My name is Chi​en Wei Lu. I was born in Penang, Malaysia. Have a Malaysian mom and a Taiwanese dad. I used to stay in both Taiwan and Malaysia when I was younger.

1. What made you decide to study in Taiwan?

What I am studying now is design and I like getting inspiration from traditional culture. I have seen a lot of Taiwanese design and I like the creative idea of how the Taiwanese combine Taiwanese culture into designs. Besides, I love the people’s friendliness, passion, and their caring and kindness which I should learn from Taiwanese. For example, I received a lot of assistance from professors and foreign faculty for my difficulty and inquiries from learning.

2. Briefly tell us about the program you are studying. What subjects are you studying? What have you enjoyed the most in your studies?

I major in Media Design, in interactive media design group. I learned a lot about how to design an effective interactive device which promotes awareness on issues of society, as the design requires one to study, collect information and analyze problems before making a device which raises awareness on certain issues or makes a change on human’s thinking. Besides, what I currently enjoyed the most is learning animation. Learning animation is exciting, I enjoy the achievement of each animation I made, maybe I can combine animation in a certain way to add greater appeal for interactive device.

3. How is studying in Taiwan when compared to studying and being a student in your home country? (Teaching Quality、Environment、School Equipment、Laboratory or others)

Teaching quality depends basically on the professor. The difference between campus size and library, School facilities and equipment also depends on the university.

4. What has been the most difficult part about applying to study in Taiwan? How did you overcome the difficulty?

The weather. I have super runny nose when it comes to winter in Taiwan. There are no four seasons in Malaysia. And I have to get used to an environment that I cannot speak/practice English. ( when I study in an international school in Malaysia, I have to speak English.)

5. What do you plan to do after you have finish your studies in Taiwan? Would you like to stay in Taiwan?  Why? 

I currently still have not confirmed my plan for after graduating. But for now, my plan is yes I will. Because I love the people and the food here, and I am used to living in Taiwan.

6. How do you think studying in Taiwan can benefit you in your future career?

It definitely is a great experience to be written my life history. Things like communication in Chinese for technical terms and the art of speaking (like customer service terms in Taiwanese mandarin sounds much more polite) can be an absolute advantage. The working attitude, sense of responsibility and initiative are things to be learned from Taiwan as well.

7. What do you see as your key achievements when studying in Taiwan?

I enjoy a lot of things that I have never done before here. For example, there is a compulsory course where I have to cut the wood to make wooden clock. I never enjoy using something dangerous like saw. But I got no choice since it is a part of my assessment. Although the experience of cutting wood might not be so good for me, I still feel that I achieve something new and broaden my horizon for trying things that I have never done before.

8. What advice do you have for other interested overseas students who want to come to Taiwan to study?

They got to make sure they have enough interest in speaking Mandarin. Also, I encourage them to come and see the study environment here before coming here. I do not encourage students with any incorrect study attitude to study in anywhere anyway.