Celebrating Sporting Excellence: Ziran’s Sports Journey in RC4

Huang Ziran, pictured during a warm-up session ahead of the ICG Dodgeball final (Photo: Lim Xu)
Celebrating Sporting Excellence: Ziran’s Sports Journey in RC4
Written by Don Han
The winning formula for Huang Ziran (Aquila, Year 4, Industrial and Systems Engineering) is simple — hardwork, passion and dedication. Known for her all-rounded capabilities in sports, Ziran is a prominent figure in the RC4 badminton and dodgeball with her outstanding abilities. She embodies the aspirations of many freshmen, balancing between academic and non-academic commitments. At RC4, Ziran has found a safe space to step out of her comfort zone to discover new sports.
Holding the record for the number of sports competed during a single edition of RC4’s Inter-House Games, Ziran competed in 9 sports (Table Tennis, Road Relay, Captain’s Ball, Ultimate Frisbee, Volleyball, Badminton, Soccer, Dodgeball, Basketball) at the prime of her sporting journey in university. “I’m grateful that I chose RC4 because the interest groups (IGs) here are actually so beginner-friendly and flexible — no experience or commitment needed — meaning it’s perfect for me to learn something new,” shared Ziran.
Ziran has been a regular fixture for RC4’s Badminton Team at the Inter-College Games.
Sports IGs are not just simply for fitness and health, but it also helped Ziran find her closest friends in RC4. Sports have a unique power to transcend age and academic backgrounds, bringing people together through shared passion and purpose.
Ziran is not only an all-rounder in sports; but also in her RC4 journey! Helming the role of vice-Marketing Director in the 8th College Students’ Committee (CSC), Ziran balanced her commitments from leadership to sports to academics. “Personally, playing sports is one of the best ways for me to de-stress and recharge. As we all know, the academic workload in university can be quite heavy, so I believe learning how to relax plays a key role in helping us maintain positive mental well-being.”
Upon her upcoming graduation from NUS in 2025, Ziran looks back at her favourite sporting memory from RC4. The memory of representing RC4 in ICG back as a freshman, winning the gold medal in badminton, will follow her in life. With borders closed due to COVID-19, travel restrictions meant that Ziran, an international student, and many others could not leave the country during winter break. Ziran treasured the close-knitted bonds formed within the badminton team, with the gold medal making all their hard work paying off.
This drew parallel to one of her most recent inspirations – Zheng Qinwen, tennis Gold Medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She admired how Qinwen clinched the gold medal when no one thought it was possible with “the spirit of fighting, never giving up and the thrill of not knowing what might happen” highlighting the beauty of sports.
Sports had taken up a significant role in Ziran’s life – from the health benefits which saw her rarely getting sick to the social interactions with like-minded individuals. She found that competing in sports inevitably made her a competitive person, which has been pivotal in driving success in other aspects of her life.
Ziran was part of RC4’s Dodgeball ICG silver-winning squad this year. (Photo: Lim Xu)
“I really don’t like the feeling of losing. While this pushes me to always strive to be better, it also brings a lot of pressure – I sometimes become too focused on the results and too afraid of failure.” Yet through this internal struggle, she’s learned to honour the journey: the blood, sweat, and tears behind every match. While winning matters, it’s the process that shapes her. “Often, we’re so busy trying to move forward that it becomes overwhelming, but both life and sports are not just about winning or losing — there are more important lessons to be learned along the way. This realisation is important to me, as it serves as a constant reminder to take a step back and relax when I find myself too fixated on outcomes.”
Ziran graduates from NUS with fond memories from her sporting journey in RC4 – her haul of 6 ICG Medals (3 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze) will be a highlight of her university life. However, more importantly, she walks away with the valuable life lessons learnt from sports and the pursuit of greatness will bring her far in her future aspirations.