Lily Zhang

Lily Zhang
Senior Lily Zhang ’26 balances championship golf on the boys’ varsity team with advanced coursework and clinical research. Working alongside Dr. Mark Hennon at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, she analyzes non-small cell lung cancer data while maintaining a “next shot” mindset that guides her growth in academics, athletics, and the arts at Nichols.

LILY ZHANG FINDS HER NEXT SHOT

For Lily Zhang ’26, golf has never been just about the number on the scorecard. It’s about the “next shot.”

She first heard the phrase as a three-year-old, swinging plastic golf clubs alongside her father. The idea was simple: good shot or bad shot, you move forward. Reset. Focus on what’s in front of you.

It’s a mindset that has followed her from the fairway to the classroom and, more recently, into a cancer research lab.

Now a senior at Nichols, Lily moves between her worlds with remarkable range. One afternoon might bring nine holes of competition golf. Another might find her analyzing lung cancer data alongside physicians at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. The settings are different, but the mentality is the same.

“At golf tournaments, not only do you have to carry yourself, but you also have to carry and uplift others next to you,” Lily says. “The lessons I’ve learned from competitive golf translated effortlessly with my teammates and helped me during my time at Nichols.”

By the time she reached high school, Lily had already built an impressive résumé. She qualified for the Augusta National Drive, Chip, and Putt finals at age nine and became the second-youngest New York State Women’s Amateur champion at 14. But when she arrived at Nichols, she was looking for something more than titles.

She decided to move from the girls’ to the boys’ varsity golf team, a shift that meant adjusting to a new competitive dynamic and earning trust in a different locker room. Under the guidance of coaches like Mr. Montesano, she found her place. The team went on to secure back-to-back Monsignor Martin league championships in 2024 and 2025.

The decision reflected something deeper about her time at Nichols. Growth, for Lily, hasn’t just meant refining her swing. It has meant stepping into unfamiliar spaces and learning to lead within them.

That same willingness to stretch shows up in the classroom.

During her second semester senior year, Lily is enrolled in four AP courses and a specialized Thoracic Oncology class. Over the summer, she worked full-time at Roswell Park, studying the effects of vaping on lung cancer. Now, she collaborates with physicians, including Dr. Mark Hennon, MD, analyzing data on non-small cell lung cancer and gaining firsthand experience in clinical research.

“Nichols has been great in facilitating that,” she says. “Exploring other opportunities outside of golf has been monumental for me. I’ve really put my studies to the forefront these past few years.”

At Nichols, being “well-rounded” isn’t a slogan. For Lily, it’s her daily schedule.

Since fifth grade, she has played in the Nichols orchestra, finding a different kind of focus through music. In rehearsal, she exchanges quick smiles with friends over a tricky passage. During performances, she locks eyes with fellow musicians to stay in sync. The orchestra offers something golf cannot: a fully shared outcome.

“You’re responsible for your part,” she says, “but it only works if everyone is listening to each other.”

As she begins exploring colleges along the East Coast, Lily finds herself drawn to what she calls a “middle-sized pond” — a school large enough to challenge her but small enough to preserve close relationships with professors and advisors. She credits much of her confidence in the process to the College Counseling office at Nichols.

“Ms. Bennett has been such an uplifting spirit,” Lily says. “Because the class size is small, you develop such a great relationship with the counselors. She’s been so patient helping me through this journey.”

Over time, her definition of success has shifted. Earlier in her career, success meant meeting expectations — external benchmarks, rankings, results. Now, it feels more internal.

“Success means no regrets to me,” she explains. “I realize that it comes from within. If I live with no regrets, then I’ll be fine.”

When asked what advice she would give to current fifth graders, Lily doesn’t hesitate.

“It’s so cliché, but just don’t think too far ahead. You might think you have your whole high school and college journey planned out, but just really focus on what you have right in front of you. Time will come, and your journey will go where it needs to go.”

Then she laughs and adds one more memory from her own first days on campus:

“The lunch is great. It was the salmon and mac and cheese that convinced me to come here!”

It’s a lighthearted moment, but it captures something real. For all the accolades, the championships, the research, the academic rigor…Lily’s story is ultimately about presence. About staying grounded. About taking the next shot.

And at Nichols, she’s learned that you don’t have to choose a single identity. Athlete. Musician. Researcher. Leader. There is space to explore it all.

One shot at a time.