In the heart of Manhattan, among the towering skyscrapers of New York City, sits the office of one of the world’s most prestigious law firms—Allen & Overy. There, April Xu pores over documents for a complex cross-border patent litigation case. But the story behind this young attorney’s journey to the top of international law traces back to a very different place: the vibrant hallways and classrooms of BCIS, where a passion for language first took root and began to blossom into a lifelong pursuit of justice.

April graduated from BCIS in 2014 and went on to attend Pomona College, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States, where she majored in Politics and minored in Spanish. Her deep appreciation for language only grew stronger over time. Her journey into Spanish began back in Grade 11 at BCIS, where she had been taking native-level classes in English and Chinese. Her high school years were steeped in literature—she found herself enchanted by the sonnetsand plays from Shakespeare and moved by the lives of Jane Austen’s heroines. She wrote essays, opinion pieces, and current affairs commentary in all three languages, eventually publishing more than a hundred articles in both Chinese and international outlets. She continued pursuing her love of languages in college and law school, where she started learning Japanese and French.

Language has always been April’s natural stage. But it was also during her sophomore year at BCIS that a new curiosity began to take hold—a curiosity about law. Encouraged by her school principal, she enrolled in a summer program at Yale University, where she studied American politics, economics, and legal systems in depth for the first time. The experience opened a new window into the world of law, sparking a realization that the precision and power of language could also serve a higher purpose. That moment marked a turning point, guiding her from language toward the pursuit of justice. In 2018, she began her J.D. program at Harvard Law School, stepping into a new chapter—transforming the power of words into the light of law.

Harvard University

At Harvard, April came to understand that the law is not just a collection of statutes—it’s a mirror of human experience. While interning at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), she listened to defendants speak in their own words and watched a wife kneel in tears during her husband’s sentencing. What moved her most were not the arguments or the rulings, but the full humanity of the people behind them—flawed, remorseful, struggling, yet deeply human.

Her criminal law courses often left her shaken, with sleepless nights spent reflecting on justice and moral responsibility. One such moment inspired a research paper comparing legal liability for sleepwalkers and individuals with mental illness in criminal cases. She argued that with advances in neuroscience, the legal system must re-examine how the insanity defense is applied—particularly under the Model Penal Code—in order to better reflect the nuances of mental states. For April, the law must protect not only the integrity of systems, but also the dignity of individuals.

She believes legal reasoning must be balanced with empathy, leaving space for the complexity of human nature.

After graduating, April has been working as a litigation attorney in New York City and Houston, focusing on intellectual property litigation and general commercial disputes. In addition to her billable work, April maintains an active pro bono practice, including providing legal aid to survivors of domestic violence within marginalized immigrant communities. Thanks to her fluency in Spanish, she became one of the attorneys at her firm who could directly serve the local Spanish-speaking population. She also remained committed to environmental and social justice—initiatingthe firm’s animal law pro bono practice, advocating tirelessly for a more sustainable future. This sense of purpose, April says, traces back to her days at BCIS, where she founded and led the school’s Roots & Shoots Club and had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Jane Goodall as a student journalist when Dr. Goodall visited BCIS. The seed of service planted then has quietly taken root and grown ever since.

In 2023, April returned to BCIS as a speaker at the alumni forum, sharing her journey with students aspiring to pursue law. She recalled a moment from a federal court social security case from her clerkship days—after combing through thousands of pages of medical records, she came across an old, faded report card. It showed that the plaintiff had completed an exam despite repeated blackouts. That single document, worn and yellowed, spoke volumes. To April, being a global citizen is not about speaking from a place of privilege—it’s about humbling yourself, listening closely, and recognizing every quiet breath of struggle.

Today, April continues to merge critical thinking with compassion. She seeks more humane expressions of justice within the framework of law, and writes under the pen name “Third Culture Lawyer” on Substack, where she reflects on legal systems, cross-cultural identity, and the role of education. Her writing aims to illuminate the path for young lawyers and advocate for a more just global order. For April, law is a universal language that connects the world—and education was where she first learned how to understand it. As she puts it: “Education helped me understand the world. Law gave me the tools to change it.”

From BCIS to Harvard, from literature to litigation, from classroom discussions to courtroom battles, April has remained committed to engaging with the world—not from the sidelines, but as an active participant and a catalyst for change.