This feature originally appeared in the 2024 Summer edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.

 
Aaron Du always had a plan.
 
By age 14, Du was chasing the dream – with a well-crafted plan – of becoming the first Chinese golfer to achieve success on the PGA Tour. He moved from his hometown of Beijing to Florida to study and play golf at Lake Mary Preparatory School. He took on sizable language and cultural barriers, rising to the top of his class at Lake Mary while catching the attention of NCAA Division I golf coaches, including Walter Chun, the former Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Cal Men's Golf.
 
But when a severe bacterial infection abruptly halted Du's golf dream in the summer of 2018, he turned pain, anxiety and uncertainty into a new plan that has guided him since.
 
Du spent an extended period at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, where multiple medical examinations identified his bacterial infection and led to two surgeries and a daunting six-month recovery. While enduring his own pains and struggles – teaching his body how to walk again and the mental hurdle of battling his own high expectations for a swift recovery – Du witnessed the hardships of others around him in the hospital. His rehabilitation experience ignited what would become a purpose and a passion for the field of epidemiology.
 
"I saw so much suffering at Loma Linda Hospital. I learned to appreciate what we have; our health above all, as well as those little things we just take for granted," Du reflected. "What could I do to alleviate suffering for others? I became fueled by the desire to help people."
 
Upon enrolling at Cal as a student-athlete in 2020, Du – now 22 years old and a 2024 alumnus with an undergraduate degree in public health – immersed himself into subjects related to understanding pathogens and disease control, with the goal of leveraging the knowledge to combat and treat diseases and improve overall health. He excelled throughout his four years of undergraduate coursework, being recognized as a Scholar All-American three times before graduating with a cumulative grade-point average north of 3.9 this past spring.
 
Du leveraged his academic success into a postgraduate internship with Calibra, a biomedical diagnostic company in China that uses the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technique to study and detect complex compounds in the human body. He'll complete the internship in August before returning to Berkeley to start his Epidemiology MS degree.
 
Without a systematic approach, Du's plans – both academically and athletically – may have never taken shape.
 
Du played in his first post-surgery golf tournament just three months following his discharge from Loma Linda Hospital, but struggled on his way to his worst performance in nearly six years. Du embraced patience in the face of self-doubt following the poor result, implementing highly detailed practice plans with both short- and long-term goals centered around accepting the process. The perseverance and planning paid off, as Du played his way back into elite amateur tournaments and was selected to the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) All-America team before committing to play collegiately for Chun and the Golden Bears.
 
Du's systematic approach – a cyclic process of preparation, assessment, strategizing and performance enhancement – produced tangible results throughout his collegiate golf career. The preparation and execution were arguably best displayed in the spring of 2023 when Du shot a tournament low 18-hole record of 63 in the first round of the prestigious Western Intercollegiate at Santa Cruz's Pasatiempo Golf Club.
 
"I knew what the course demanded and I structured my practice plan accordingly," Du said. "Once you arrive at the course, you already know what's ahead of you and it's time to act upon the mental training. That's the part I found easiest – once you're fully prepared, you just go."
 
Du's collegiate career was dotted with further successes; he was twice named to the All-Pac-12 team, earned six top-10 individual finishes - including a win at the John Burns Intercollegiate in 2022 - and was a three-time recipient of the Cal program's Ben Furth Award, given to the golfer who best displays excellence in academics golf.
 
"I knew I could always rely on Aaron," Chun said. "Whether it was a team task, keeping up with his schoolwork or playing at a high level, Aaron was just reliable. It's a quality that's hard to find in adults, let alone college kids. It's the reason why he's successful and will continue to be."
 
Du has found parallels between his approach to golf and his academic and professional pursuits. He set daily, weekly and monthly learning objectives and navigated life as a student-athlete with effective time management and proactive communication.
 
"Not every student has the mental capacity to achieve a 3.9 GPA at Cal like Aaron did, but he showed that doubling down with hard work and doing the best you can every day will take you to great heights," Chun said. "He'd be successful off of sheer talent; it's the work ethic and long-term mindset that will set him apart."
 
Plans don't always go accordingly. Du's dream of a professional golf career on the PGA Tour may never come to fruition. But an unexpected experience at Loma Linda Hospital and his drive to succeed as a student-athlete in Berkeley has led him to a career path arguably far more meaningful than that of sport.
 
"Aaron's got it planned out, plain and simple," said fellow Cal alumnus and recently turned pro golfer Sampson Zheng, who lived with Du throughout their time together in Berkeley. "I learned so much from him, not just on the golf course, but as a roommate, as a person. He did the little things right. He's always been an inspiration to me."
 
Du aspires to specialize in genetic epidemiology with a focus in cardiovascular diseases (CVD). He plans to apply his future research toward identifying high-risk populations, improving risk predictions and guiding prevention efforts, all with the goal of making a positive impact globally on populations that suffer from CVD.
 
"I'm so excited for what's next," Du said. "The opportunity to return to Cal – what a great institution with so many valuable resources and opportunities in the line of research. I've learned to not be afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone in order to achieve what's ahead of me. I'm getting better each day."

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