For Kefan Cao, university has been about finding a balance between working hard and having fun.
Cao is this year’s recipient of the Faculty of Mathematics K.D. Fryer Gold Medal, an honour given to a student who exemplifies academic excellence, good citizenship and involvement in extracurricular activities. He graduates this Friday with a Bachelor of Computer Science degree.
Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Cao excelled in math and physics. He was involved in his school’s Computer Science Club, which was run by his physics teacher. “My teacher was a big computer science guy and had a cybersecurity start-up that ended up on Dragon’s Den. He thought I might be good at computer science,” he says.
Throughout high school, Cao stayed very involved in his community. Every summer he worked as a camp councillor, and then as soon as camp was over for the day he would go play hockey with friends. During the school year, he participated in sports including hockey, volleyball and badminton. He knew that he wanted to maintain the same commitment towards extracurriculars after high school.
“I’m very thankful to my parents for always being on top of my academics and supporting me,” he says. “Being a first-generation university student, I had a lot of doubts going to a top school like Waterloo, especially because I was more focused about sports and having fun back in high school, but my parents gave me confidence and pushed me to achieve my best.”
When Cao applied to the University of Waterloo in January of 2020, he was excited to move to a new city, make friends and get involved on campus. Instead, the pandemic meant that he started university online in his bedroom, an experience that he described as anticlimactic. “The transition from high school to university was a lot, and because things were online, it was hard to make friends,” he says.
Everything changed, however, during his second term, when he enrolled in two advanced math classes. These classes were much smaller, and encouraged students to collaborate on problem-solving and work closely with their professors. He particularly loved Dr. Stephen New’s Advanced Calculus class, which required students to work together at office hours on difficult problem sets. “That when I started to fall in love with math,” he says.
Once school was back in person, Cao took the first opportunity he had to get involved in sports like he had been in high school. He played intramural hockey and joined the badminton and tennis clubs. Last year, he was on Waterloo’s varsity rowing team, practicing six days a week at the Cambridge Rowing Club. His average weekday consisted of waking up at 4am to pick up his teammates to make it to the rowing club in Cambridge for a 5am start. He would get home around 7:30am to not miss his morning classes. He managed to juggle his 7 classes together with rowing and won doubles at the 2023 OUA rowing regatta, as well as the crew-of-the-year award with his rowing partner. “Sports are a lot of fun,” he says. “It’s such a great way to make friends and when you’re active, it helps with your energy for your academic work as well.”
Now, as graduation approaches, he has big plans for future adventures. He has job offers from three companies where he did co-op terms, and is planning to move to New York City next month. “People tend to limit themselves and believe things are impossible,” he says. “My biggest takeaway from my time at Waterloo is that you have to at least believe they are possible.”