Those who compete in the Gaokao, China's College Entrance Exam, are often referred to as Gaokao zhanshi, or warriors. Based on long-term ethnographic research, this article examines how Gaokao warriors combine two types of agency that are conventionally considered contradictory: the docile cultivation of virtue and the struggle against social marginalization. I argue that analyzing this nuli fendou, or diligent struggle, can contribute to a more complex understanding of the Gaokao and similar educational competitions.