I was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1985, when my father was a faculty member at Ohio State University. When I was four, my family moved to Naperville, Illinois when my father joined Bell Lab. At the age of 6, my family moved to Taiwan. I started my school years over there. After a very competitive entrance exam, I was admitted into Taichung Viator High School where I obtained my junior high school education.

One difference between the educational system of the U.S. and Taiwan is that there is a nationwide exam to determine high school admittance. Because I placed in the top 10%, I was able to continue attending Viator during high school. When I left for the U.S. with one year left, I was in the top 20% of my class.

To pursue a better education and to broaden my view of world, I decided to go back to the U.S. to continue my high school and, possibly, college education when I turned 18. As a senior, I am attending Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Illinois. I believe that my overseas experience will set me apart and give me a more international point of view as I begin my college education. Regardless of what career I choose, this multicultural background will provide me with the ability to better communicate with and understand the world and the people in it.

Viator is one of the most selective high schools in Taiwan. Only the best students can be admitted. It has a very strong math and science program dedicated to college preparation. Spending five years of my junior and senior high school life at Viator, I have obtained a very good math and science education. With this background, I am able to perform very well in the precalculus and physics courses I am taking at Wheaton North High School. In addition, I was able to achieve very good scores in the math and science parts of my first ACT test that I took two months after I got to the states.

The English education in Taiwan is very intensive. It is a required course for every semester from 7th grade up to 12th grade. Although my English capability is not as good as an average American student, I am able to adjust myself at WNHS and perform very well in all the courses I am taking. I will continue to improve my English during my senior year. By the time of graduation, I should be ready for college without any problem.

With strong ability in math and science, I plan to devote myself to a professional career in health, science, or engineering. I will try my best to exploit my talents and possibly earn a Ph.D degree. I hope to make a real contribution to the welfare of human beings this way.

With the advances in transportation technology, people of today can move freely and easily around the world. This transforms our world into a small village. However, such advances often spread diseases much faster than before, and on a much larger scale. AIDS, for example, infects millions of people. SARS outbroke two years ago, mostly in Asia, and has been threatening the public health of the entire world. On the other hand, the quality of our medical system is deteriorating. For instance, flu vaccine supply is in shortage due to, perhaps, poor government administration and complicate business situation; medical expenses have been so prohibitively expensive that many people can't afford health care. These issues were brought to public attention in the presidential debates held on October this year (2004). We need to do more research in health-related areas so that people can have better health care. If I am given a chance, I will devote myself to these health-related areas and make a positive contribution to humankind.