Fresh Start

As I walked outside, I realized it was raining. I moved swiftly to my bike, hoping it wouldn't get bigger. But the clouds were impatient, as the rain inevitably started pouring down. I quickly put my phone and my wallet into my bag and returned to my dorm immediately. When I finally got to cover, I was so wet it was as if I had taken a shower, except fully dressed. I promised myself I would never leave my dorm without my umbrella again.

Many people who study literature typically interpret the rain as a metaphor for death or a symbolism of sadness and tragedy. But that day, I walked out of a life changing speech when it started raining. To me, it was it felt more refreshing than ever. It cleansed me, like Jesus's blood cleansed all sins. What happened in the past didn't matter anymore. All the failures, pitfalls, and confrontations were all behind me. This, was my fresh start. 

...

"You wanna be like Steve Jobs!? That's just pathetic." my friend told me. "No, what I mean is I want to change the world just like Steve Jobs, not be like him." I explained. "That's still pretty ambitious man. Good luck with that."

I've always had a dream of changing the world, revolutionizing the high-tech industry. But I wanted to do it in Taiwan, because I know it we have the potential to innovate, we just never tried. I read books and watched online speeches about entrepreneurship. I studied business and problem solving to educate myself. Everyday, I only thought about finding my core competencies and leveraging them. 

As I became increasingly motivated, I shared my ideas with my friends and family. Unfortunately, not many people understood my ambition and aspiration. They thought I was too naive and impossible to accomplish. I initially tried to neglect the negative responses, but it eventually became too overwhelming. As a result, I started doubting myself, and reflected on what I was saying. "Can I really do it? Am I being one of those crazy naive kids that just thinks I can change the world but can't really crap?" 

An internal conflict began, and I became really frustrated. On top of that, my self-conscious counter-part kicked in. "Are you stupid? What are you thinking?!" I thought. "There has been no point in your life, where you outperformed anyone! You've just been average. Really really average." But my ambition will soon be reignited.

On a regular Wednesday afternoon, I walked into our Thought Leaders' Workshop classroom, thinking it was going to be another boring speech where a random alumni blabbers about his or hers research that nobody cares about, and the only task that could benefit at that time was sleeping. But as this Stanford professor started her speech, her first question to us was, what is your passion? I immediately knew this wasn't going to be any ordinary speech.

She talked about developing passion, understanding one's self, leveraging your strengths and discerning your weaknesses. It was extremely insightful; I even turned off my tablet to pay full attention to what she was going to say. She covered many issues, such as social movements, civil disobedience, etc. But what really hit home was when she talked about being yourself. 

"Don't worry too much about people think about you. They're too busy minding they're own business." she stated. It suddenly made me think, "Wow, that makes a lot of sense!" I knew I needed to know more from this professor. After the speech ended, I approached her and shared with her my ambition of changing the world and making an impact on society. I wanted to heard what she thought about it.

"That's great!" she remarked, "I'm always glad to meet people like you with that ambition."

"But sometimes I feel like I'm the only person that has this ambition. I can't single-handedly change this world." I asked insecurely.

"I understand the powerlessness you feel. But if you think about the great people that changed the world, they were all by themselves too. If people want to make in impact, they just have to believe in themselves, and just go for it." she responded, "You could be that one person." 

You could be that one person...

Those six words echoed in my mind a million times per second as I walked into the pouring rain; I was determined once again. The temperature dropped as the rain came down and my body was cold, but my heart was burning. It was burning with that fire of passion that I once had. I didn't doubt myself anymore, because as I biked through the rain, I knew: "I will be that one person."

Seniority

Overview

In Asian culture, courtesy, politeness and respect are extremely important in social settings. Younger individuals are expected to respect and follow the orders of older or more senior individuals. In school, underclassman are expected to address upperclassmen as 學長 or 學姊, which means classmate of a higher grade level, male and female, respectively. In corporate or work settings, employees are expected to address their boss as their positions, not their names. In extended family reunions, the children always have to greet the aunts and uncles when entering the door; grandpas and grandmas are no exception. 

As Asians, we have been taught this way ever since we could talk, and it has been ingrained deeply into our culture and our behaviors. However, what most people don't realize is that such conditioned behaviors subconsciously makes us obedient and submissive to older individuals. Our gut-reaction is to respect them merely because they are older than us. But why? Why should we respect an upperclassman, or an older family member? Furthermore, why should we respect anyone at all? Next is my take on this issue. 

My take

As a result of living most of life aboard, I tend to have a more liberal opinion on things. From my perspective, people should not have to respect someone simply because they are older. I would argue that an older individual does not indicate that he is smarter or more knowledgeable. Consequently, I do not respect them or disrespect them, but simply see them as equal. I believe no one senior to me deserves any respect unless they proves to me that they is worthy of respect. This is not to say I am cynical towards older friends and look down on them. Don't get me wrong, I totally respect them, but not in a obedient and submissive way; I treat everyone equally. 

Never will you ever hear me call anyone 學長, with the exception of joking. Instead, I just call them by their first name, as if they were any other friend I had. 

On the other hand, I also firmly believe in treating those younger than me equally. There have been numerous times when people have called me 學長. As much as I appreciate their respect, I speak from the same perspective and tell them not to call me 學長. Simply put we're all students; there does not need to be any "respect" to older students. 

Comparison to the States

Since I spent most of my life in the States, I often like to compare parts of the Taiwanese culture to American culture. If you take a look at the relationships between people of different ages in the States, you will not observe the seniority phenomenon. In school, students can easily make friends across different years, without any seniority barriers. Students can easily make friends across different grade levels. In family settings, children address older relatives or family members via a first name basis when they are old enough and they are not obligated to follow any orders or commands. In corporate settings, everyone calls everyone else by their first names, and more importantly, lower employees are often encouraged by managers to challenge the decisions made because they value every single employee and treat them as equals to themselves. 

Conclusion

Seniority is one of the many few parts of Taiwanese culture that I think could be improved upon, especially because cultural barriers like these can severely hinder room for effective development. If younger employees are afraid to challenge senior employees, then discussion will not be rigorous and ideas will not be as developed as it could have been. I personal believe that in order to overcome this barrier, younger people should be more assertive when communicating with older individuals, however still staying with in the lines of politeness and respect. This will allow more thorough discussions and developmental processes, which will push our next generation to be more critical and innovative in every aspect. 

From Knowledge to Impact

Many people believe that knowledge is very important. A typical person will spend the first 22 years of his life learning and acquiring knowledge through a formal education process. However, what many do not realize is purpose of acquiring knowledge, and furthermore, how they can use the knowledge to accomplish things other than getting a good grade on an exam. Knowledge is typically applied to solve a certain problem, thus creating impact or contributions to others. This entire process can be split up into three parts:

1. Acquiring Knowledge
2. Applying Knowledge
3. Creating Impact with Knowledge

1. Acquiring Knowledge
This part is what most people around my age are doing, as a consequence of the "lack of knowledge" or "insufficient knowledge" regarding a certain area or studies. Some believe that undergraduate studies isn't enough, thereby entering graduate school to continue the process of acquiring knowledge. Knowledge can be acquired through formal education, books, internet, socialization, experience, etc.

2. Applying Knowledge
Once knowledge is acquired, it must be applied to solve problems or create new things. This is where many people, including myself, struggle. After taking in a lot of insightful information, it is difficult to remember every single detail, therefore it's hard to know when to use what concept or theory previously learned. One must often refer back to notes or the original text to recall the information learned and then apply it to a real life situation. Knowledge is easily applied when it is acquired from experience, contrary to something you read on the internet or in a book.

3. Creating Impact with Knowledge
After successfully applying your knowledge, it would be pretty useless if it had no impact on a problem. As a result, the knowledge you used to solve a problem also needs to be "customized" and effective enough to actually solve the problem and result in an outcome. I would say this is the most important part of the entire process, because your ability to create impact is what distinguishes you from others and demonstrates why you are valuable.

Knowledge isn't merely something you're forced to acquire for an exam and forgotten afterwards. It is a valuable tool to create impact and deliver value to others. I think it is important for everyone to understand this three step process in order to leverage your knowledge for creating valuable impact and contribution, thus demonstrating your value to others and to organizations.

End of an Era

Good things always come to an end.

Nothing lasts forever.

As I watch him walk down that escalator, I knew it would be a while until I would see him again. Usually when you say goodbye to someone, you assume that you will see each other again very soon. But this time, it was different.

My best friend is going on exchange for a year and a half. He got into a very good dual-degree program in Japan. It was a good opportunity, so he accepted it. Our close group of friends supported him and also thought it was a good opportunity, but we could not bare the fact that he had to leave us for a year and a half.

What's ironic is that I'm a diplobrat, and I have been moving my entire life. But I always found it true that that when you're leaving to go somewhere else, you're excited, but the friends and people you leave behind will be very depressed. For the most part, I was the one who was leaving people behind, but this time, I was being left behind, and indeed, I was very depressed.

But as I mentioned in the beginning, good things always come to an end. Some things have to end in order for new things to start, and I think today begins a new chapter to my life.

I feel like I cannot be stuck on the past. Life goes on, and so should I. I still need to finish college. I still need to meet the girl of my dreams. I still need to pursue my passions. When life is moving, one cannot simply stand still, but must go along with it to make the most out of life.

Today marks an End of an Era, but every end comes with a beginning. For every door closed, there is a new one that opens. So let the new chapter begin, as we move away from our past, and into a new tomorrow.

論大學生燒成績單的可能性 - Reaction/Comments/Response

Recently, there have been a lot of people sharing the article 論大學生燒成績單的可能性. This article is about a Taiwanese college student who studied aboard in Germany and compares Taiwanese college students with German college students. Since I also have an opinion on the issue, I will discuss my reaction and response to these articles. Links to the article are provided below.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/dscher-han-huang/%E8%AB%96%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%B8%E7%94%9F%E7%87%92%E6%88%90%E7%B8%BE%E5%96%AE%E7%9A%84%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD%E6%80%A7/10151220848110388

https://www.facebook.com/notes/kirsten-liu/%E8%AB%96%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%B8%E7%94%9F%E7%87%92%E6%88%90%E7%B8%BE%E5%96%AE%E7%9A%84%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD%E6%80%A7-%E4%BE%86%E8%87%AA%E4%B8%80%E5%80%8B%E5%89%8D%E7%91%9E%E5%85%B8%E4%BA%A4%E6%8F%9B%E7%94%9F%E7%9A%84%E8%BF%B4%E9%9F%BF/10151279818361527

"Hey man, have you done course selection yet?", my friend asks. 

"Yeah, I'm taking Business Management Monday afternoon and this class called Creative Thinking Wednesday afternoon. What about you?" I responded.

"No-oooo dude! You need to take this law class Tuesday afternoon about national law. People say it's a really chill and an easy A!"

"Nah, I want to take classes that I'm interested in, not classes that I can screw around and get an easy A.", I replied.

"Alright man, whatever floats your boat."

Many of my peers and classmates here at National Taiwan University have the same mindset about course selection and education. They believe education is an obligation that they have to fulfill because their parents told them to or their teachers in high school told them to, or even because all of their peers are doing it, so they are just hopping on the bandwagon. This is not to say that Taiwanese students aren't good at school and don't get good grades. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of brilliant minds and talented students in Taiwan. My point here is to re-address the issue of parents and teachers putting too much emphasis on grades and tests, which mislead students into thinking that those are the most important things in their academic career. As a result, many students lose interest or never develop an interest in the subjects they learn. They merely choose their paths based on their parents' "decision", what their peers are choosing, and what the news say about the majors that have good pay upon graduation. There is no part in this process where the individual is intrinsically motivated by his interest and chooses a path that will lead him to working and doing what he loves. 

Lets now take a look at places other than Taiwan.

There was a news report a while ago about the Harvard library full of students studying 4 o'clock in the morning. Some say this report is false, but regardless of its accuracy, students from Harvard and other top ranked schools have the tendency of working hard is not a myth, it is true. 

My father had the opportunity to study at Stanford as a Research Fellow. One of the most memorable things he remembered was the diligence of Stanford students. He recalls one class he took where the professor required students to finish a certain amount of reading material each week. However, before the first week ended, there were numerous students approaching the professor to ask for more books to read. Not only are Stanford student on top of their game, they exceed the expectations to achieve as much as they can. 

Similar to the two articles above, we can observe that students from the top ranked schools in Europe and America have a different attitude towards learning and education. They see it as an opportunity to satisfied their needs but also to expand their knowledge. They love what they learn and do not need to be motivated by tests and grades to study. 

The point I want to make is why aren't students from top ranked schools in Taiwan doing the same thing? They are probably just as smart, if not smarter. But why are Taiwanese students less competitive? I believe it lies in the attitude of the students, which was developed in their junior and senior high school years. This phenomenon is not completely the student's fault because the teachers and parents are the root of the problem.

So to discuss whether college students have the right to burn their report cards it completely irrelevant. Why? Because tests and grades should not matter to a student. What's important is that students in Taiwan understand the importance of education and not debate over their rights as a student. If you truly love what you are studying, then you should not have any problem with classes, thus you should not have any problems with your grades.  

I strongly suggests the current college students of Taiwan to read more about what's happening outside Taiwan and learn from them. Turn off the Anime and log out of those online games, it's time for Taiwan to rise up and show the world what we got.

Meaningful Life

On a cold Thursday morning, I checked the time on my phone as I woke up: "12:38." I accidentally skipped my morning class again, but it didn't matter because it was the last golf class of the semester. Rolling around in my sheets, I refused to expose any part of my body to the open air, as it would make me tremble from the coldness. Around 12:50, I gave in and got out of bed to brush my teeth and turn on my laptop. When I returned to my desk, I opened up facebook just like any other morning. However, this morning it was a little different.

As I scroll down my news feed, I discover that one of my friends in high school passed away. Many of my friends posted statuses about her and the good times they had with her; it was tragic time for our part of the network. However, this got me to think, if I were to pass away tomorrow, would I be satisfied with what I've done so far in my life? And it didn't take me long to get to the answer: no. 

I grew up in an Asian family where my parents are particularly conservative and protective of me and my sister. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it just means we grew up with the mind set of "staying in the comfort zone." When I was in elementary school, I was always hesitant to go trick-o-treating, unless I was accompanied by my mom or my sister. When I was in middle school, I was on the swim team but I could not jump off a diving board, so I only did backstrokes in swim meets. When I got to high school, I was always with the same group of friends I knew and I never had the courage to talk to people outside of my group of friends. Even now in college and of age, I refuse to drink alcohol or go to clubs. It just goes to show that I cannot step outside of my comfort zone and try new things.

When I start to reflect on the things I've done in my life, from as far back as I can remember, up to the present, there's also another patterned that I noticed about myself: I never gave full effort for anything I did. I didn't work the hardest in elementary school, I didn't try my best to improve myself in tennis in middle school, I didn't push myself the hardest for grades and SATs in high school, and now in college, I'm not trying my hardest to maintain a good academic record. I ask myself, do I love what I do? The answer is yes, but then why on earth am I not putting 100% into what I do? 

Low and behold, I realized it was because I was afraid that I would fail, even if I tried my hardest.

I may have ambitions to one day become an entrepreneur, to change the world for the better, and to gain more respect for Taiwan. However, those are all dreams that are still far away. And I realized that I am nothing but a wimp that has no courage to take the leap of faith, to step out of my comfort zone, simply because I fear failure.

I fear that I will fail even though I give my all. I fear that even if I stay in my room 24/7 studying, I will fail. I fear that even if I do each practice problem 100 times, I will fail. I have many reasons why I fear and many things that I fear, even though it never occurred to me.

But after seeing one of my friends pass away, I realized that I can't continue like this. If I do, I will just fail by default. Steve Jobs once said: "For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something...almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

My only option left is to start giving my 100% and pray to God that it will somehow succeed in what I do. Why? Because I have nothing to lose.

I need to start changing my lifestyle, what I eat, what I do on a daily basis, how I manage my time, and most importantly my priorities in life. And when I am satisfied with my lifestyle, then I can ask myself again, if I were to pass away tomorrow, would I be satisfied with what I've done so far in my life?

Be Your Everything

Four letter word
But I don't have the guts to say it
Smile til it hurts
Let's not make it complicated
We got a story
But I'm about to change the ending
You're perfect for me
More than just a friend so we can just stop pretending now
Gotta let you know somehow

I'll be your shelter
I'll be your storm
I'll make you shiver
I'll keep you warm
Whatever weather
Baby I'm yours
Be your forever, Be your fling
Baby, I will be your everything

Boys like Girls - Be Your Everything