The boy was nine. He came to the U.S. That summer, just like the other summers before, for vacation. That summer, he heard many good things about the academic excellent in U.S. When winter break, he went sledding and enjoyed Christmas with his family. He wished that he would one day come back and study here. For the next few years, he continued his education in Taiwan. His hope of returning to America never disappeared from his mind. In order to do well at school, he went to school in the morning, and he would go to various enrichment classes, such as math, science courses after school. Many times, he would have more than one enrichment classes in the day, which would last well into the night. He ate dinner while he was doing his homework even dreamed about the exams. This happens to everyone in Taiwan; the parents pursued their kids to go to the cram schools. Most of Chinese parents: have the mentality that not want their children lose on the “starting line.” The education system in Taiwan leaves the student with less for imagination or creativity compare to U.S.’s. Teacher’s answers seemed to be the only solutions to all exam questions. Grades were the most important things in life. The only thing that parents urged their kids to pay attention to. Even in that environment, the boy played the violin and sang in the school choir. He insisted to his parents that he needed do something where he could express himself and enjoyed. When high school came, he had to give up either the violin or singing, because he did not have enough time to do that many “non-academic” activities. He chose choir. He is pretty lucky, because the life of his classmates have to study every day that their parents made them to. The culture they lived in is a place that the diplomat representing the rank of society of a person, so they have to get a good grade on college entrance exam. The parents pushed students to study harder, even though the college entrance exams were still a couple years away. Taiwanese parents made their kids go to college prep classes, and cut their cable so they would be less distracted. The boy and his parents had a talk and they decided that he’d go to the U.S. They believed that America might have a better environment for him to learn and grow. That summer, the boy and his mom came to the U.S. He was very glad that he could fulfill the dream he has had since he was nine. That summer, the boy turned seventeen. He spent the summer on studying English to prepare himself for school. After weeks of anticipation, the first day of school finally came. The boy was amazed at the academic standard. Each student was allowed to develop his own thinking. Compare to past, he realized that the classes he took in Taiwan were too academic. Taiwanese teachers only made him memorizing words and drilling sentences without explaining real meaning; those materials were hard to apply into life. At beginning of the school, the boy had a very difficult time on learning English. He could not communicate with other people, and he struggled with most of the classes, but he believed he would solve it all by himself. He took many suggestions from his teachers and counselor, such as have more conversations with people to strengthen the communication skills, and read more newspaper or watch “Seinfeld” on TV to understand more on culture of America, but he could not understand where does the time come from. In Taiwan, his everyday schedule was consisted of school, enrichment classes, homework and sleep. Rarely did he have free time. As a product of the Taiwanese education system, he was programmed to follow directions and to do as he was told. He didn't know what to do with his free time. In America, he found himself with plenty of free time. Even though he struggled with English, he could still finish his homework and have plenty of leisure. He began try to schedule his free time. He tried to explore some own thoughts, tried to read some novels, or tried to write some essays, diaries himself. Although he was enthusiastic in his studies, and open to new ideas, his grades were low. He tried to bring them up, but his attempts were of no avail. After he took the ACT in his junior year, the harsh reality hit him. He did not get well score on ACT exams. Therefore, he tried to get more successful in his high school life. In order, he tried to get involved with some extracurricular activities. He got into Science Olympiad team, and proved that he was good at science. He took Michigan Mathematic Price Competition and been one of the finalists, and he proved that he was good at math. He was not only proved academic subjects, but also music. He had been involved with concerts choir, and last year he got into a selected choir, and well performed in Michigan Solo and Ensemble. Last but not least, this year he is going to attend to Michigan Solo and Ensemble and performed as a soloist. He tried hard to get more successful in high school, he wish that he can leave high school without regrets. He still has half a year of his senior left. He does not know how it will turn out, but he is trying his best to enjoy it, and make it his best year yet. The boy? The boy is me. NTU Science Research Project- a project for high school students who has special talent in science project 05,06 1st place in National Student Music Competition-Mix Chorus(Taiwan) 07 Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition State Finalists 24th in 07 State Science Olympiad 07 Brighton Honors Banquet 07.08 Michigan MSHAA Solo and Ensemble Solist rated 1 Employed by Ann Arbor Chinese Center of Michigan- Chinese Chess Teacher Volunteered service in University of Michigan Nursing School: Healthy Asian Americans Project(HAAP) Creator of Brighton High School Badminton Club --

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