When I was covering the 128th Big Game, I honestly didn’t have time to think when I saw the Stanford player breaking toward my side and then coming straight at me for the first touchdown.
My instinct just kicked in. I dropped my long lens, switched to my wide-angle, followed him as he crossed into the end zone, capturing the touchdown and the eruption of emotion that followed.
Moments like that happen in a blink and so fast that you cannot really think of anything during that moment, but it was not until after you start to feel your heart beating and the excitement that slowly kicks in.
By the end of the game, the field had become pure chaos—students storming in from every direction, bodies closing in so tightly I could hardly move my arms or breathe. I eventually had to fight my way out for my own safety. I got the pictures, though.
Still, that whole experience is why I love being in this line of work. It’s intense, unforgettable, and sometimes even overwhelming since you will never know when the moment of the day or history is going to happen right in front of your lens.
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Ziyu (Julian) Zhu is a multimedia journalist born and raised in Beijing, China. He earned his undergraduate degree in Journalism from Boston University in May 2025. With a passion for photography since middle school, Julian focused on his studies in photojournalism during his time at BU. Since 2023, Julian has worked as a freelance photographer for China Xinhua News Agency, covering major news events around the Greater Boston area and the New England region, and from June to August 2024, Julian interned at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a multimedia journalist. Julian received multiple recognitions for his works, including a finalist in the Spot News category at the College Photographer of the Year (CPOY) contest in October 2024, and a Best in Show award at the Boston Press Photographers Association’s (BPPA) Annual College Student Photography Contest in April 2023, etc. Some of Julian’s works have also been reprinted in major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Rolling Stones, and The Associated Press. At Stanford, Julian plans to deepen his research in visual journalism and multimedia storytelling, exploring how photo and video journalism can shape public understanding. He looks forward to working under the mentorship of Stanford’s expert faculty and contributing to campus news and media services. In his free time, Julian enjoys reading, analog photography, and Legos.
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