The Ghostwriter had a chance to interview freshman Richard Liu for our Student Spotlight series. Read the interview’s full transcript below!

Q: Welcome to the Ghostwriter. Please state your name, and your grade.

A: My name is Richard Liu, and I’m in 9th grade. 

Q: Richard, if you were to describe yourself in just one word, what word would that be?

A: A weapon.

Q: Why do you say that?

A: It’s like an academic weapon, but I got a little more.

Q: Are you really into school?

A: You could say that.

Q: What’s your favorite subject?

A: I like math. Well, I don’t like it, I’m just good at it.

Q: Do you know what branch of math you’re more interested in? Do you prefer algebra or geometry? 

A: Probably algebra. 

Q: Is there a reason or do you just find algebra easier?

A: Definitely, because it comes easier to me, and it’s less visual, you know, a lot of numbers and stuff.

Q: Yeah, that makes sense. Is there a subject you don’t like as much?

A: Definitely English. Maybe because it’s my worst grade.

Q: That makes sense. Do you just not enjoy the literature that you’re assigned?

A: It’s more English as a whole,I’m more of a STEM guy, you could say.Reading Romeo and Juliet is not my thing.

Q: Has there ever been any English book that really has piqued your interest?

A: Definitely not The Chosen.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?

A: 10 years from now? Probably, fresh out of college. Definitely probably working some random CS job behind a desk.

Q: Do you know what branch you want to study or what you want to major in college yet?

A: As I said before, definitely something STEM, but I’m not too worried about that right now.

Q: Do you have any college ideas? Or you’re just worried about all that in the future?

A: I’m worried about that in the future. I’m trying to pass freshman year first.

Q: No, that’s fair. How is freshman year treating you?

A: Pretty well. Second semester now. Just trying not to slide down, keeping the grades up. 

Q: Second semester is definitely tough, especially with all the projects. But you got it. And last question: if you can be anywhere in the world right now, other than school. Where would you be?

A: I feel like the obvious answer is my bed, because I’m really tired. But I want to be a little more original. I’ll probably say New Zealand.

Q: Is there a reason why?

A: I have some family there, I haven’t seen them in a while. And, New Zealand, who’s been to New Zealand before?

Q: So you’ve never been to New Zealand? 

A: No, I haven’t ever. 

Q: Is there a specific place in New Zealand you really want to explore?

A: To be honest, I really don’t know anything about New Zealand, but [it] seems like a pretty chill country.

Q: Do you want to get to know the food more or the locations more?

A: Probably locations, because there’s so much wildlife and stuff. It’s a completely different part of the world. 

Q: If you could, would you also travel up that Oceanic area like Australia, or just New Zealand?

A: I mean, Australia’s kind of notorious for some pretty interesting animals. And also the toilets flush backwards. So I’ll probably just stick with New Zealand.

Q: Is there anywhere else you really want to travel other than New Zealand or the Oceanic area?

A: It’s kind of close, but I feel like Canada is just so cool. 

Q: Do you prefer the cold weather in Canada, or would you like to stay as close to the warmer areas as possible?

A: I think New England’s definitely a good spot for me. I like having all the seasons.

Q: Do you prefer hot or cold seasons?

A: I’m more of a winter person personally. I don’t like bugs or sweat or sunburns. So I just put on a hoodie and I’m fine.

Q: You mentioned you want to go to New Zealand, and obviously they mainly speak English there. But is there any other language you would like to learn? Just to be able to travel the world?

A: I know a little bit of Mandarin right now, [and] I’d definitely like to solidify my Mandarin a little better. Speaking with my family and other relatives, it’s kind of embarrassing, because everyone else in my family is really good. So I can understand that they’re speaking about how bad my Mandarin is, but I can’t really say anything about it.

Q: Would you like to visit China?

A: Probably sometime in the future, yeah.

Q: Is there a specific city? Because I know I’ve always really wanted to go to Shanghai, but would you prefer to go down to Hong Kong or is there a specific area of China you’d like to go to?

A: As well as not knowing Mandarin, I also don’t know the geography of China. But, the cities overall, it’s pretty cool.

Q: Yeah. I think Shanghai is a really cool place to go to. It’s just such a huge, beautiful city. And it’s full of international ports. Is there anything else you want to add? Something you’d like the student population to know?

A: I’m trying to think of a really good quote right now. Be the big cheese.

You heard it here folks. Be the big cheese. Thank you so much. I hope you have a great day.