editor-in-chief

Amber’s passion for journalism started in Lower School. “Whenever my mom would be at school, she would pick up copies of The B&G that were lying around and would bring them back to me,” Amber said. “I would spend hours reading different reviews and articles, which initially sparked my interest in joining The B&G as I really looked up to the members of the publication.”

By Katherine Ma

Amber, the editor-in-chief of The Blue & Gold (The B&G), has been a part of journalism class since her freshman year. She is also involved in tutoring local Taiwanese students about financial aid, mentoring the Middle School (MS) Model United Nations (MUN) Press Team and leading the MS publication, Tiger Times. Amber will be studying political science and English at Wellesley College after graduation.

Reading The B&G articles inspired Amber to one day have her own work printed in the student-led publication, prompting her to sign up for the journalism course when she entered her freshman year. Her first year in The B&G enabled her to continue developing her passion for journalism. “When I first joined, my goal was to achieve the same high quality of writing that past editors-in-chief acquired,” she said.

“However, over time, I realized that everyone writes and reports differently. And that’s the beauty of journalism, where we get to step out of our comfort zones and explore different styles of writing.”

Her fondest memories include working on print editions with all of her peers. “My favorite memory was back in freshman year, where our class collectively worked on the last print edition of the year,” she said. “When we finished with all the layout pages, we placed every single page on the floor in order and stood there, staring at our completed edition. Seeing the print edition collectively come together and merge into the best product of the year was probably the best feeling in the world.”

Through The B&G, Amber has been able to express herself in ways that other classes and clubs do not offer. Her experience with the publication has given her a common ground with other students and taught her valuable communication skills. “To me, writing actively shapes society and supplies fundamental knowledge to public beliefs, so I’m grateful that The B&G has given me the platform to voice my opinions and thoughts to foster meaningful conversations in our community,” Amber said. “I’ve not only learned through the hardships of media censorship, but I have also found modes to empower other people to draw their own interpretations on issues here at TAS through my writing.”

Not only has she been able to connect with her journalism peers, but she has also been able to reach out to many other members of the TAS community. “I love how I get to create a culture here at TAS, whether that is communicating with the other journalists to produce the most high-quality works or teaching younger reporters the fundamentals of journalism to supplement their knowledge in the field so they can continue the culture,” she said.

Amber’s enthusiasm for journalism has been apparent to the community around her. Dr. Owen Lipsett (he/him), Amber’s AP English Literature and Composition teacher, is a strong advocate for her capabilities. “An area where she really excels is taking what people think and then making them think more deeply,” Dr. Lipsett said. “I think something that’s really shone through in her editorship is making [The B&G] both more socially conscious and more relevant to people’s lives.”

Amber’s parting advice to The B&G is to continue working on communication due to the publication’s small team. “The relationships that you cultivate, both in and outside The B&G, will shape your understanding of what it means to be reflective communicators who champion authenticity and find common ground,” she said.

Ariel Lee (‘23, she/her): print managing editor

Rise Up and ILA Fashion. She also enjoys reading and drawing in her free time.

Ariel’s decision to join The B&G was swift and interesting. “I’ll be honest, I first joined because I needed an elective,” Ariel said. “And the first one I saw was journalism.” Not knowing much about The B&G, Ariel decided to pick it because it sounded like a fun course. Little did she know, The B&G ended up being one of her favorite classes throughout her high school career.

By Abby Chang (‘24)

Ariel is the print managing editor of The B&G and is in her fourth year of journalism. Besides The B&G, Ariel is involved in extracurricular clubs such as

In The B&G, Ariel specializes in creative aspects such as print layouts and multimedia projects. She also focuses largely on marketing and providing the audience with high quality content through social media platforms. “Being friends with Ariel for over six years, I would say one of her best qualities is her creativity,” Annie Y. (‘23, she/her), a close friend of Ariel, said. “She definitely showcases these creative skills and passion in her work at The B&G.”

Ariel feels that the relationships and connections the students build with each other is the best part of the journalism community. The reliance and trust in each other for help not only creates a close environment, but also enables the publication to be an important part of the school community.

Ariel feels especially keen about The B&G’s tradition of Saturday layout days, where the team spends a whole day working together to finalize a print issue. “A lot of my best memories come from layout days, since we’re editing together, eating together and doing more than just typical journalism things,” she said.

Having to leave both Taiwan and the TAS community for college, Ariel feels nervous but excited. “I’m going to miss everything and everyone especially the food,” Ariel said. “I’m going to miss [bubble tea].”

However, new challenges and opportunities await Ariel as she embarks on a new journey. Some notable ones include learning how to cook, making new friends and joining journalism related student activities.

Ultimately, Ariel is thankful for everything The B&G community has taught her and the many relationships she has built along her way. Her parting message for The B&G team is to always be happy, no matter what situation you are in, and to think positively. “Don’t stress too much about anything. Be happy and do things that make you happy. At the end of the day, your happiness should come ahead of academic stress,” Ariel said.

Audrey Hwang (‘23, she/her): co-editor-in-chief

hosted a couple of podcast episodes for The China Post. Outside of journalism, Audrey is also the president of Amnesty International and a part time educator at Lululemon. In her free time, she enjoys running and Pilates. After graduation, Audrey will attend Northwestern University where she hopes to double major in legal studies and journalism.

aid with Dr. Dodge and Dr. Limmer,” focuses on the controversial yet important topic of financial aid at TAS. “It was an interesting experience learning about the legal framework the school is set under and how it prevents the endowment from considering traditional financial aid provided at other private institutions,” Audrey said.

By Victoria Hsu

Audrey is the former co-editor-in-chief of The B&G. She was an intern for the Taipei American School (TAS) Communications Office and has previously written and co-

Audrey’s interest in current affairs, school policy and culture has manifested in her work for The B&G. “I’ve always been interested in filtering my thoughts and ideas in a concise and professional manner, and journalism seemed like the appropriate medium for me to practice that,” Audrey said.

Throughout her journalism career, lots of Audrey’s work has centered around school policies and politics. Her last podcast episode, “Exploring financial

Audrey’s passion for policy and communications is further shown through the stories she chooses to cover at The B&G.

“I have been consistently impressed with Audrey’s courage,” Ms. Lindsey Kundel (she/her), the former journalism teacher and current Director of Communications and Marketing, said. “She doesn’t shy away from difficult or controversial topics.”

Audrey loves the openness The B&G offers her. “I loved how we were able to discuss so many topics openly every day in class, everything from finding out insider school information before everyone else to debating stylistic choices in our layout,” she said. However, she felt that writing at The B&G also came with many hardships as discussion of sensitive topics was sometimes discouraged or limited. Despite covering many controversial topics during her time as a writer, she still felt that her stories lacked full transparency with her readers. Thus, she is excited to explore her independence in the bigger world outside of the school community.

“The Blue & Gold is entirely studentrun, meaning it is up to you what you want to make of it. It’s more than a newspaper; it is really a creative outlet,” Audrey said. She believes that the skills developed in journalism class can be utilized in many aspects of one’s academic and professional life as well as feed their creativity.

Dear Class of 2023,

Right now, what we can say you probably already know. You know we’re gonna talk about the pandemic, about missing each other, about spirit week, about no regrets, about the big future… that’ll sound nice but it won’t cut it. Just straight up, we want this letter to make you CRY. This letter is mostly for the 30 or 40-year-old TAS Class of ‘23 to look back and kind of get a sense of what we’re feeling right now. So here’s our best attempt.

WOW. That passed by fast. That’s it. That’s high school. Done. Over. At this point many of us are probably still trying to accept that it’s the end of an era, and we’re probably doing this in two main ways:

1. Trying to convince ourselves we did everything we wanted to do and everything we could do. No regrets. It was awesome and was the most fun it could ever be.

2. OMGGG whyyy I miss this SOOO