When asked what it took to be a 4.0 student-athlete, Hailey Zimmerman laughed.
“It was terrible,” she said. “I was at the SAB every day until 11 p.m.”
During her time at BYU, Zimmerman was a member of the BYU dive team, an employee at the Huntsman institute, and a researcher at the Jenkin’s sperm lab, all while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics. In spite of her busy schedule, which included attending competitions during the school week and trainings in the pool every day, Zimmerman graduated in April, 2025 with a perfect grade point average. Surprisingly, her secret to success wasn’t that complicated.
“I loved what I did,” Zimmerman stated. Even if she was practicing all day, studying in-between roles, or working on a laptop late into the night at the Built4Life Student Athletic Center, her natural interest in her major and her sport made each moment worthwhile. She’d always had an interest in genetics, but in college that interest propelled her to succeed. Though she still felt overwhelmed, Zimmerman found joy in the process of learning by being fascinated by each new thing she encountered.
That attitude kept her smiling even when her schedule was extremely busy. Zimmerman explained that she was often multitasking between her different roles, including doing her homework at the side of the pool. “My friend has a photo of me doing my homework in my swimsuit,” Zimmerman said with a laugh. With thirty minutes between each dive, she found time to further her interest in bioinformatics while keeping up with her sport.
As a result of her hard work, Zimmerman graduated with a 4.0—an incredible feat given everything she was involved in—and took a full-time position with a local biotech startup. She manages and analyzes sequenced DNA data, to help develop an assay for early detection of neurodegenerative diseases. She credited the amazing resources offered to her as a student-athlete as the reason for receiving her dream job, and recommends all other student-athletes take advantage of those same opportunities.
Zimmerman also encouraged future student-athletes to do their best academically. “Don’t blow off school,” she said. “Find something you love to study, that’s still practical, and even in the mundane classes find something that is cool about it.”
In addition to focusing on academics, Zimmerman recommended student-athletes support each other. “The best thing I could ever get out of BYU is the community,” Zimmerman said. Her best friends were other student-athletes, a tennis player and a track runner, both of whom she met while at Legends, the SAB’s athlete-only grill. She mentioned her gratitude for her coaches, her mentors, and her advisors, and their help in creating some of the happiest memories of her life.
“BYU is just a special place, and the people around you are going to last forever,” Zimmerman said. “Talk to the random people at Legends, make as many friends as you can… and once you care about learning, you’ll aim for success.”
To learn more about the opportunities for BYU student-athletes, check the resources tab on the Built4Life website.