Making Decisions for Oneself

Life is a process for us to make decisions. If we can be responsible, usually we live more happily. I came from a middle-class family with my father working as a primary school teacher supporting a 5-member household. He came from Mainland China so the financial situation was bad for quite a long period of time. He always wanted to become a public school teacher like himself because that is an "iron bowl" with the government supporting the family.
Well, I think I am a good elder daughter at home with 2 younger brothers to take care of. I was successfully admitted to Taichung teachers' college and Girls' Senior High after my junior high education. My parents told me to get into the teachers' college to become a primary school teacher--at that time students studying there do not even need to pay the tuition. I asked my teacher for advice and made a decision the first time in my life--I chose to go to a normal senior high in order to get into a college. My father then gave his second advice: then you should study in the Normal University.
In the second time, I obeyed his order getting into Taiwan Normal University, leaving home the first time. I actually could get into Taiwan University. That 4-year experiences living in Taipei form my independent personalities. Then, I went back to Taichung, my hometown, to teach in a junior high for 2 years. I felt being there suffocating my personalities. I then told my father I wanted to go abroad for an MA degree—I already passed the entrance exam of the master program at Normal University. My father was puzzled, not understanding why I chose to give up the iron bowl. Since he is one who encourages more learning opportunities, he let me go. Yet I have to support myself financially. I did have my saving from the 2-year job experiences.
My first step of graduate education was at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa). It was an English teaching program, like one of the master’s program offered at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Tsing Hua University. My advisor, although at an assistant professor’s rank, was at the same age as my mother. She indeed treated me like my American mother, serving as my role model in my academic career. I learned from her about how to treat students, how to prepare to teach graduate courses, and how to conduct research in applied linguistics. The wonderful experiences at Iowa State encouraged me to pursue a doctoral degree. I love studying in USA. Although this time my father was against the proposal: why did a girl need to study this much? Anyway I insisted on my own decision. This round I actually ran out of my own savings and I did not get any financial support in the first semester from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the school of my doctoral program. I served in the student cafeteria, earning US$3.25 per hour (8 hours a week) to subsidize a small portion of the living expense. Luckily I found research assistantship the second semester, ending my most miserable period of the graduate student’s life in US. I was also quite lucky to immediately find a job in May, 1989 from Tsing Hua while defending my doctoral thesis on July 3 in the same year.
I took 186 credits when I was a college student including 28 education hours. For some time, I did not feel being benefitted much from most of those coursework. In 2003, when I was the Chair of our department, I even bolded to say I want to make our own department better than the one in Normal University. Now, I think I am more humble and understand better I did obtain insights from courses I took, not so much the knowledge itself, but the time and the interaction with classmates and professors. It is a valuable period of one’s life. I went to Taiwan U and the Chinese department of Normal U to audit their evening classes. Those were all very much enjoyable.
On the past Saturday, April 25, our alumni came back to the department. Most of them mentioned great resources Tsing Hua provides benefitted them the most. Yes, when Tsing Hua dared to establish a college of humanities, they invite diversity into our community. What we can contribute is not so much the papers the humanities professors can publish (we do fulfill their expectations), but a humanistic perspective. What is it? It is an insight of understanding humans better and in a deeper way. The science experts at Tsing Hua also give their rationality to us. Actually it happens the two American schools I went to, Iowa State U and U of Illinois, are famous for their science and engineering achievements.
So you make decisions for your life. I did not grow up from a very resourceful family but I am contented with the life and the lifestyle I have now. [One of our alumni said so on Saturday—she is at her 30.] I hope you can say so. There are various kinds of opportunities in the coming 3 years as long as you are prepared.