Eric Li Senior Spotlight

You’ve founded two nonprofits (Sharing Our Sound and Paper Planes Project) and will be attending the Huntsman Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Where did your interest in business come from?

….So actually in 9th and 10th grade I really wanted to be a professional musician; like audition and get into Curtis and Julliard. But… At the beginning of 11th grade, I did the Project 440 Doing Good program, and that sort of intersection between music and entrepreneurship really sparked my interest in, “Hey, I can turn an idea that just popped into my mind one day and make it into something that can help other people.” And I…thought that was really incredible. So I started looking into business and entrepreneurship. So Doing Good is really where my interest in business started…as long as you have an idea, you can work hard and you can turn that idea into something tangible. 

Many people assume that entrepreneurship is when you invest money into a fresh idea—and overnight it becomes a company, but it’s actually the other way around. Especially when you have no money, entrepreneurship is coming up with an idea and a solid business plan, then implementing it. Then you use money if you have access to it—to scale it. Most businesses fail because they use startup funding as a crutch and not to help scale.

How did you develop these nonprofits?

As for my “nonprofits,” Sharing Our Sound came from Doing Good. We wanted to help music teachers and students alike by giving them a resource that is free but meaningful, so we gathered a team of high school students and made recordings and videos. It sounds trivial, but there’s a real deficit in the quality of arts education and a lot of that is due to the abysmal student-to-music-teacher ratio. So we decided to do something (Grace and Ezra if you’re reading this, thanks for actually not slacking off during the program). One of the highlights of SOS was being able to help out a visually impaired musician with auditory practice resources.

After SOS I wanted to do something more with entrepreneurship. There were a lot of problems that needed to be addressed not just in Masterman, but throughout the city. The idea for P3 came to me one day during APLAC (I credit Mr. Gilken for listening to my initial business pitch). At that time I was obsessed with college admissions and did a lot of research on what was wrong with it. Specifically, I was interested in how college consulting worked. It seemed absurd to me that you could pay $40,000 to basically guarantee admission into a “good school”. Not only is it economically unfair, but services like that pressure kids into thinking that a “good school” is Ivy-plus - nothing else. I thought, “How could we replicate college consulting but make it free and accessible?” From there came the idea to pair high school seniors and college students with underclassmen. Not only would underclassmen receive academic support, but the small age gap would allow for a meaningful mentorship program - instead of a transactional one. Now we have mentors from Masterman and various universities like Drexel, SJU, etc. and we just partnered with Penn SAS to give a presentation on summer programs. Seeing the connection we’ve made and the support we’re able to give is really awesome.

Why did you choose Huntsman specifically? What do you see yourself doing there?

Huntsman is a dual degree program at Penn where you get a degree in international relations and you also get a degree in economics from Wharton. So, basically, the biggest thing with Huntsman is the international opportunities. [Huntsman students] apply to study abroad for a semester, and [there is] a dedicated pool of money for Huntsman students to do whatever they want over the summer—that includes…studying abroad. Academics-wise…I’ll complete the gen-ed requirements in the College of Arts Sciences and Wharton. I’m really interested in seeing how entrepreneurship can affect education, and another core aspect of the Huntsman program is language…when you apply, you have to pick a target language that you’re proficient in and you want to become fluent in college. So I chose Spanish…I really want to go to countries with fewer resources and help their education system while also continuing to work on reforming education in the United States.

Do you have specific countries in mind?

I speak Spanish and Chinese. So, Spain, China, Singapore…but I really do enjoy traveling and learning about different cultures. And as a massive foodie, there are still dishes I haven’t tried yet.

I heard you are the leader of the Chinese Cultural Party (CCP). What motivated you to found this club? 

At the end of sophomore year, people came up to me and were like, “Hey, can you teach me Chinese?” So I remember, towards the end of the year, in chemistry, we had free periods at the end of the year, so I would, like, give mini-lessons to people and I was like, “Hey, this is kind of fun. I can start a club.“ So junior year I was like, “Okay, I’m going to start a club where I’m going to teach high schoolers how to speak and read Chinese…We had to decide on a name. I was like, I don’t want this name to be boring…I want it to be memorable. So, the government of actual China is called the Chinese Communist Party…so let's name it CCP, but instead of CCP we put Cultural…that’s worked perfectly. It encapsulates what we’re doing. We’re a party, we’re Chinese and we teach culture. But yeah, the main motivation behind it was to…allow people to learn a new language. Masterman, as a public school, only has Spanish and French…

I’ve always believed its very important to have those linguistic opportunities, because…a lot of people have said [this]…Language is one of the investments that you can make that will always make a notable return. Like, say if you speak Spanish. You’re then able to communicate with everyone in Spanish-speaking countries…unlock way more doors. 

I’ve heard you are a bright physics student. Do you enjoy physics? 

I like that it's math applied. I can take mathematical techniques and strategies that I’ve learned in regular math class and use them in physics. It’s very interesting because once you get into it it's really really interesting, learning how these things are interconnected and seeing how they make the world how it is. 

As a musician, what have you taken away from music and how do you see music in your future? (Eric plays flute and piano).

Just being able to play in an orchestra, I think it's a really really good experience. Having done music for so, so long, music has taught me a lot of really important skills, like consistent practice, performance anxiety, and really understanding yourself as a person. And with the auditions…you learn how to present yourself professionally…I think it's an important experience to have.

How do you feel about leaving Masterman next year?

I feel…excited…because I’ll be going to a place that has way more resources than Masterman. Basically, college is completely different, like I won’t have to (hopefully) wake up at 6 and prepare for class at 8:15, and I can basically have more control to do what I want.

…I’m also disappointed to leave Masterman. ‘Cause, like, I remember when I was in middle school, I would always think…“I gotta get out of here. I don’t want to be at Masterman.” But then now, it’s like I don’t want to leave…[with] the community and the memories that have been made throughout my eight years being here, I can’t really walk away from them that easily...The thought that I might not be able to see some people for God knows how long, it's just really hard to move on. 

Best place to eat in Philly?

I gotta say Matcha Maiko, in Chinatown. I remember having it for the first time…I swear to God it was the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten. Hands down the best ice cream in Philly.