Roadtrip:Taiwan

NSM asked teens from all over the world what high school is like for them. The goal is to see how similar (or different) life is for teens around the world. Where will NSM go next? See the contest at the bottom of this page!

NSM: What do the people in your high school think of Americans?
JK: I have to answer this question based on my own opinion because there are more than 3,500 students at my high school, so it is very hard for me to generalize all their thoughts.

Americans have sufficient latitude to pursue what they really want, and they always feel free to say whatever they feel like saying. Perhaps because of such freedom, Americans seem to be the creative ones, coming up with all kinds of inventive ideas.

NSM: What is a typical high school day like in Taiwan?
JK: I get up at 6:30 a.m. I have to arrive at school before 7:50 a.m. or sometimes 40 minutes earlier in order to take a test in the morning. The first class starts at 8:05. There are seven or eight classes a day. Noon through 1 p.m. is lunch time. The last class of the day ends at 4:10 or 5:10 p.m.

After classes, I go to extracurricular activities for two or three hours or simply study in the classroom until 9:30 p.m., then go home. When I get home, I take a shower, check out my weblog, chat on MSN with my friends, study a little more, and then go to bed between 12 and 1 a.m.

NSM: How do students in Taiwan apply to college?
JK: There are too many tests! There are two opportunities to get into college, and these two opportunities are both based on your performance on two different exams.

There is an exam held in February for all high school seniors, which consists of five subjects: Chinese literature, English, mathematics, science and social studies (Chinese history, world history, geography, civics, the three principles of the people). The total exam takes 520 minutes, and students spend two days taking the exam.

If you do well on this exam, you can apply to up to five majors of colleges (students have to choose a major upon applying) and then go to interviews or other exams held by the departments of the colleges. Rejected students have to take another exam in July.

If you do well on the exam, you can go to your first-choice school. If you don’t do well on the exam, you have to settle for a lower choice. Neither a recommendation nor a personal essay can make it up, because it is all based on test results. There is only one way to get into a good school: Do well on the exams!

NSM: What is a common issue Taiwanese teens face?
JK: Teenagers in Taiwan have recently been defined as “the lost generation” by some domestic scholars because we identify with both our Chinese ethnicity and this country, Taiwan, which is not recognized by most countries in the United Nations. The consensus of Taiwanese teenagers is to foster true freedom in this land and to obtain its identity in this world.

Jen-Ching Kao, 18, graduated from Taipei First Girls’ Senior High School and is now a freshman at Brown University.

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