My Goals for Taiwan

My upcoming trip to Taiwan has occupied my time in numerous ways these past few months. I have gone shopping for suitcases, a laptop and a new backpack. I have filled out forms for my visa. I have spent hours researching the university I will be studying at and the city I will be living in.

But recently, my thoughts turned in a different direction.

Why? I was at dinner with my Chinese tutor discussing my upcoming trip. She threw me a curve ball when she asked what my goals were for this year in Taiwan. I was shocked to realize I didn't have well-defined goals. Obviously, I am hoping to improve my Chinese but I thought my goals should be more specific. So, along with thinking about luggage, computers and visas, I've been thinking about my goals for the year.

Here is the list I have created:

1. Grow in my faith

As a Christian, continuing to deepen my relationship with Jesus is of paramount importance to me. Moving to a foreign country will present new challenges in my faith. However, I hope to embrace these challenges as opportunities to learn more about myself and God. I am excited to become involved in a local Church and faith groups at Wenzao!

2. Try everything

This journey in Taiwan will be unlike anything I have ever done and, almost certainly, unlike anything I will ever do. Nine months seems like such a long time, but I know the time will be over before I know it. While I am in Taiwan, I hope to embrace every opportunity that comes my way whether that be eating new food, making new friends or visiting new places.

3. Forge strong relationships with my classmates and host family

In my experience learning languages, I have discovered it is personal relationships that tie me most to the language I am learning and best keep me motivated to achieve fluency. I am excited to meet and get to know my host family, fellow NSLI-Y scholars, teachers, tutors and other university students.

4. Improve my pronunciation

Chinese is a tonal language so pronunciation is especially challenging to learn. Despite studying Chinese for the past four years, I know very little about how to correctly pronounce words. This has significantly hampered my ability to communicate effectively. Throughout my year in Taiwan, I hope to work to improve my pronunciation.

5. Learn to write traditional characters

Traditional characters have always been a bit intimidating to me as they are more complex than the simplified characters I have been learning to read and write thus far. However, the traditional characters are beautiful and so significant. I don't doubt I will learn to read traditional characters simply because I will be surrounded by them. In contrast, I know that I will have to put in a more conscientious effort to learn to hand write the characters.

6. Be involved in robotics

I have participated in FIRST robotics since I was in 6th grade. Robotics has stretched my mind, built me into a leader, introduced me to new friends and provided me so much joy. While living in Taiwan, I hope to find a robotics organization to either compete in or volunteer with. I know an experience like that will not only allow me to pursue my passion but also give me the means to acquire a unique set of vocabulary words useful to an engineer but unlikely to be studied in the classroom.

Writing out this list of goals has been extremely helpful for me as I prepare for my trip. It has reminded me of why exactly I am studying abroad and what exactly I am hoping to accomplish. I am looking forward to working towards these goals overseas!