Impact Of A Scholarship: Zoe Huang

Zoe Huang knows how to make the most of an opportunity.

As a kid, she took advantage of chances to be seen by collegiate volleyball coaches. In College Park, she took every opportunity she could to dive into volleyball, academics, and leadership. Now, she’s using an opportunity provided by the M Club Rodman Scholarship to stay in the place and programs she loves for one more year.

 “I was really excited,” she said of the scholarship. “I totally didn’t think I was going to get it. I was really taken by surprise, but it was really cool and so nice.”

Huang grew up in northern Virginia with several Maryland ties. Both her father and aunt were Terps, giving Huang an early connection to the school she’d eventually call home. 

Her dad, a high school volleyball player himself, was the one who sparked her love for the game. He signed Huang up for camps and leagues when she was in elementary school.

“As I got older, I would always attend Maryland games,” Huang said. “I totally didn’t think that was going to be my path. I did not expect to be playing here in the slightest.”

But current Terps head coach Adam Hughes was Huang’s club coach and saw the talent she boasted long before putting on a Maryland uniform. 

“It was very cool playing here,” Huang said. “It felt very weird, being close to home because I didn’t expect to be close to home, but having all those connections was nice. It kind of hit me as I got older: I’ve been here a lot. I have a lot of history with this school. It’s been pretty special.”

Early in her collegiate career, she knew she wanted to be more than a volleyball player. She used her freshman year as a term of growth and discovery toward what her legacy would be in College Park.

“Freshman year was very different,” Huang said. “That adjustment from high school to college is very weird. That was a huge growing moment. I started putting a lot of work into myself outside of volleyball, which actually helped me focus more on volleyball.”

She got involved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a group that plays a crucial role by actively representing the interests of the student-athletes' experience. Composed of two or more representatives from each varsity sport, SAAC meets monthly to foster a strong and supportive community. In addition, these meetings are instrumental in developing leadership skills, addressing potential concerns, and enhancing opportunities for growth as student-athletes.

After years with the program, she applied to become the 2024-25 SAAC President. She got it. 

“That was a really cool experience,” she said. “I got to work a lot on getting other athletes involved and I got a behind the scenes understanding of what it takes to help all of the athletes. It made me appreciate more what we have as athletes, because it’s easy to take for granted the efforts that others are putting into you because you’re so locked into your sport.”

That sport was volleyball, still one of her first loves and something that’s given her life-long friendships. As a true role player on the squad, she wasn’t always on the court, but she found just as many ways to contribute. 

“I want to make an impact somehow,” Huang said. “I was going to be the best teammate I could be on the sideline, but I wanted to be something for my teammates. I wanted to be a leader in some way. I felt that was a way I could lead: by setting a standard of what the team should be looking at for academic success.”

Her drive to excel in the classroom earned her three Academic All-Big Ten Awards in 2022, 2023 and 2024. She wanted to be a leader and an example in and out of College Park.

“I’m one of the few Chinese Americans that I’ve seen in D1 that play volleyball, so it was really cool to be someone that people could know,” Huang said. “I wanted to make a name that others like me could know.”

Opportunities like SAAC and Maryland Made allowed her to truly dive into her time as a Terp and tackle every opportunity. 

“It was huge for me, being a part of Maryland Made and doing all that stuff,” Huang said. “I would never have met half the athletes I know. I would never have broken out of my shell and done all the cool things that I’ve done without Maryland Made and without the programs the University of Maryland provides us.”

Now, out of volleyball eligibility, she returned to Maryland to pursue her master’s degree from the Robert H. Smith School of Business. With the help of both the M Club Rodman Scholarship and the school’s Plus 1 program, it was the perfect opportunity to stay at the place she loves. 

“I had built a really good relationship with the school,” Huang said. “Because I’m from the area, I wasn’t planning on going that far anyway. I’d gotten really into academics, so when I thought about the Plus 1 program, it seemed like an easy way to avoid the big adult world for one more year and invest in myself a little bit more.”

The Smith Plus 1 program allows current UMD undergraduate students to get a head start on their business master's degree by taking up to 10 graduate-level credits at Smith School undergraduate-level tuition rates. They can then finish the master's degree in as little as one year after completing their undergraduate studies, by taking their remaining graduate-level credits at the Smith School's graduate credit tuition rate.

“I just really like this school,” Huang said. “I like its community. I like the environment. I’m comfortable here. It was really nice to know that I’ve done good here and I can now use what I’ve done to push myself forward academically for this upcoming year.”

Huang overflows with gratitude for all who have helped shape and aid her along the way. From financial aid to trainers, she’s incredibly thankful for all the support that student-athletes receive at the University of Maryland. 

“There are so many different people you can go to and they’re always willing to help you,” Huang said. “They always have open doors and they’re always willing to talk to you about anything, sports or academics. It’s really nice to have that support.”

Through the M Club Rodman Scholarship, she gets another year of comfort and support before having to close a chapter in her life that’s meant so much to her. 

“I don’t exactly know what the dream is yet,” Huang said. “I’m in the business school so something business, fingers crossed. I’m definitely trying to stay involved with volleyball. I’m still sticking around with the team, hanging out with them.”

Always the leader, even on a team she’s no longer on. Huang embodies what it means to be a  perfect teammate, scholar, president and opportunist.

About The M Club

The M Club was founded in 1923 as a letterwinner organization and is one of the oldest athletic letterwinner organizations in the United States. It has been dedicated for more than 100 years to empowering and uplifting University of Maryland student-athletes and letterwinners and continues to foster a growing community of Athletes Helping Athletes through the generosity of its members. Current support for Maryland Athletics includes awarding post-graduate scholarships, funding team reunions, providing letterjackets to graduates and hosting the bi-annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, among other areas.