Third Former Wins 2025 Hugh Camp Cup

From language barriers to standing ovations, Alice Qi ’28 shares her heartfelt journey as an international student finding confidence and connection at St. Paul’s School.

BY KATE DUNLOP

Fangyuan “Alice” Qi ’28 flew from her home in Shanghai to the United States to begin her St. Paul’s School journey intent on saying and doing the right things when she reached a Customs officer. “F-1 visa, no meat; F-1 visa, no meat. My F-1 visa is in my right hand, I did not bring any meat,” she reassured herself throughout her 20-hour flight. The lack of one and the presence of the other had derailed others’ entries into the country, she’d heard.

In the moment, though, the officer caught her off guard by asking in rapid succession, “How are you?” and, “What brings you here today?” She caught only the words “what” “you” and “bring” and replied, “I did not bring any meat.” It was the first of many confusing exchanges in English, and while their frequency has decreased with time, their memory lingers.

“Time” is the title of Qi’s Hugh Camp Cup Competition-winning speech, shared with the entire School in Memorial Hall in April. A veteran debater, Qi leapt at the opportunity to share some awkward second-language experiences.

“I don’t know how many times I wished I were born in America, so I could speak with perfect accent, do not need to repeat many times for others to understand, so that I could ‘get’ the jokes everybody laughs at or know who Kendrick Lamar is,” Qi said in her speech. “But now, I’m almost seven months into my first school year. I’ve actually figured out the right response to ‘How are you?’ and … I now not only know that ‘cow’s meat’ is beef, I also know that … ‘pig’s meat’ is pork. So now I think all I need — and all those who are like me need — is time. Sometimes, it just takes us longer to figure things out.”

Qi is quick to point out that no one was mean to her when she misused a word or expression, but she hopes that next year when someone else arrives on campus to start a new chapter in a new language, there will be “more understanding for them.” “Besides congratulations, one girl in my form told me she cried when she heard my speech, and I didn’t expect that I can move people like that,” Qi says. “A lot of international students came up to me to say it was really, really relatable.” As her first year comes to a close, Qi is ecstatic about how it has evolved. She joined the choir and discovered she likes singing; she loves the Physics is Phun Club and learning Latin, and as a member of the JV tennis team, she experienced a team sport for the first time.

“I feel like every term has been better than the last and right now, I’m just really happy. I got to explore so much stuff and I just like it more and more every day,” she says. “I’m really excited to try different new things. I’m just open to all those opportunities and I’m excited for another three years.”

As for that question of how Qi is doing? The answer is absolutely, fabulously fine.