I grew my interest of being an exchange student through my learning experience.
I used to get stressed out upon receiving a task of giving a presentation, this inferiority indirectly leads to losing passion in learning. I gradually realized that these so-called obstacles are something I had to overcome sooner or later, for they are essentials along the journey of life. Through more solid and comprehensive understanding of topics, along with more time on practice, preparations and more experiences, my presentation performance improved by a large margin. Surprised, professors started to give credits about my presentation, my teammates started to assign me as presentation guy, those compliments gradually build my confidence about presenting. I switched my attitude from being perfunctory to enjoying the process of expressing my thoughts. I even discover my uniqueness compared to those elites with brilliant GPA grades. I might not outdo them academically, but I make good use of my advantage, which is making compulsory course project entertaining than ever through my humorous presentation style. Ultimately, the results do reflect the fact that passion is part of the overall ability.
How does this progress induce to applying for exchange student?
I have had the intention of experiencing different education style outside Mandarin comfort zone ever since I discovered my ambition on advancing my presentation skill as well as becoming a multidisciplinary professional. I have the passion of enriching my international point of view, receiving various thoughts from different backgrounds through this precious opportunity.
By browsing through list of schools this semester, I grew my interest in East Europe. After thorough search on nominated countries, I discovered that Czech Republic, is the optimal choice for me, the reasons are listed as follows:
Masaryk University (MU), a top-notch comprehensive university in Czech Republic, is home to diverse fields of professions. Among all, Faculty of Economics and Administration is the suitable choice for me, for my interest of pursuing further studies in Finance. Applying for business-related department, placing myself in such multi-cultural environment is one of my goal as an undergraduate.
According to policy of MU, each exchange student must take on a minimum of 20ECTS per semester. ECTS (European Credits Transfer System) can be seem as credits for unified education system in Europe. After some research, my selection of modules comprises of 5 courses, with 15 out of 20 ECTS load on Economics-related field and others on Language Department. Composition of courses directly links to my objective of placing my focus on Finance as well as enhancing my presentation technique.
Course are listed as followings:
| Course | ECTS | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Survival Czech | 0 | Basic Czech for daily life, with tuition fee of 200 CZK. |
| Quantitative Methods for Decision Making | 8 | Utilizing mathematical tools to solve economic problems, with common types of optimization problems and solutions. |
| Culture and Mass Media Economy | 3 | Influence of culture on Economics, as well as its historical development and current structure. |
| Presentation Skills in English | 5 | Techniques used in the process of preparing and giving a presentation, as well as practicing learned skills in front of the audience. |
| Impacts of the Transformation on the Regional Development in the Czech Republic | 4 | Introduction to wide context of the transformation period in post-communist countries, and the influence on the territorial (regional) development. |
Language Ability
I will learn basic Czech that is necessary for daily life in Czech through open course of NCCU foreign language center. Additionally, I will keep sharpening my oral ability of English since it is vital in such environment with students around the globe.
Learning to Promote Hometown
Honored to have Taiwan as my home, I am fully prepared to introduce my country as attractive as possible. Culture, school and cuisines included, I am asure that I could be an ambassador of the lovely Taiwan.
Preview Courses
Taking courses in new environment can be challenging. As a result, I had better acquaint myself with the professions I will be taking in MU beforehand.
Be Active
The most important objective in this journey to me is extending my point of view. Seizing every chance to establish new relationship and to express myself, through cross-cultural interaction and active participation in any given opportunities, is the best way to cherish and make full use of this journey.
Open up My Mind
Go make some friends in the new environment as I have already stepped out of my comfort zone. Attend parties with foreigners, explore local festivals in Europe, feel the loneliness and humbleness as an outsider. Leave the stiff mindset at home, immerse myself in the diversified cultures and perspectives.
Record experiences
I expect myself to record all the experiences I expose myself into. Through images, videos or writings, those precious memories will be brought back.
Experience Sharing
I would like to share all my knowledge and preparation experience about this journey to those who are interesting in going abroad as much as I do. I will cooperate with related administration to promote this program.
Accumulate Global Perspective
Brand new stage of life starts as soon as I return from Czech. Experience of being an exchange student must widen my view, yet far from enough. Through participating in related event, International awareness or international volunteers, there are abundant experiences to accumulate and I have confidence that my global perspective will be enhanced to next level.