Zhou Weixian

School of Management and Economics (SME), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)

Global Business Management, Global Business Studies, Admitted Class of 2017

Master’s degree in Management from the National University of Singapore

Founder of the English Debate Coaching Studio in 2024

It is generally perceived that debaters are often labeled as stubborn and eloquent. However, Zhou said that the core of debate lies in “respect.” In his opinion, the meaning of debate is not to fight for victory but to broaden horizons and explore more possibilities. The four Ds, namely, “Debate, Defense, Deconstruction, and Demonstration,” are the essence of the art: debate is to show logic and thinking; defense is to pursue and stick to one’s position; deconstruction is to think out of the box and explore the essence; and demonstration is to sort out the whole picture and interpret self-cognition. It is the profound understanding and practice of the spirit of debate that have led debater Zhou to make his own choice at the crossroads of life.

With excellent academic performance, he, like most business students, accumulated internship experience in several leading companies. However, positive feedback from debates made him more and more aware of what he really loves. Therefore, he embarked on a journey of entrepreneurship and became an English debate coach, setting sail to pursue his dreams and realize his ideal life blueprint.

Since 2017, Zhou has been engaged in English debate for nearly eight years. In 2022, Zhou bulldozed his way to the semi-final and won the “Best Debater Award” for his outstanding performance in the National English Debating Competition. To date, he has served as a judge for more than 15 debating competitions.

Talking about the attachment to English debates, he said: “Out of great passion for debating, I signed up for both the Chinese and English debating clubs back in school. I failed the interview for the Chinese debating club but passed the English one, so I joined the English debating club.”

In the first few years of English debating, Zhou faced many challenges, the most prominent of which was how to improve his English pronunciation and grasp the overall structure.

In his college years, Zhou devoted himself to the studying and training of English debating. In every 3-hour training session, he spent one and a half hours on knowledge accumulation and one and a half hours on mock debating where the seniors of the school team and teachers of the English group offered a lot of help.

Recalling those days, Zhou said enthusiastically: “At that time, I would not feel tired, because the process itself was very enjoyable. Whether it was training or competition, I was competing with the smartest people in the world.”

As a freshman, Zhou, like many of his classmates, was confused about his major and future career orientation, with no clear plan in his mind.

Since his father is a businessman, Zhou developed a strong interest in business, so he chose a business major. During his school years, he completed his studies with an excellent Mean Grade Point Average (MGPA) of 3.7. When he was about to be a senior, Zhou found that he had no internship experience, so he chose to take a gap year to accumulate experience.

In the gap year before graduation, Zhou devoted himself to four professional internships. With the quick response he developed in the debate, he was able to quickly adapt to the stressful working environment in the business field. However, he gradually realized that although the high-intensity, fast-paced working environment was challenging, it was not completely in line with his personality and what he really pursued deep down.

After repeated reflection, he re-examined his life direction, “I know increasingly clearly that such kind of thing is not what I really want.” In contrast, debate can bring him purer happiness and satisfaction. Even if it also features overtime and high-intensity preparation, he enjoys it so much that he will never feel bored with it.

So, as a business student, he did not choose a job that matches his major. Instead, he set up an English debate coaching studio to hang with more juniors who like to debate. He said that society may not lack a (business) consultant like him, but many students may need a good debate coach.

He found the job interesting and meaningful: “I think I am not only teaching debating skills. More often, I hope I can help them establish correct values, making them understand what is right and what is wrong, and how to perfect and develop themselves.”

Finally, he also sincerely suggested that students develop the habit of independent thinking, do not follow the crowd, bravely pursue the life they yearn for, and usher in their own brilliant chapters.