I never imagined that a game of handball could become a proxy battle for who was right about the China-Taiwan conflict, but here I was, my first time in Nepal, and the game was nothing short of savage. Getting into a conflict with my students probably was not the greatest way to introduce myself, but I refused to budge. After spending the first nine years of my life in Taiwan, I stood firm in my belief that Taiwan is an...

Growing up, I was labeled as a “humanities person” and never considered myself strong in STEM subjects. The “C” on my math midterm in fourth grade definitely did not encourage me to pursue this area of study. This changed when my freshmen physics class was called to a demonstration meeting by the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition team. My first reaction to hearing that we had an “engineering” presentation was boredom. However, after attending the demonstration, I was surprised:...

I never imagined that a game of handball could become a proxy battle for the China-Taiwan conflict, but here I was, first visit to Nepal, and the game was nothing short of savage. Getting into a conflict with my students was not the greatest way to introduce myself, but after spending my childhood in Taiwan I stood firm in my belief that Taiwan is an independent nation. However, my Nepalese students asserted defiantly that Taiwan is a part of China....

“Nice to meet you, my name is Ashley,” I said, extending my hand to a tall Afghan boy. He smiled and introduced himself as Murtaza,. I then introduced myself to the other boys, Samir and Tariq. In April 2015, my school had the honor of sponsoring three Afghan boys to attend our school’s annual Model United Nations conference. I met them for the first time at a welcome dinner, and we started to talk about topics ranging from the political...

When he fell off a cliff, Harold drew a hot air balloon to catch himself. When he fell in love with an apple tree, he created a dragon to guard its jewels. When he created too many pies for himself, he drew hungry animals to prevent waste. After becoming entrenched in the world of current affairs and politics through my endeavors in and out of school, I dreamed of having the power to change the world with as much ease...

When he fell off a cliff, Harold drew a hot air balloon to catch himself. When he fell in love with an apple tree, he created a dragon to guard its jewels . When he created too many pies for himself, he drew hungry animals to prevent waste. After becoming entrenched in the world of current affairs and politics through my endeavors in and out of school, I dreamed of having the power to change the world with such ease. However,...

For years, I had questioned the usefulness of the information I had learned in the classroom. I could not fathom the necessity of advance math for paying bills, nor would I ever need physics for playing volleyball. However, after becoming a part of the debate team and partaking in community service, I realized the fallacy of my logic. Education is not for the mere purpose of passing tests and excelling in assignments. Through knowledge garnered in a plethora of subjects,...

The movie Black Swan describes ballerina Nina Sayers’ journey as she started to lose grip with reality and descended into psychological chaos as she constantly strove for perfection, which she seemingly could never attain. “Perfection”, Nina whispered in the gripping final scene, as she fell off the stage with a bullet in her stomach after a successful performance. The thrilling psychological drama gripped me and thrust me in Nina’s head. Even though I have watched the movie more than...

Sitting across a seventh-grade girl in rural Nepal, my face was contorted in confusion. In my hand, I held her math homework, and I could not fathom why she was learning what I had learned in freshman year. I wondered why with such rigorous education in a country of extreme poverty. Having interacted with kids from a variety of developing nations, it has seemed that education has little impact on the standard of living which undermines my belief that theoretically,...

From the structure of regimes in Aristotle’s Politics to the theological or utilitarian justification arguments in Mozi, I have long been fascinated with philosophy and politics. Residing in Taiwan, I have drawn my interests from the constant upheaval of the Taiwanese government and its volatile relationship with China. At USC, I hope to continue my exploration of these subject matters as a Philosophy, Politics, and Law major. I cannot wait to dive into USC’s courses, from International Law...