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In 2002, I was admitted to the Department of Economics of National Tsing-Hua University (NTHU), a school renowned for its long history of high academic achievement as well as the balanced development of humanity and science.

Since the first class of Principles of Economics, I have always remembered the words of my professor, “Economists should have cruel minds and warm hearts.” He believed that although economics is usually regarded as a cold and heartless branch of learning, but in its essence, it is trying to understand human behavior in response to certain material constraints. Taken a step further, he believed that all academic subjects should be developed based on humanity. Hence, besides learning about market mechanism and the logics of economics, I was also interested in courses concerning human thought, behavior and organization, such as Political Economy, History of Western Economic, Thought and Theory and Application of Human Resources. The wide range of courses coupled with the diverse background of my peers helped broaden my knowledge and enabled me to think independently. Moreover, through these courses, I cultivated my abilities in analysis and comprehension and I am certain that they have prepared me well for further studies at the graduate level.

In addition to focusing on academics, I actively participated in many social service activities. From the beginning of my college days, I joined the Aboriginal Service Club (ASC). Each week, we would visit remote aboriginal villages located deep in the mountains of Hsinchu County to help tutor under-privileged aboriginal children. Most students were from low-income families, and half of them were from single parent homes or being fostered by their grandparents. I noticed that the parents of aboriginal children usually were in unstable labor markets such as day labor, thus are unable to provide their children with better educational resources. Therefore, I believe only fair employment and education opportunity can help pull them away from poverty and advance in society.

During my sophomore year, I was in charge of the Club’s tutoring section. We worked with World Vision Taiwan, which offered financial support and donated reference books to our program. Due to the reputation of our service, a reporter of Liberty Times, the third largest newspaper in Taiwan, was curious about our program and interviewed me for an article on our service. She wondered if it was really worth the while to go so far (about an hour’s ride by motorcycle) to do this and whether the children actually benefited from this program. I said it was worthy because we saw them improving. Moreover, aside from schoolwork, they told us what occurred in their family lives or their ups and downs, so we were also their counselors. Hence, when they had problems, we looked for resources to help them or their families. I believe it was mutually beneficial, we learned how to listen and solve problems and they found big brothers and sisters to turn to.

At the same time, I was also head of a service team in an aboriginal village. In the summer, we helped villagers harvest their crops and arranged doctors and barbers to volunteer in the village. Furthermore, we helped them sell peaches through the Internet. We posted messages on bid websites and bulletin board systems, then passed on the orders to the villagers. This direct-sale method helped raise profits significantly by successfully cutting commission and handling costs for the middlemen. As a result, their labor value did not have to be judged by businessmen, but by the consumers.

When I graduated, I was granted the Dr. I-Chi Mei Memorial Medal, which is the highest award given to graduating NTHU students for excellence in academic performance, active social participation, and who have made substantial contribution to the school. Out of over a thousand graduating students, I was one of just five to receive this coveted award. During my interview with the Award’s examination committee, I was asked if my busy extra curriculum activities affected my academic performance. I answered, “Yes, it did.” “However, one semester with a B average will not affect or change my life; but taking part in these activities have.”

After graduating from college, I served in the army as a political warfare corporal. I was assigned to the Tri-Service General Hospital, one of the best medical centers in Taiwan. My duty was to respond to patient’s and employee’s complaints. This experience really forced me to increase my patience and improve my communication skills, especially when facing patients with chronic mental illness. I was like a communication channel between the doctors, patients/employees, and heads of the hospital. At night, I managed the troops, distributing our men to units that needed support. Since I had to consider both fairness and skills, it was a practical experience in human resources management for me during my early twenties.

From all these experiences I have found out in person that minorities such as aboriginals or immigrant workers stand in a weak position, not only in Taiwan, but all around the world. For instance, the conflicts in France during 2005 was a result of Algerian immigrants fighting for their job rights, much like Taiwan’s aborigines and foreign workers, but at a much more serious level. International employment issues really inspire me to pursue a career in labor-enterprise relations and the allocation of human resources. As such, I am interested in studying at LSE because of your specialization in the labor markets of East Asia. The other reason why LSE attracts me is your program combines human resource management and sociological aspects, thus I believe I will gain a balanced point of view between labor and industry.

After completing my master degree, I plan to work in a private company. I will create a great working environment and reasonable personnel systems that benefits both the company and employees. Once I have more power to influence other people, I will dedicate myself to the public sector and try to transform the current labor-enterprise environment in Taiwan today. Through international comparative employment courses, I will understand the ascendancies and drawbacks of the labor system in Taiwan and Europe, which I consider having the best labor-industry relationship in the world. I believe my academic experience in LSE will be critical to my future career.