THE START TO A NEW ADVENTURE

6 months ago, I was sitting in my room thinking about what I was going to do about my future. The typical university degree is completed in four years, however; I have decided to take a fifth year. I knew that 6 months ago, I was not ready to apply for a master’s program or professional school or even enter the job force. I needed another year to sort out what I was truly wanting to do for my future. I started feeling like I was in a rut. I needed a change of scenery so I decided to look into internships in different countries.I would wake up at 4 -6 am for interviews with consultants and supervisors in Asia. I ended up finding the most amazing program otherwise known as Taiwan Tech Trek. This program was designed for ages 18-30 who have family ancestor ties to Taiwan (For more info: https://ap0512.most.gov.tw/TTT/index.aspx) The government has hope to bring back youth who have migrated into the United States, Canada, South Africa, etc. They have internships in technology, business, health, accounting, zoology, and many more. Their goal is to have the Taiwanese descent youth grasp their family roots and make connections that will allow Taiwan to thrive in the future. I was super nervous about applying because it was a very long process asking about my past history, my mandarin and experience.

On April 1st (April fools!) I found out I was accepted to the program as an intern to Taipei Medical University in the Department of Public Health working under Dr. Peter Chang looking into a health literacy analysis in patients and in health professionals in the hospitals and health literacy in countries with emerging economies and social transition. From there, things got real. I was lucky to be given a flight stipend by the school to help pay for transportation as a typical air ticket to the other side of the world costs over $2000 CDN that I could not have afforded.

I super excited now because I leave tomorrow at 2 am in the morning from Toronto Pearson Airport! I’m about all packed and am scrambling to make sure I have all my proper documents!

T out!