Johnny Lee

BA, Class of 2019

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a goofy guy that is passionate about the world. I love performing, singing, and dancing. Besides that, I love words and media. I constantly crave to know more about the world through books and traveling; however, each time I begin I become frustrated after realizing the fact that I KNOW NOTHING.

2. What makes Taipei Tech different than other schools that offer an English major?

All students need to prepare their own senior project. Other schools have group senior projects or don't even require students to do a senior project. Although doing a senior project on our own is a great challenge, it can push us to think harder, to make our thinking more logical, and to help us find the way to solve problems.

3. Why did you decide to come to Taipei Tech?

Taipei Tech is among the top schools in the vocational high school system (and the English department has been rated first in its last two evaluations). The university is also located at the center of Taipei, which gives this school many more resources and advantages for students to live out a complete college life. The environment helps cultivate an independent, critical, and fast-thinking student.

4. What’s your favorite thing about the program at Taipei Tech?

The diversity of the courses. This program covers a wide range of areas of English, from linguistics to literature, from business to journalism. It also provides a great learning atmosphere for student to experience and decide what fields of study that they would like to continue with in their master study.

5. What should incoming students know about the program?

Get ready for the workload that you will have and the time you will have to put in to become more advanced in English. If you are very competitive and very critical of yourself when it comes to learning English, like me, you will encounter several setbacks and realize that you really KNOW NOTHING.

6. In your opinion, what makes Taipei Tech unique? What aspects of the program stand out in your mind?

The English and American Literature course. This course is the first time I’ve ever really practiced critical thinking and come up with my own argument. In addition, it is pretty rare to find literature courses in a college course list, but this program not only has that but also maintains its high quality; this is what makes it unique.

7. What kinds of extracurricular activities have you been involved with at Taipei Tech?

I’m the president of the Student Association of the English Department. I am proud to say this is not only a place for studying, but also a place for connecting and creating the big-family atmosphere between students. This has always been what my association is striving for, and it really gives the activities that we hold a deeper meaning.

8. Have you had any interesting opportunities while you were here?

In my sophomore year, my professor, who had previously seen me introducing the Student Association of the English department to freshmen, chose me to host the conference for APEC and the Education Ministry of Taiwan. There were many delegates from different countries like Malaysia, France, Indonesia, and the United States: different languages and accent differences sometimes made my role as a host a challenging job. Yet, I worked closely with my professor on how to make all the guests understand the agenda and the etiquette. This was really an eye-opening experience not only because of the speeches made and the communication that happened but also because it gave me a platform to demonstrate my speech skills and learn more about public speaking. This program definitely gives people who are eloquent (or showoffs, like I am), a platform to advance their skills and be seen.

Aside from the hosting experience, I was also handpicked for the South American Business Forum, which takes place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The forum gathers one hundred great minds from thirty different countries to discuss world issues and make connections. In those three days, we shared our own stories with others, and, although we had different ethnicities, religious beliefs, and economic circumstances, we always tried to find the common ground that we had, which was the main goal of the conference and is what the world should do. The knowledge and the training I gained during the program also made me feel more at ease when expressing myself, even to one hundred elite students from colleges all over the world and with the renowned conference speakers.

9. What do you plan to do after you graduate?

I plan to study journalism in the U.S. The program has equipped me with many language skills, so after graduation, it will be time for me to combine my skills with my passion, that is, words and media, and bring them to another challenging environment where I can sharpen my skills to the best they can be before I get into the media industry and compete with others.