall. I believe my 1st video clip was a brunch video clip, and that is how it all acquired started.

ED: You have described that pancakes are your favorite food at Yale. What’s your most loved way to consume them?

EZ: I just like buttery pancakes, so I constantly have butter and syrup. Chocolate chips or blackberries are actually very good blended into the batter, but I never like putting something on top.

ED: What do you hope people get out of seeing your videos?

EZ: I hope individuals can see from my movies that university is truly entertaining. The stereotype of heading to an Ivy League is that all we do is review all working day, but which is not the circumstance.

ED: In addition to TikTok, you’re also a whole-time college student and student athlete. How do you equilibrium it all?

EZ: It’s absolutely tough at occasions, but I experience like the three issues ebb and movement, so when the fencing season’s genuinely chaotic, I can take a week off or two from TikTok. When the season’s chilling, then I film, edit, and attempt to post far more. But also, element of becoming a pupil athlete is studying to juggle all these factors. And a large amount of professors, coaches, and individuals around me are quite, extremely knowledge.

ED: Convey to me much more about fencing. How did you get began carrying out that?

EZ: I have been fencing given that I was 9, and prior to that, I was a gymnast. My mom decided gymnastics was way too risky for the reason that I at the time fell and damage my neck, so we signed up for fencing through an right after-college software. I begun heading when a week and ultimately went to my to start with tournament, and soon after that, I bought sucked in and started out instruction and competing more. In a blink of an eye, it’s been 14 decades.

ED: What would you say is the biggest misconception about fencing?

EZ: That it’s very harmful. But actually, it is a person of the safest Olympic sports mainly because we have so a lot protection and the actions aren’t far too powerful. It is micro-actions, and it’s definitely a lot more specialized than just pure toughness. I don’t get injured also generally, and it does not harm at all.

ED: Have you realized anything at all shocking about on your own through fencing?

EZ: Fencing is an extremely personal sport — you’re literally struggling with one other particular person and striving to strike them. Which is taught me a whole lot about dealing with my fears and self-discipline. Coming to Yale has revealed me how to contend on a crew. In high school, I’d never competed along with other fencers, but college fencing is cumulative. If I gain, it provides just one stage to our staff. I’ve acquired what it is like to have that style of assistance and teamwork, and now I quite a lot like workforce fencing.

ED: As a vegetarian foodie and athlete, what are your go-to foods for fueling up?

EZ: Just one excellent matter about our dining halls is that we always have a vegan entree. No matter if which is lentils, tofu, or veggie burgers, it’s really uncomplicated to discover vegan alternatives. My favored meal of the working day is breakfast, so I often have eggs. That is one particular of my main protein sources.

ED: You’ve obviously obtained your routine down in these previous number of months of school. What has been your favorite portion of senior year?

EZ: At Yale, we have a little something for seniors referred to as “secret modern society.” It’s not very solution, but when you are a junior you get “tapped” into a team with 15 or 16 other incoming seniors you have probably never fulfilled just before. Conference mates in my modern society has been one of my beloved things — we hold out persistently, like twice a week, and we go out alongside one another. Obtaining to fulfill so a lot of new people today all at at the time all through my senior year was one thing I hardly ever expected.

ED: What will you miss out on most about Yale just after graduation?

EZ: Not even joking, probably the eating corridor. I really like waking up and getting remarkable food all set without the need of owning to prepare dinner anything at all. But I also commit a great deal of time in the dining corridor mainly because I enjoy being close to people, and looking at buddies in passing is so a lot entertaining. The moment you graduate, you have to make plans all the time and cook for your self, and it is just not heading to be the similar.

ED: Looking back, what would be your most significant suggestions for your freshman self?

EZ: It will all work out. I made use of to worry so considerably about university and fencing and careers, but inevitably, it all sorts alone out. I want I had far more entertaining and was much more spontaneous when I was a initial-year.

ED: What’s upcoming for you soon after graduation?

EZ: Very last summer I labored at a administration consulting company, and I recognized a return give from them publish-grad for a full-time task. I will not start off until in all probability February of 2024. In the meantime, I’m genuinely just seeking to relax. I’m in all probability heading to journey to Asia or Singapore, as effectively as London mainly because my sister lives there. So I’ll variety of transition away from Yale content material on the web and see if I can bounce-start off into a lot more way of life and article-grad everyday living.

ED: How do you visualize your TikTok vocation right after graduation?

EZ: I’ve been considering about this a lot, and it’s interesting and refreshing to be ready to movie something other than the eating corridor. I want to clearly show new factors of article-grad everyday living, cooking on your possess, living on your personal for the 1st time, and probably even possessing a 9-to-5 career. I’m not far too anxious because my viewers will at some point graduate — faculty finishes more rapidly than you think.

This job interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.