Star Tribune
Meet the state’s top student journalist, who first learned English from sci-fi books and Duolingo
Rita Li came to the United States from China at the age of 9, knowing only “yes,” “no” and “hi.” Fast forward nine years, and Li, a senior at St. Paul Academy, was recently named the state’s top student journalist by the Journalism Educators of Minnesota.
Li says that Duolingo and science fiction books played a role in her mastery of English. But teachers say her creativity, perseverance and attention to detail are factors that fueled her recent accomplishments. Eye On St. Paul recently dropped in on Li at SPA to ask the Woodbury resident about her journey and her plans for the future. This story was edited for length.
Q: Did you really use Duolingo to master English?”
A: Yes. When I first came here, I was very scared. For a whole year, I would be doing programs on my iPad. And I had my own vocabulary list. Sometimes, I’d get pulled out of class for extra trainings. “What are these emotions called?” In 4th grade, I had to learn all 50 states and their capitals. Then we had to pick a state and do a whole research paper on it. That was my first year and I was like, “Wow, a little challenging.” But the [English as a Second Language] teacher believed I could do it. And together, we just worked on it for a whole month. I grew a lot.
There were times when I cried and I was I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s so hard. But when I was done, I could understand basic concepts.
Q: How long did that take you?
A: I want to say a year. To strengthen my skills, I would read an hour every day and what I didn’t know, I would look up. And that’s how I learned English.
Q: How did you go from that to writing in English?
A: It would not be something that me coming here as a 9-year-old old would have dreamed. I recognized that English was my weakness. At first, I thought I was a STEM kid, good at math because math is a universal language. It was freshman year when I got this English teacher who really encouraged me to write sci-fi. I wrote in Creative Writing and I’m like, “Oh my God, I can do this.” And I got invested. And I read a lot of sci-fi books.
Q: Why did you make the leap to journalism?
A: When I transferred to SPA my sophomore year, I decided to do journalism to push myself because I recognized this was my weakness. At first, it was really daunting. I had this slight denial, “I’ll never be as good as anyone is.” As I learned more people’s stories, as I tell their stories, and interview people, I found the joy of telling stories, of learning new things. When I cover stories, I am able to learn things I would not have otherwise. It’s good to know the backstage people when we cover theater. “How’s it like doing the lighting?”
Q: Do you still read sci-fi?
A: Not much. It was right before COVID, when everyone on the bus was holding books. [Reading] was something really hard for me and it takes a lot of time. When everyone else was talking about it, I said maybe I’ll try it. I really like it. And that’s when I started to write.
Q: Of the stories you have done so far, what has been the most difficult?
A: It was my second editorial. It was about fostering a sense of belonging in the SPA community. Last year, we decided to write something on the sense of belonging. But the lens we decided to focus on was too big. That could include the things we say, and sexism, in classrooms, in settings. I remember going through four drafts. And then it was “This is not it. We’re not going to publish something that’s incomplete.”
Q: What has been the most fun story you’ve written?
A: My beat is Mic the Spartan. [Spartan] is our mascot. So, basically, it’s giving a player a microphone and we’re able to hear how they grunt, how they cheer, when they’re at practice. I think one of my most fun stories was having someone take a Go-Pro and having them swim with that. Taking it underwater. I think that’s the furthest I’ve pushed myself on a multimedia story.
Q: You write for print and online. Tell me about your digital work.
A: I am one of the senior leaders. My role is called creative design manager. I basically oversee the website design, video, the podcasts. The multimedia segments. I also write stories.
Q: Do you want to pursue journalism or something else?
A: Right now, I’m committed to majoring in sociology, or something in psychology. I think I’m still trying to figure that out.
”Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, who draped a sparkly ”MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ”And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”
Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: ”I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here.”
Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of ”enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a ”fascist.”
The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red ”Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.
In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as ”the world’s most famous arena.”
”It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived,” D’Agostino said.
Star Tribune
Biden calls out Musk over a published report that the Tesla CEO once worked in the US illegally
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden slammed Elon Musk for hypocrisy on immigration after a published report that the Tesla CEO once worked illegally in the United States. The South Africa-born Musk denies the allegation.
”That wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here. No, I’m serious. He was supposed to be in school when he came on a student visa. He wasn’t in school. He was violating the law. And he’s talking about all these illegals coming our way?” Biden said while campaigning on Saturday in Pittsburgh at a union hall.
The Washington Post reported that Musk worked illegally in the country while on a student visa. The newspaper, citing company documents, former business associates and court documents, said Musk arrived in Palo Alto, California in 1995 for a graduate program at Stanford University “but never enrolled in courses, working instead on his startup. ”
Musk wrote on X in reply to a video post of Biden’s comments: ”I was in fact allowed to work in the US.” Musk added, ”The Biden puppet is lying.”
Investors in Musk’s company, Zip2, were concerned about the possibility of their founder being deported, according to the report, and gave him a deadline for obtaining a work visa. The newspaper also cited a 2005 email from Musk to his Tesla co-founders acknowledging that he did not have authorization to be in the U.S. when he started Zip2.
According to the account, that email was submitted as evidence in a now-closed California defamation lawsuit and said that Musk had apllied to Stanford so he could stay in the country legally.
Musk is today the world’s richest man. He has committed more than $70 million to help Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and other GOP candidates win on Nov. 5, and is one of the party’s biggest donors this campaign season. He has been headlining events in the White House race’s final stretch, often echoing Trump’s dark rhetoric against immigration.
Trump has pledged to give Musk a role in his administration if he wins next month.
The only debate between DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Royce White started Sunday on the street outside WCCO Radio.
As White approached the building, he loudly called some two dozen flag-waving and cheering Klobuchar supporters a “whole lot of commies.” The 33-year-old provocateur and podcaster also told them to thank Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney — who endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — because there was “no chance in hell” that Harris would defeat Republican former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5.
Klobuchar, 64, had arrived moments earlier, smiling and wishing “good morning” to her supporters. Once inside, the two took questions for an hour from moderator Blois Olson. Their tone was generally polite with White often interrupting a Klobuchar response with, “rebuttal,” indicated he wanted to respond.
The senator repeatedly raised White’s claims on X, formerly Twitter, that “The bad guys won in World War II” and that there were “no good guys in that war.” She called that stance offensive to veterans.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar arrives at WCCO Radio for a debate with Royce White in Minneapolis on Sunday, Oct. 27. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii)
Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth six-year term, portrayed herself as a pragmatist. She opened by saying that we live in “incredibly divisive times politically” but that she has listened and worked with Republicans to bring down shipping costs, drug prices for seniors and to help veterans and push for more housing and child care.
“Courage in this next few years is not going to be standing by yourself yelling at people,” she said, her opening allusion to White’s rhetoric, which she said is often vulgar.
White, a former NBA player, is a political novice, but a close ally of Steve Bannon, the jailed former chief strategist for Trump and right wing media executive. Last summer, White won the state GOP endorsement to run against Klobuchar.
“Our country’s coming undone at the seams. I think we can change that,” White said in his opening statement. He said he threatens the status quo, decried the “permanent political class” and referred to the two major parties as the “uniparty.”
