“I’m a lacrosse God!” says Martin Liang, a foreign exchange student from Cape Henry Class of 2019. Martin first came to America in January of 2016 in the middle of his freshman class. In China Martin’s name was Qimu, but he chose Martin when coming here.

Martin is from Shanghai in China and attended the Shanghai Experimental School from kindergarten up to the middle of freshman year, and then came to Cape Henry through New Oasis. In China, Martin is an only child and lived with his parents; however, in America Martin lives with a host family that has two older kids that are in their 30s, and one of their kids just adopted a 2-year-old boy from China.

Martin had trouble making friends when he first came to Cape Henry, so he thought he should try out for Cape Henry’s biggest sport, lacrosse! He played Junior Varsity for 2 years and now has been playing for the Varsity Lacrosse team for the past 2 years. Last season Martin racked up 11 goals; already this season, he has 4 in playing only 3 games as the lacrosse team starts out strong. Martin explains, “I’m a lacrosse God!” because he loves to make people laugh.

When Martin was asked what some of his accomplishments were at Cape Henry he replied, “Being the smartest kid at Cape Henry!” That statement is undoubtedly debatable but whenever he says it, it for sure puts a smile on everyone’s face. His favorite subject is math and he has a passion in it; he actually is involved with the Virginia Math League and competes in the Cape Henry Math Contest monthly along with Mr. Rudolph. Martin wants to go back to China for college attending the University of Hong Kong, being closer to his family. Martin loves spending time with his friends going to sushi and making them laugh. Martin says that some tough experiences he’s been through have been learning English and starting over in America. Martin says that the main lesson he has learned throughout his lifetime is to “Quit before your boss fires you!” Martin, being the comedian that he is, has never had to work because his parents have always wanted him to just focus on his academics. However, one of Martin’s friends got fired, so he made it his goal in life to never get fired from a job.

Every summer Martin goes back home to Shanghai, China to stay with his family and see everybody back home. He invites whoever wants to come with him saying, “If you want to visit me in China you can come – there is a $20 boat ride there and then another $20 boat ride back, and it will be fun!” The boat that you take to China is not in the best condition and it takes 27 days to reach China and then 27 days back, but he assures everyone that the trip will be worth it.

If you see Martin in the hallway, be sure to wave to him or say “hello!” But, if you take the time to stop and talk to him, he will be sure to put a smile on your face.