ST. LOUIS — What would normally be a quick and easy way to get students interested in chemistry was a pivotal moment for Alice Liu.

The recent graduate of Marquette High School in Chesterfield — and soon-to-be freshman at MIT — was drawn to chemistry about four years ago when her high school chemistry teacher lit metallic salts on fire on the first day of class. The flames burned in brilliant colors, from lavender to green, depending on the chemical composition of the compounds.

“I wanted to know more,” said 17-year-old Liu. “I wanted to find out more about the ‘why’ behind what was happening.”

Her thirst for knowledge has taken her all over the world. And recently helped her win a gold medal.

Liu was one of only 36 students worldwide to win a gold medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Saudi Arabia last month. She was among the top 7% of students at the Olympiad and was the only female competitor among the 36 gold medalists, she said.

The annual competition attracts the world’s most talented young chemists, who are selected through a rigorous selection process based on regional and national examinations.

Team USA selects just four students after an intensive two-week study camp at the University of Maryland, College Park. This was Liu’s second appearance on the team. She competed in the Olympics in Switzerland last year.

She is only the fifth student from Missouri to receive this honor and one of 55 American students to win a gold medal in the competition’s 41-year history.

While athletes competed in gymnastics, water polo and rugby at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the Chemistry Olympiads consisted of two five-hour tests: a practical laboratory exam and a written exam with a total of ten questions.

That may not sound like a good time, but Liu insisted it was.

“We were able to do a lot of different trips in the city and also outside of the city to this really cool horse center,” Liu said. “All in all, it was a lot of fun.”

Liu hasn’t always been interested in chemistry, but she has always loved learning.

“I’ve always been quite curious about the world,” Liu said.

It started with books. In elementary school, she was an avid reader; she loved words not only for entertainment but also as patterns that she could analyze and understand.

At age 10, she was introduced on television as the youngest-ever finalist in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. (After spelling words like “proveditor,” “bergere,” and “marquisette,” she was caught spelling “galanas”—a noun defined in early Welsh law as “punishment for murder.”)

By seventh grade, she had already won the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Spelling Bee three times.

There was music, too. As a teenager, she played oboe in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. She was also selected to perform in other regional and national ensembles.

Liu’s parents, a computer scientist and an auditor, hardly appreciate Liu’s abilities.

“We tried to instill curiosity in her and encouraged her to read a lot when she was little, but she is also self-motivated,” said her father Fenglong Liu. “She has a competitive spirit. Whatever she wants to do, she wants to be the best.”

Liu’s mother, Ping Wang, said her daughter is a “self-motivated” child with a very good memory. Her memory is so good, Wang said, that her daughter can remember the lyrics of all Taylor Swift songs.

Liu’s parents are first-generation immigrants from China who “had to work hard,” Fenglong Liu said. “I think she worked hard, too.”

“I never imagined that my daughter would be able to represent the United States and participate in this high-level competition,” Wang said. “I am so proud and so grateful to the United States.”