The Blue & Gold: Volume XXV, Issue 4

Taipei American School | 800 Chung Shan N. Rd., Section 6, Taipei, Taiwan | blueandgoldonline.org | VOLUME XXV, ISS. 04 | February 22, 2019

OPINION

FEATURES

VERDICT

The pros and cons of genetic modification

From dishwasher to Shangri-La F&B Manager

Vintage fashion stores around Taipei

PAGE 6

PAGE 9

PAGE 11

TAS debate team attends Stanford Berkeley trip

By Kelly Phil (‘20) From Feb. 9-16, 10 students in the Taipei American School debate team traveled to two debate tournaments in the United States with Mr. Chase Williams, the head of the TAS debate program. For the first half of the trip, they attended the 33rd Annual Stanford Invitational at Stanford University, while for the second half of the trip, the team attended the Cal Invitational at the University of California, Berkeley.

The topic for the tournaments, announced in December, is about whether the United States should end its arms sales to Saudi Arabia. During each tournament, the debate team flips a coin to decide whether they will affirm or negate the topic. Many students were excited for what the topic can offer. “Arms sales to Saudi Arabia is such a contentious issue and there are so many great arguments on both sides,” Shawn Kao (‘20), a member of the debate team, said.

“I’m already looking forward to debating about the conflict in Yemen, Middle Eastern stability and the War on Terror.”

In preparation, each team wrote their arguments and compiled evidence in support and against the topic. In their biweekly practices, the debaters worked with Mr. Williams to research and hold mock debates.

Both tournaments are extremely difficult to win, as both are some of the biggest tournaments in the U.S. “We have started to hold more frequent practices to prepare,” Mr. Williams said. “A lot of our debaters have never been exposed to the high level of competition in the U.S. before so we definitely need a lot of work.”

Results for both competitions can be found on the tabroom.com. Berkeley Tournament Result will be out by Thursday, Feb. 19.

Newly opened Solomon Wong Tech Cube STEAMs into the future

By Amanda Chiu (‘20) and Kelly Phil (‘20) In Aug. 2017, Taipei American School began constructing a new building dedicated to robotics, science research and computer science courses. Since January, the Solomon Wong Tech Cube has been offering classes in its six floors of facilities for students pursuing science, technology, engineering, art and math.

The Tech Cube is divided into three different parts, available for students in Upper School, middle school and Lower School. On Upper School floors of the Tech Cube, Upper School students have access to an electrical engineering lab and a fabrication hub.

The middle school floor houses a VEX arena and a robotics design lab, as well as vast open areas for art and innovation. “Our

middle school robotics program is growing significantly, and they were fascinated by the big space available for them,” Mr. Matthew Fagen, the robotics teacher and a sponsor for the robotics program, said. Floor one, dedicated to Lower School students, includes “tinker and maker” spaces, as well as an amphitheater. As a fun addition, Lower School students also have the option to go from the second floor to the first floor on a red slide called the Lin Slide. The slide is currently closed under construction and will reopen at a later date.

The fourth floor is connected to the rest of B Block by a bridge, and is the main area where Upper School students take classes such as AP computer science and Honors Artificial Intelligence. “The Tech Cube’s expanded

facilities will also allow for more classes to be offered in the future,” Upper School robotics teacher Dr. Carlos Delgado-Mata said.

The fifth and sixth floors are dedicated to robotics equipment and the VEX robotics program. On the fifth floor, the sound of turning gears and clanking metal can be heard as students are hard at work programming and drawing up designs for their robots. “We even have a new virtual reality facility where you can put on VR goggles and draw designs in 3D,” Mr. Fagen said. The 3D drawing designs help students plan out their model more efficiently. With high vaulted ceilings and tall windows, the floor is able to house more robotics equipment than ever before.

The sixth floor houses a fully operating VEX arena for students to practice driving

their robots in a realistic environment. In the corner, there is a common area where students can rest while discussing their designs. Complete with egg-shaped noise canceling pods and bean bags, this area is perfect for student engineers to relax after a long work session. In addition to the Tech Cube, the Fitness Cafe, located outside of the Information Commons, has reopened and attracted many students to try out the food.

Moreover, the Tech Cube’s opening brings about exciting opportunities features for students to explore new interests.

“The Tech Cube starts a new generation for robotics, engineering and science. It definitely attracted more students to take STEAM-related courses this year,” Mr. Fagen said.

TIME TO GET

By Nakiah Pannell (‘20),

VOCALS STRINGS

PIANO From Feb. 28 to March 2, 2019, a student delegation from Taipei American School will travel to the International School of Bangkok for the 2019 Cultural Convention. In this event held by the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools, school delegates showcase individual talent for the visual and performing arts. Music delegates will travel separately to Singapore American School.

Three pianists will be traveling to SAS for the music convention. [PHOTO COURTESY OF

Eight vocalists will be traveling to SAS for the music convention. [PHOTO COURTESY OF

Eight strong players will be traveling to SAS for the music convention. [PHOTO

The IASAS piano delegates this year are the same as last year: Charlotte Chou (’19), Jeremy Tsai (’19) and Kelsey Wang (’20).

Whereas other IASAS schools travel with a professional pianist, TAS used to have delegates perform by themselves and accompany other delegates. However, this year, a professional pianist was hired to accompany other delegates at the convention.

“I was quite happy about it,” Dr. Ruth Lin, the piano director, said. “By inviting a professional pianist, [the delegates] could actually spend a lot more time on their solo piece. Because...they do have to perform their solo piece.”

The pianist, Ms. Chih Yun Chen, will accompany one string delegate and three band delegates.

Jeremy, a four-year IASAS piano delegate, wasn’t happy about this. “I do not get to work as much,” he said. “I do not feel as involved.”

Last year, Jeremy accompanied five delegates. This year, he will accompany only three. As a soloist, he will perform two movements of Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy.

The third movement sounds like a person singing, “your average classical vocalist,” he said. “The fourth movement is glorious like a hero who came back from a war,” he said.

Charlotte said that compared to performing solo, accompanying other instrumental players requires a lot more concentration. “You play by yourself, but you also have to play with the other person ... and be in sync,” she said.

One of Charlotte’s greatest fears was having a stage fright. But continuing to play in front of large audiences has helped her to prepare mentally and become less nervous.

“I am better at remaining calm when I have to perform in front of a lot of people,” she said.

“That is something that I hope to use this year.

Charlotte will perform Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 1 in F Minor. In comparison to Prokofiev’s industrial works, the sonata, she said, is “heavy” and resembles the Romantic era.

From Feb 27. to March 2, eight vocalists will perform at the IASAS Music Cultural Convention held at Singapore American School: Olivia Houston (‘19), Catherine Lien (‘19), Jordan Lin (‘20), Samik Paryani (‘20), Owen Reynolds (‘21), Claire Wei (‘20), Josephine Sit (‘20), Leo Horwitz (‘21). They will be performing two pieces in an octet, “Jabberwocky” by Ron Jeffers, which is based on the text “Alice Through The Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll, and “Northern Lights” by Ola Gjeilo.

The two pieces could not be more different. “‘Jabberwocky’ is really whimsical, including some made-up language,” vocal music instructor Ms. Andrea Blough said.

In contrast, “Northern Lights” is sung in Italian like most classical vocal pieces, and is a sacred Latin text. The IASAS vocalists will sing “Jabberwocky” first and end with “Northern Lights,” since it is easier for them to sing the high notes in “Jabberwocky” before singing low notes in “Northern Lights.”

Each vocalist will also perform a solo piece which will be judged by a panel of adjudicators. The adjudication process can be harsh as the adjudicators, which differ every year based on which school is hosting, can be quite blunt. “Everyone handles it really well in public, but in private it’s like ‘ouch’,” Ms. Blough said.

Senior vocalist Olivia Houston will perform “Mein Herr Marquis” from “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss. “It’s a German piece, nicknamed the laughing song because you sing really high notes that sounds like laughing,” she said, and she chose it because it was bubbly and fun.

Josephine Sit chose to sing “O Cessante”

by Scarlatti because the melancholy piece allows her to showcase her slow high notes.

As for the rehearsing process, Josephine said that the vocalists are “working to improve on togetherness in singing.” Ms. Blough also said that during rehearsals, there is “competition between boys and girls over the space around the piano,” when they sing in accompaniment to the piano. She said, “The girls tend to push the boys out of the circle, which is quite funny.”

This year’s IASAS string delegates traveling to Singapore are the violinists Ellen Chen (’20), Emily Chen (‘21), Aimee Co (’22), and Ray Hou (’19) violists Ryan Lin (’19) and Phillip Wei (’19) and cellists Cindy Chen (’19) and Jimmy Su (’21).

The octet will play Leoš Janáček’s Suite for String Orchestra. The suite “will certainly be an eye-opening introduction to the string delegates,” Ms. Vivian Huang, this year’s new string director, said.

Ms. Huang’s role is to smoothen out the delegates’ experience level and to help them play at their best condition. She is also in charge of assisting soloists and chamber groups in learning their orchestral sections.

One of this year’s new delegates is Aimee.

She has played competitively before large audiences, but playing in front of her peers makes her nervous. “It is a bit intimidating,” she said.

Aimee hopes to gain independence and knowledge from her older peers as they rehearse in Singapore. “You learn to work with them and discuss things, since there isn’t a teacher telling you what to do,” she said.

Aimee will play Ravel’s Tzigane.

Jimmy is worried about his solo performance. He and another cellist both auditioned for Polonaise de concert by David Popper. “We are playing the same piece at the concert,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense for the audience to listen to the same piece twice.”

Interpreting a piece is as important as mastering intonation, said Phillip. “I always tell myself that I want to be able to play the musical style that I want to express when I want to play.”

Phillip is playing Glinka’s Viola Sonata in D Minor for that very reason.

After graduation, Phillip plans to join his university orchestra. “Hopefully I will be able to find a way to continue this passion of playing my instrument,” he said.

MIKE CORSINI FOR THE BLUE & GOLD]

“I am better at remaining calm when I have to perform in front of a lot of people...

That is something that I hope to use this year.”

MIKE CORSINI FOR THE BLUE & GOLD]

COURTESY OF MIKE CORSINI FOR THE BLUE & GOLD]

“Interpreting a piece is as important as mastering intonation.”

T CULTURED Vanessa Tsao (‘19) and Joon Kim (‘19)

B A N D

DRAMA A R T

DANCE

Eight students will travel to SAS for the music convention. [PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN

Dancers practice lifts during rehearsal.

The band will be traveling to Singapore American School for the IASAS Music Cultural Convention held from Feb. 27 to March 2. The band consists of Selene Kung (‘19), Andrew Chuang (‘19), Sisy Chen (‘19), Ting-Yu Yeh (‘21), Joy Chou (‘20), Austin Wu (‘20) and Kevin Hsu (‘20). They will be performing the octet piece “Tarantella II” by Satoshi Yagisawa.

Four-year-IASAS bassoonist Sisy said that this year’s piece is going pretty well compared to last year’s, which was more difficult.

“It took us time [last year] to figure out our rhythm, but this year is simpler, though we have to work together and find connections,” she said, explaining that there was no conductor so band members have to communicate with each other for tempo.

Similarly, first-year-IASAS trombonist Kevin is working on matching the dynamic of the octet when he plays by lowering his volume.“It’s important to listen to other people and not just focus on the notes,” he said.

Additionally, each band member will have a solo that will be adjudicated. Four year IASAS Andrew Chuang, who plays the clarinet, will be playing “Carmen Fantasy” by Pablo Sarasate.

He chose to play this piece as it is an homage to his first year in IASAS, where they played an octet “The Magical Carmen.”

“I want to dedicate my senior year solo to all the wonderful bandmates over the past four years,” he said.

Although the convention schedule is always packed with practices, making it hard to see music delegates from other schools, Sisy looks forward to the cultural convention.

“Even though every year the people are different, it’s always the same feeling. We become a family,” she said.

Kevin feewls similarly. He said, “[I hope to] embrace the moment and the people I’ve met... since Sisy and Andrew are seniors, this is the last chance we have to play together.”

The IASAS dance team will be traveling to the International School of Bangkok from Feb. 27 to March 2. The team consists of Christine Lin (‘19), Vanessa Su (‘19), Rachel Hsu (‘19), Holly Chen (‘19), Victor Fan (‘19), Harrison Yu (‘20), Genevieve Chan (‘20), Maria Lin (‘20). They will be performing a piece titled “Un//breakable.”

The theme for the piece is glass, and three year IASAS dancer Rachel Hsu (‘19) came up with this idea after being inspired by the “Unbreakable” film trilogy by M. Night Shyamalan.

“It’s transparent and fragile—yet strong at the same time. When shattered, glass [is still] sharp and therefore powerful. Glass is considered a solid, yet it’s also a super viscous liquid--it has an almost paradoxical existence,” Rachel said. “In the same way that the durability of glass ranges from nearly indestructible to very easily broken, the human psyche explores a very wide range of experiences and tolerance.”

Mrs. Cheryl Lagerquist, dance instructor and IASAS dance director, compared this year’s theme and last year’s: “It’s more abstract than last year, and when you watch it you can have your own feelings, for example the property of glass being transparent and how it feels when you are transparent.”

The rehearsal process is also shorter compared to last year, with only five weeks, because of this year’s dance production being later. “We’ve been just churning out stuff, and everyone’s been willing to try new things and take risks,” she said.

Harrison Yu enjoys the challenge the piece presents for him: “The mixture of genres in the piece [brought by dancers of different backgrounds] like ballet and ballroom dancing challenges me to not only be good at what I’m already strong at but to improve in other areas.”

Genevieve Chan, a first year IASAS dancer, finds that the process is less difficult than she originally believed: “Not only is Mrs. Lagerquist a good director, which helps the process come naturally, but the the seniors are really good inspiration as a lot of them are second or third year IASAS dancers.”

LIN FOR THE BLUE & GOLD]

“We always become a family at the end of each year.”

[PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN LIN FOR THE BLUE & GOLD]

Actors rehearse poses and transitions for the upcoming musical. [PHOTO COURTESY OF

Annie Boyce (‘21) sketches in an art classroom. [PHOTO COURTESY OF NAKIAH

This year’s IASAS drama production, “Godspell,” will warm the hearts of TAS students. The IASAS Showcase will be on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in the Guy Lott Jr. Auditorium.

Stephen Schwartz, who is known for the productions “Pippin” and “Wicked,” composed the music for “Godspell.” The production follows a biblical allegory from the Book of Matthew, with the added twist of some hippie showtunes and festive characters.

“Even though our show is about Christianity you do not have to be religious in any way to understand and enjoy our show,” Benjamin Kao (‘19) said.

Benjamin plays Jesus, while Samir Mahtani (‘19) plays Judas. “There are no specific characters in ‘Godspell’ besides Jesus and Judas,” Nicole Lin (‘21), one of the IASAS actors, said. “Basically everyone else represents the people in the community that Jesus used to live in.”

Meanwhile, the stage is set simply with hanging columns of fabric and a single offcenter piano. Throughout the musical, three actors will alternatively play the piano while student musician Brandon Lim (‘19) will strum the guitar. “The artistic vision is to tell the stories using minimalism.” Mr. Cory Edwards, the director of the production, said. “The use of fabric in a creative way for all props introduced has increased as we want the audience to use their imagination.”

Of the 12 students performing during their TAS performance, only eight will be traveling as the TAS IASAS team. “I am not looking forward to leaving our four alternates behind,” Mr. Edwards said. “Our alternates are talented and amazing to work with. I feel the show here at TAS will be truly powerful.”

“This is a special show that the world needs right now, because of its message of love,” assistant director and IASAS drama team counselor Ms. Jensen said.

Meanwhile, the IASAS Art Cultural Convention is an opportunity for the devoted artists of TAS to share their work with other Southeast Asian schools.

Each school is allotted 25 pieces to bring to the event, where everyone works to curate and finalize the IASAS exhibition.

“In the meantime, there will be numerous activities, workshops, and out-of-campus excursions for students to participate,” art delegate Guo Chen (‘19) said.

The art is selected through teacher evaluations of each piece. “The art department debates which [piece] qualifies,” Mr. Andre Huang said, the traveling supervisor for the IASAS Art group. “We go through a rubric with the four C’s: craftsmanship, creativity, concept, composition.” The artworks not chosen for IASAS will still be showcased outside the Guy Lott Jr. Auditorium after Chinese New Year break.

However, there is also a quota for the number of students allowed to represent each school at the convention. “Only five students travel for IASAS each year.

Student[s] will have to go through a selection process by submitting their artwork and written application,” Mr. Huang said. “We offer interview[s] for ten candidates, and select five to represent TAS.” These 10 art candidates have their hands full preparing for the upcoming interviews and convention. “Before the artwork submission deadline, we are now each creating a completely new piece to send to IASAS, including a storyboard, architectural design, and more,” Guo said.

“We do come together to get the required deadlines—like collecting all of the traveling pieces and photographing them,” Jasmin Yu (‘19), another art candidate, said.

After the cultural convention, the IASAS Art delegates will host a final exhibit presenting the selected pieces. “We bring works ranging from architecture sketches, storyboards, 3D models, and much more,” Jasmin said. “I think that this wide range in variety is what makes us such a strong and unique team, we all individually bring a lot to the table.”

NAKIAH PANNELL FOR THE BLUE & GOLD]

“This is a special show that the world needs right now, because of its message of love.”

PANNELL FOR THE BLUE & GOLD]

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the blue & gold february 22, 2019

800 CHUNG SHAN N. RD. TAIPEI TAIWAN 11152 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CHARLOTTE LEE (‘20)

MANAGING EDITORS CATHERINE LIN (‘19) CHRISTINE LIN (‘19)

SOCIAL MEDIA & MARKETING VANESSA TSAO (‘19)

SPORTS EDITOR ANYA LAI (‘19)

CHRISTINE: In November 2017, Netflix fired actor Kevin Spacey from his lead role on “House of Cards,” following a series of sexual assault allegations against him. On Dec. 24, Kevin Spacey posted a three-minute video on his Youtube channel called “Let Me Be Frank,” in which he ambiguously defends himself from the plethora of accusations he received in 2018. By playing both his role as the villainous Frank Underwood in “House of Cards” and himself, he literally and figuratively claims that it is impossible to separate an artist from his art. “I mean if you and I’ve learned nothing else these past years it’s that in life and art nothing should be off the table,” he said tauntingly. The two necessarily intertwine. Yet, fans fall for Frank’s fictional evilness, while condemning Spacey’s real-life misdeeds. He implies that this hypocrisy, does injustice to the artwork.

Essentially, he claims that it is illogical to say a statement like “I love his work as an artist, but I dislike him as a person.”

Now a year since the #MeToo and TimesUp movements erupted anticipating the 2019 awards season, the public continues to uncover the malicious things that some artists we love(d) did. As consumers, we are now charged to question how we approach the art we have known and loved. Do we punish the art to punish the artist? Or is it possible to separate the art from the artist?

CATHERINE: I do not agree with his claim that enjoying evil in fiction but punishing it in real life is somehow hypocritical. It is true that portraying anti-heroes who commit evil in fiction can romanticize evil in general, but part of the ethos of a lot of fiction is extending a universal empathy, even toward those who are not always deserving of it.

CH: In the last decade, this side of fiction has been apparent in many superhero narratives, in which villains possess traits or act on an agenda that seem hard to oppose.

Comic book writers and filmmakers have created characters like Zemo from “Captain America: Civil War” or Killmonger from “Black Panther” to challenge their audience to contemplate moral grayness, if there is such a thing. Sometimes, like with Spacey’s Frank Underwood, you just cannot help but love the most evil of them all. Thus, in a twisted way, art serves for many artists and consumers as an vessel for our darkest and most unacceptable thoughts. The audience can love evilness in art because it is often categorized as fiction, which makes it seem less wrong to love that evilness.

I was confused by Spacey claiming that he embodies his art while also saying that one cannot punish malicious moral values by compromising artistic merit. The two should correlate, no?

CA: “Punishing” the art can happen in a lot of different ways, though. A work might be denied a prestigious award, subjected to a

negative social media campaign, boycotted and more.

CH: I probably could not ever boycott a work that I appreciate or love. When I view an artistic work, I become so immersed in its fictional world that I don’t actively think about the reality of its production process.

I find it easy to admire Johnny Depp’s acting or jam to Chris Brown’s dancing.

Yet, upon realizing that both were accused of domestic violence, I have since found difficulty reconciling both my appreciation and disgust with artists as such.

CA: I think if the creator’s views showed through in the work, I would not be able to love it even if it was aesthetically amazing.

One case that confuses me is when people started a campaign to boycott the movie version of “Ender’s Game” in 2013 because of Orson Scott Card’s publicly homophobic views. His homophobia is not evident in the work itself, so just saying the words “I love ‘Ender’s Game’” does not intrinsically promote homophobia in the same way that saying “I love ‘The White Man’s Burden’” intrinsically promotes racism. So I did not think there were sufficient grounds to justify a boycott “Ender’s Game.” If Orson Scott Card committed an assault against a gay person, though, my perspective on whether he should be “canceled” might change.

To “reflect” cannot be the best we can do.

CH: But tons of people come together to make a movie. Is it unfair to punish them too? The gaffers, special effects contractors or makeup artists may not have the same agency to decide the projects they work on as A-list celebrities. A piece of art is often the work of more than one artist.

CA: The people you mentioned do valuable work, but unlike authors and singers, many also receive stable salaries.

Their basic livelihoods do not rely upon box office performance.

Consumer behavior is often the only avenue available to convince studios, which mainly operate according to profit motives, to stay away from problematic people. “Punish” has a retributive connotation, but if we speak pragmatically about how best to achieve the world we want to live in, boycotts may be the most effective tool.

CH: So when is there an obligation to boycott an artist’s work? When an artist, say rapper, sings derogatory lyrics, should consumers feel morally obligated to stop streaming his or her music all together? For example, as society, youth culture especially,

has already desensitized people toward lyrics that demean women. It seems unrealistic to expect everyone to hold themselves accountable to every artistic transaction.

The best we can do is to reflect on whether our consumption directly contributes the pain and endangerment of past or potential victims.

CA: To “reflect” cannot be the best we can do. Kevin Spacey’s criticism was that people are willing to forgive and sympathize with immoral fictional characters, but are unforgiving in real life. I think people are very forgiving in real life: Many fans are still defending R. Kelly even after a long series of sexual assault allegations against him; Louis CK has begun to return to the spotlight only a little after a year after admitting to sexual misconduct.

We are living in this very brief historical moment when we have just “un-forgiven” many abusers, but wait a little longer and many of them will return to prominence.

I think because forgiveness is easy and instinctive for us, it is necessary to insist upon a very hard line. If we as a culture are not very extreme about it right now, soon things will end up exactly like they were before.

CH: That is asking a lot from people.

It can be easy for consumers to act as spectators to the lives of public figures and judge accordingly. Some incidents seem more black-and-white than others, so they lend themselves to be more straightforward trials. Yet, it is also hard, and frankly tiring, to live every moment of your life in a politically correct manner and hold these trials on every activity in your life.

Upon learning of a celebrity’s immoral act, can you reverse your desensitization to derogatory lyrics in the hip-hop songs you love so much?

For those who think there is currently a drain of talent in the industry due to the myriad of misconduct allegations, perhaps we should approach this dilemma by realizing that talented artists reside in every part of the world. Some of them are already on their way to prominence; some are still undiscovered. Whether or not certain problematic artists are punished, a “drain” also allows a flood of new talents. As consumers and corporations become more self aware and proactive about their actions, they open doors to more diverse and nuanced stories. They allow more voices to be heard.

CA: You are right that socially conscious media consumption is not just about abandoning a previously loved work. When one artist takes up space in our limited memories and attention spans, we are also taking space away from another. We can use our power as consumers to grant room to new artists who do respect others’ human dignity.

NEWS EDITOR

SHARON LEE (‘22)

OPINIONS EDITOR NICOLE CHANG (‘21)

FEATURES EDITOR PHOEBE CHEN (‘21)

VERDICT EDITOR LAURA HSU (‘22)

STAFF WRITERS

MAXWELL CHEN (‘19) JOON KIM (‘19) AMANDA CHIU (‘20) VANESSA KANG (‘20) NAKIAH PANNELL (‘20) IAN HO (‘21) ALLISON KWAN (‘21) NATALIE SCHEIDEL (‘21)

ADVISER

MS. LINDSEY KUNDEL

MISSION STATEMENT

The Blue & Gold is a student-run publication dedicated to sharing stories from the Taipei American School community. Produced and distributed free of charge monthly during the academic year by staff writers at TAS, the Blue & Gold strives to showcase the community it serves.

CORRECTIONS

We take all measures possible to report accurately, and seek to bring professional, thorough reporting to our readers. Please report any inaccuracies in Blue & Gold content to out email, blueandgold@tas.tw.

OP-EDS AND EDITORIALS

Editorials collectively represent the opinions of the Blue & Gold’s editorial board, while op-eds represent the opinions of each writer. Opinions in the Blue & Gold do not necessarily reflect the views of TAS student body, staff, faculty, or administration.

THE BLUE & GOLD ONLINE

The Blue & Gold runs an online edition that publishes articles every weekday when school is in operation. Find the website at blueandgoldonline.org.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We welcome letter submissions from all readers. Email your signed letter of under 500 words at blueandgold@tas.tw.

5

the blue & gold february 22, 2019

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I got rejected from my dream school.

And it was the best outcome possible.

By Justin Wu (‘19)

Having binge-watched college decision reaction videos and witnessed the success of so many students, I decided to film my reaction to my dream school’s status update just in case I could become the person on the other side of the screen for future college-hopefuls. I clicked my application status, saw the dreaded words, and froze: “Dear Justin, we are very sorry to inform you…”

I sat still at my desk for five minutes, unable to accept what had happened. The next few days were filled with emotions: rage, despair, frustration, and stress from all the applications I now only had 10 days to finalize and submit. At school, I would act unaffected, but at night I would lie awake thinking to myself, “What if I’m not good enough? What if I don’t go to a good school?” I was so anxious that I spent the next few days repeatedly going through each part of the application in my mind.

Grades? Good. SAT scores? Strong.

Awards? Not bad. Essays? Good. Over and over and over again. I promised myself that I would stop thinking about college altogether after I went through the whole checklist one last time. But every time I went through the essays section, I doubted my

assessment of my award section. And every time I reviewed my SAT scores, I doubted the strength of my grades. I was never able to convince myself that everything was good.

After a stressful winter break, school started again. Talking to a friend about his college application process, I learned that he had chosen his intended majors based on highest mid-career salaries.

Hearing this, I felt sorry for him because he was building his entire life upon money without asking himself what he truly loved. I also felt irritated about the culture here at TAS: the emphasis on results and achievement pressures students excessively.

I fell victim to this culture and found myself unhealthily stressed about things that were outside of my control.

Both my own painful experience and my friend’s comments have made me realize that college was making us seniors unnecessarily stressed. Since then, I’ve stopped obsessing over college admissions because I realized that I am not willing to let anyone or any institution deprive me of my self-worth. I’ve also learned to believe in myself and know that I will be okay wherever I go.

Over the past four years, I discovered my love of bioengineering as a iGEM member and developed mental resilience and grit as a swimmer. I believe this passion

and work ethic will one day pave the way to a fulfilling future, not what college I end up attending.

Honestly, I have no idea how important where I go for undergrad is, but I know I need to treat myself with respect and adopting this confidence has helped me be less worried. I still have around a month before my decisions come out, and stress or no stress, I still have to live through it. So why would I not choose to believe in myself?

To my fellow seniors who are stressing out while waiting for results, it’s a tough time, but I am sure that each and every one of you will be successful wherever you go, not because of what school you attend, but because of the qualities you bring to the table.

Getting rejected from my dream school gave me the confidence to believe in myself.

[CHRISTINE LIN/THE BLUE & GOLD]

ASK THE COUNSELORS:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

“How do I deal with my mom who keeps telling me to find a club?”

We create our own monsters: How technology and mass consumerism could be the death of us

By Mr. Ryan Haynes, Ms. Shirley Peng, Dr. Tim Mulligan and Ms. Song Han

By Hironori Kondo (‘21)

As Academic and Personal Counselors, we often receive questions like yours. If you haven’t yet, we recommend first talking with your mom to try to understand what makes it so important to her that you join a club.

It’s best to have this conversation at a time when neither of you are frustrated or angry, so you can better understand each other without the discussion quickly escalating into an argument. Does your mom know that clubs are completely optional at TAS? Some parents mistakenly believe club participation is required. While this is not true, it is true that club participation can offer many potential benefits for students.

Clubs can be a good way to explore and discover new interests or to develop existing interests. They can also help you to form new friendships with people from different grades who may not be in your classes, but likely share interests with you because they chose the same club as you. Since each club has a faculty sponsor, club participation can also be a way to interact with and learn from different faculty members than the ones who teach your classes. There are clubs representing a wide variety of interests and causes at the Upper School, but if you have a strong interest that isn’t represented, you can even start your own club at TAS! Dean of Students, Dr. Dan Long can talk to you about how to pursue this.

All of that being said, student clubs are far from the only way to explore your interests or meet people with common interests.

Many students do so through their choice of courses, through extracurricular activities at school, through organizations outside of

The phone. It’s the symbol of our scramble to democratize technology. It’s the symbol of our arms race for information. For many of us, it’s basically life. But behind the shiny new OLED screens and under-screen fingerprint scanners is an untold story of unmanageable growth. You’re guilty, I’m guilty, billions are guilty. And it’s a really dumb problem to have.

It sounds ridiculous when you break it down. Tech giants keep selling you new tech stuff, you keep shelling out cash, and all the old stuff ends up…somewhere. In 2016, 44.7 million tons of new electronic waste were generated, amounting to 55 billion euro’s worth of both precious and hazardous metals wasting away in landfills, seeping into soil, and poisoning rivers. 80 percent of it went undocumented.

People aren’t aware of how to manage being bombarded by new technology. In a survey I conducted last year, those still on their first phone claimed that losing it would be why they’d buy a new one. But for the almost 90 percent of respondents who’ve had multiple devices, dead batteries and the release of newer models were the primary reasons for switching. And overwhelmingly, they could only point to their old phones being...“somewhere.” We lose phones, phones get better—it’s the reality of the world we live in. But whether we get caught up in empty tech marketing or whether we stay responsible for our old devices we can decide.

school, or through summer programs, just to name a few possibilities. If you do choose to pursue clubs, we generally recommend a “less is more” approach. There’s nothing wrong with receiving information from a large number of clubs to help you make decisions, but ultimately, time limitations tend to mean that students who participate in fewer clubs are able to do so more actively and meaningfully than those who attempt to take on too many. Remember to have fun! Because clubs are optional, there is no reason to stay in one that isn’t worthwhile or enjoyable for you.

If you do choose to pursue clubs, we generally recommend a “less is more” approach.

If, after considering these factors and discussing them with your mom, the two of you are still unable to come to an agreement, talk to your Academic and Personal Counselor. We’re happy to meet with you, your mom, or both of you to talk things through, provide information, and do all we can to help resolve the issue.

“Ask The Counselors” is a new feature column by the Upper School Academic and Personal Counselors. Future questions will be gathered via a survey students will receive in their email.

It’s Google’s job to make money. It’s Apple’s job to make money. Even if that means taking an old phone, slapping an “S” onto the end of its name, and sticking in a new processor so minutely faster most of us probably won’t even feel the difference. And it works. People see that, look at their dying battery, and switch. But it’s not always better.

Replacing a battery is cheaper. It’s just acting too fast and thinking too little.

To be fair, phones do age and occasional leaps in technology do happen. When that time comes, switch, and be confident in your decision. But don’t let your old phone end up in the toxic gold mine that is e-waste. Give it to a friend or relative who needs it, or at least separate it from the rest of your trash. That way, the devices we keep churning out end up where they’re at least worth something.

We don’t hear a lot about e-waste being a problem. It’s lost behind the flashing headlines of global warming, nuclear war, and famine. It’s been devalued by a disorganized sector with not enough publicity to merit reorganizing. And it’s fed by our ever-increasing, vicious cycle of production and consumption. But it’s also something that will haunt us through all of our technological ventures, a waiting jackpot of wasted resources slowly bleeding all over the world we’ve built.

The next time a new iPhone rolls out, ask yourself if it’s worth it, and make the decision that both your wallet and planet will thank you for.

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the blue & gold february 22, 2019

Graphic by Charlotte Lee (‘20)

By Catherine Lin (‘19) In 2011, Andrew and Elad fell in love and started a family in Canada. They fertilized one egg with sperm from Andrew, and one with sperm from Elad. When the U.S. legalized same-sex marriage in 2016, they filed citizenship applications for both children. Andrew had American citizenship, and children born abroad with one American parent become citizens at birth. But one child’s application was denied.

American law requires proof of “a blood relationship” between a parent and child to transmit citizenship only if children are “born out of wedlock.” However, State Department policy defines “born in wedlock” as “when the genetic and/or gestational parents are legally married to each other at the time of the person’s conception or birth.” The children’s fathers were married, but they were born “out

of wedlock” because Andrew was neither the genetic nor gestational parent of the egg Elad fertilized.

Andrew’s and Elad’s predicament highlights how restrictive legal definitions of marriage, parenthood, family and citizenship combine to punish nontraditional families— polyamorous, platonic, non-biological, homosexual, and more. Marriage as a legal institution enforces and solidifies the dominance of a conventionally rigid and increasingly redundant arrangement, limiting our social imagination.

The line between married and unmarried couples has blurred as old conventions are no longer considered givens. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, premarital sex is increasingly morally accepted worldwide. An estimated 70 percent of couples in the U.S. cohabited before marriage; around 20 percent

of women in the U.S. now choose to keep their names as sex before marriage. Even childrearing does not constitute a concrete dividing line: In Iceland, around two-thirds of babies are born out of wedlock.

Much like proposals and engagement rings, a marriage ceremony devoid of legal implications can continue to be meaningful.

Still, the state confers a host of rights and benefits upon married people. Financial perks include marital tax deductions and Social Security benefits. Legal protections include

the right to sue for wrongful death and greater decision-making power regarding medical treatments and resuscitation.

We need an alternative way to regulate family formation, one able to encompass the diversity of possible relationships, whether people cohabiting and raising children in a polyamorous relationship or friends concurrently adopting children who wish to combine income streams and share parenting duties. The rights and responsibilities currently wrapped into one bundle called “marriage” could be allocated piecemeal or to different individuals.

A fluid world without marriage is less far-fetched than it may seem. The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights is still campaigning for the draft bill it submitted in 2012 outlining a multipleperson family system, allowing people with no relationship by blood or marriage to register as a family. This kind of legislation can open the way to a society that is less patriarchal, less heteronormative and more free.

Marriage may continue as an informal ritual performed according to personal preference, similar to a birthday celebration, without diminishing the emotional power of marriage. Much like proposals and engagement rings, a marriage ceremony devoid of legal implications can continue to be meaningful.

British politician Boris Johnson once criticized same-sex marriage by writing, “If gay marriage was okay—and I was uncertain on the issue—then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men, or indeed three men and a dog.” I do see a reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men and a dog—a dog is incapable of consenting to marriage— but why not three men, or seven?

The arrangement that is unreasonable exists right now, with the state baselessly privileging certain types of romantic and familial relationships over other equally viable options.

SHOULD GENE EDITING BE OUR FUTURE?

By Ian Ho (‘21) Genetic modification is frequently applied today on food, flower, animals, yet quite minimally for humans. Gene editing can accomplish a lot, yet not all value the potential of genetic modification.

In November, He Jiankui, an associate professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, announced that he had performed gene editing on a pair of twin girl embryo for them to be immune to a potential HIV infection. The technology that was used for this procedure is called CRISPR, and this makes genetic modification much simpler than before. This is a technique that high school iGEM teams, including TAS’ own team, are able to use.

While there are many criticisms for He Jiankui’s experiment, there is without a doubt many benefits to allowing human gene editing to continue. It is important to understand that while He’s experiment may shock the world with undesirable result, one must differentiate this mistake from the benefit of a future more developed genetic modification technique.

As a result of He’s action, a joint statement was released from the presidents of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stating how to “move ahead safely and ethically.” These leading institutes see the potential of genetic modification and

YES NO

see it as beneficial for the future. Instead of performing instant shutdowns on genetic modification out of excessive hysteria, the actions suggested by these institutes build a stabler organization for future genetic modification.

Gene editing can help cure illness and diseases in unborn children. By using genetic editing, diseases in fetuses can be cured before they are born. With many near-impossible-to-cure diseases, it is only beneficial to be thinking of ways for humans to overcome these illness that can take innocent human lives.

“If it’s a case where the person who inherits a gene where they’re going to have a 90 percent chance of having this inoperable brain tumor by the age of 12, then that seems to be probably a good place to start,” Director of Scientific Research, Mr. Jude Clapper said.

The fear that gene editing is not safe is only a fear of its lack of development, which would hinder the development to make it safe. Fear of the technology due to one life lost does not change its potential to save countless more.

Continual development will mitigate the dangers of gene editing. Ethical issues regarding advantages should not influence the possibility to save lives.

Genetic editing should continue to be developed for the betterment of the future.

Gene editing is packaged neatly with a vision of a utopian future.

Imagine a world where all disease is cured, when we have the potential to live forever without the hindrance of age, and where we can live out our lives without fear of ill-health ever again. This vision of the future might sound appealing, but it is likely unrealistic and misleading considering the current state of gene editing.

The ethics of gene editing is questionable at best. Once gene editing is made widely accessible, it is entirely plausible to suggest that gene editing could be employed for eugenic or discriminatory purposes. Creating an “improved” human species has long been the dream of eugenicists.

Although the threat of eugenics might seem far off, with the emergence of gene editing, that potential is still very much present. The societal applications of gene editing “jeopardize the inherent and therefore equal dignity of all human beings and renew eugenics,” a recent UNESCO panel of experts on gene editing said.

Being able to determine a child’s characteristics before birth may lead to the prioritization of certain traits over others. In a system where parents have so much power, their potentially racist or ableist tendencies could spill over to affect the way they “construct” their children.

Especially in countries with a history of

By Kelly Phil (‘20) ethnic cleansing, like Rwanda, and in countries with extreme anti-LGBTQ laws, like Saudi Arabia, the ability for the government to wield gene editing in an unethical way should not be underestimated.

Besides, we still do not know what gene editing will look like, what policies and regulations could be passed for gene editing, or when gene editing will become available. All these unanswered questions make it fundamentally unethical for us to approve gene editing especially since we know so little about it.

Gene editing also has dangerous side effects and mutations. According to the National Human Genome Institute in a 2017 article, the possibility of off-target genetic effects where edits happen in the wrong place, or mosaicism, when some cells carry the edit but others do not, is a huge safety concern.These effects are extremely dangerous because these mutations can be passed down to offspring. In fact, a Columbia University study was published in 2017 saying that there could be hundreds of off-target mutations with every gene editing experiment. Mutations such as these show that gene editing has not been honed enough for proper public use.

So gene editing might seem like a generation-defining solution for disease and unhealthiness, but we should think twice before we use it.

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the blue & gold february 22, 2019

For those who do not understand sexual consent, the simple concept of asking for permission is often explained through analogies. Twitter user Nafisa Ahmed posted a series of tweets that went viral in 2016, running through a couple different scenarios for those confused about consent.

“If you ask me for $5 and I’m too drunk to say yes or no, it’s not okay to then go take $5 out of my purse...just because I didn’t say no,” she said. This way of explaining consent is both easy to understand and logically sound—but it leaves out a much larger piece of the puzzle. The “five dollar” rule produces a simplified, flow-chart style logic completely detached from the underlying value of consent: respect.

We grow up learning that if your friend lends you five dollars on Monday it does not mean you can take five dollars from them on Tuesday; you are in no way entitled to your friend’s five dollars. Yet when a Reddit user shared her story on the internet of how her husband used an Excel spreadsheet to document every single time she rejected him for sex, along with a list of her “excuses” for doing so, several users replied with comments like, “Have sex with your husband.”

While the five dollar analogy will

help you understand what to do, it does not accurately explain why you do it. If a husband asks for five dollars, what wife in her right mind would deny the man she supposedly loves such a simple favor? By shifting the conversation away from sex and intimacy to a more palatable subject, we leave a gaping hole in society’s understanding of what constitutes a healthy relationship.

To educate young people, we need to be talking about sex directly—no euphemisms.

This is not to say that the five dollar analogy is wrong, but if analogies become the only foundation for understanding sexual consent, few people will understand how rape is built upon rape culture. To educate young people, we need to be talking

about sex directly—no euphemisms. Veering away from the topic of sex and allowing implicit social and gender norms to silence the voice of justice opens doors for questions like “What was she wearing?” and “Who was really to blame?”

Unfortunately, there is no clear line between what is assault and what is consensual. In addition to the one in four girls who are sexually abused before they turn 18 years old, there is a vast gray area reserved especially for young women who feel pressured or are unprepared to say no. In this gray area, there are countless girls who never spoke up, afraid that they “led him on.” In this gray area, there are girls who let their friend borrow one dollar, and then three dollars, and then persuaded themselves that they since they had already given so much, five dollars was not that big of a difference.

In order to better understand sexual consent, the conversation should begin as early as possible: before young boys start running around yanking pigtails without knowing why, and before young girls are told that playing hard to get makes them desirable. This requires the rewriting of modern dating culture itself, in which we celebrate and romanticize implicit hinting rather than direct and mature discussion. As

we continue to believe that waiting longer to text back as way to appear coy and “worth the chase,” we tell ourselves that what truly want will never be worth expressing. We cannot live in a world where violating consent is acceptable if perpetrated in small doses.

In our heteronormative society, we continue to force toxic expectations about sex onto straight men and women. Given our lackluster effort to better the culture of consent for the majority, naturally, we leave even less room for considering how the destructive values we promote may affect LGBTQ+, disabled and other minority communities. We are trained to decode power dynamics—which exist in every relationship, regardless of gender or sexual orientation—starting from a very young age.

This is why instead of saying what we want, we say what we are supposed to want, or what other people want us to want.

In order for children to believe that “yes” or “no” should be taken seriously, they have to learn what consent means right now, not through an analogy about how sex is a transaction worth five dollars during the Birds and the Bees talk at age 16. Because then, it is too late. They have already been set up to think that committing rape merely violates the rules of a silly little memory

Detaching myself from addiction: not your usual teenager cleanse

By Vanessa Kang (‘20) It was the last thing I checked before I went to bed and the first thing I checked when I woke up. Most days it leaves me feeling bored, then scrambling to complete tasks at 10:30 p.m. I felt ashamed of those countless hours I spent aimlessly scrolling through Instagram, or maintaining streaks that had no meaning beyond Snapchat. “I will be more productive tomorrow,” I would tell myself, only to find myself repeating the same pointless wandering on social media the very next day. So I decided that I needed a week-long break from it.

On day one of my challenge, I felt urges throughout the day to check Facebook or Instagram only to be reminded that I had disabled both accounts. It surprised me how frequently I felt like checking my social media out of habit just because I had nothing to do in that particular moment.

When I am walking to the bus, when I am on the metro, or when I am walking home, I never seem to stop using it. That night,

I also noticed that without social media, I had one and a half hours of free time after doing homework. This surprised me because I actually had more homework this day than I normally did on other days. At the end of the first day of the challenge, I noticed that I seemed to magically acquire time to do other things. I even ended up finishing an art piece that I had been stalling on for the past month.

The next day, the challenge seemed to have gotten harder. During the school day, friends asked me why I hadn’t responded to any of their messages. They were surprised to hear that I was on a cleanse, and even asked me why I would do this to smyself.

Already, I felt like I was missing out on conversations I would have had if I still used social media.

After this challenge, I thought about why I was so obsessed with social media. Maybe it is the gratifying sense of approval I get from my peers, or the projected distortion of a perfect life that other people would find

interesting or the feeling that I was living a life that was worth being noticed. Regardless of the reason, it was like a drug that I was overly attached to, and I only realized this after my week-long experiment Still, I realized that I do not need to quit social media. Despite social media’s downsides and implications for selfesteem issues, if it is used wisely, it is a pathway to accessing more diverse ideas in addition to being a good tool for effective communication. Overall, though some parts of the challenge were frustrating, I would highly recommend doing a social media cleanse to anyone who feels as if they are bored and unmotivated a lot of a time outside of social media.

Although I will continue using social media, only through this cleanse did I realize how much I let the opinions of others decide my value, how happier I could potentially be without it. Though I have used it for years, I am only now discovering the cost of being addicted to social media.

Before the cleanse, Vanessa’s daily screen time was about four hours. [VANESSA KANG/ THE BLUE & GOLD]

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the blue & gold february 22, 2019

CHOOSING YOUR FAMILY, CHOOSING LOVE In this issue, the Blue & Gold shines light on four different stories of adoption in the Taipei American School community. Two TAS faculty members share their experience with adopting children from Ethiopia and Morocco, while two students discuss how their childhood has been shaped by their parents’ choices.

“I do not have a ‘fake’ family” Three months made worthwhile

By Anya Lai (‘19)

By Natalie Scheidel (‘21)

Although most people remember age 13 as their first year into teenage life, Shawyuan Hsu (‘19) learned something about her birth: she was adopted. “My parents sat me down and said that we had to talk about my background. It took me quite a while to process it,” she said. After explaining to her the adoption process her parents had to go through, a couple of pictures and videos were exchanged.

“The more I thought about it, the more I realized how lucky I was,” she said.

When Shawyuan turned 14, she traveled to Hunan province of China for a heritage trip with the adoption agency. Although she did not get to have her many questions about her biological parents answered, she was able to meet her caretaker. “I introduced myself to her, and then she started crying immediately,” Shawyuan said. They had a simple lunch together, toured the center, and exchanged goodbyes. The adoption agency later explained how children were often left with no known information due to the “one child” policy in China at the time, which was a birth planning program to control the population which lasted for 36 years. After the policy was lifted in 2015, the welfare center became one for mentally and physically disabled kids.

Adoption is not uncommon at Taipei American School; however, it is sometimes seen as a stigmatized issue for parents.

“When people talk about adoption,

“I don’t know if people can imagine this, but, there’s a kid out there who you think is yours, but you can’t take care of them until after the process,” Ms. Sarah Peters, Upper School science teacher, said. “Many people have the desire to have biological kids; that was never the case for me,” For Ms. Peters, adoption seemed like a good way to have a child.

The process of adoption is different in every country. Ms. Peters had to adopt internationally because she lived in Taiwan and could not adopt a child from her own country, America. She had to pass many inspections where social workers came to talk to her and she had to submit loads of paperwork. “Looking back, I am so lucky I did an international adoption, it gave me my joy, my daughter,” Ms. Peters said.

[ANYA LAI/THE BLUE & GOLD]

they use the words ‘real’ and ‘biological’ interchangeably. In most cases, like mine, I do not have a so called ‘fake’ family, as using the word ‘real’ implies. Adoption isn’t less valid in any way than starting a family through giving birth, and some people think adoption is the alternative or second best choice but it really isn’t,” she said.

Building on the stereotypes surrounding adoption, Shawyuan addresses a common assumption about families at TAS. “To be privileged enough to go to a prestigious school doesn’t necessarily mean you have a stereotypical perfect family. There are just so many different cases whether it be adoptive families or single parent families­– all of which doesn’t give people the right to make any negative assumptions,” she said.

Despite the talk, Shawyuan feels content because a “family is still a family either way.”

“I would go through it all over again for my daughter.”

Ms. Peters hired an international adoption agency in March 2012. After all her application work was approved, she was matched with a child from Ethiopia in March 2013. She was sent photos and medical reports weekly with information about her daughter. Once the paperwork was finalized, Ada was officially adopted in June 2013. “Even though the

[PHOTO COURTESY OF TAS HUMAN RESOURCES]

process was long, I would go through it all over again for my daughter,” Ms. Peters said.

Generally, the transition into motherhood is difficult, and that was the same case for Ms. Peters. “Most mothers were in their own home, but I was in a foreign country in a process I’ve never been through before,” Ms. Peters said. When she first met Ada, her daughter, she stayed in Ethiopia for three months by living in hotels and guesthouses. This was hard, especially because she didn’t speak the language, Amharic. But she found kind people who helped her and translated for her.

Life as a mother in Taiwan has been far from hard. Ms. Peters received a lot of help and support, and the TAS community has always been nothing but supportive and welcoming to her and Ada.“There’s no way you can choose to live your life so that it can guarantee yourself it’s going to be perfect,” Ms. Peters said.

“Up for adoption out of love” Family transcends borders

By Anya Lai (‘19)

By Natalie Scheidel (‘21)

When Isaac Grande (‘19) moved to Taiwan from Washington D.C, he noticed he was different. “The locals would stare and I would be asked where my parents were even when I would be standing next to them,” he said. Putting the pieces together, he decided to ask his parents about himself.

“My parents would talk about adoption ever since they got me, so I already suspected myself to be from another county. I wasn’t surprised.” Isaac said.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to adopt,” Ms. Virginia Blais, Lower School English As an Academic Language teacher, said. At 25, Ms. Blais was in a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal, where she saw many children who were homeless. Those children were usually not adopted. “I thought to myself, ‘when I get older, why have a child when I can give a home to a child that’s already here?’” she said.

Ms. Blais has now adopted two kids, one from Morocco and one from Ethiopia.

It was hard for Ms. Blais to adopt because of the rules in different states in the U.S. and then internationally, the number of countries that allowed international adoption was extremely limited, and different countries have different rules.

“There was a lot of red tape involved in the process,” Ms. Blais said.

Ms. Blais adopted her daughter, Franki, from Morocco. “When I first met Franki, my breath was taken away; I couldn’t believe I was going to be her mother,” Ms. Blais said.

Things went differently with her son. When applying for adoption again, Morocco was no longer adopting out internationally, so she adopted her son

“I was someone who was given a chance to be with the family that loves me.”

What really surprised Isaac was not the fact that he was of a different ethnicity than his parents, but more why his biological family had to give him up. His biological mother had to work throughout the day, and her grandmother was already taking care of his half-brother, both of whom he never met.

As Isaac got older, he began to understand

[ANYA LAI/THE BLUE & GOLD]

his parents gave him up for adoption out of love. “Parents would want to keep their own child, but they just can’t take care of them, and it would be cruel to keep the child under harsh conditions. They would rather have the child grow up and live their life to the fullest. I know that my biological mother had me up for adoption out of love and a desire for me to have a better life,” he said.

Born in 2001 in the city of Mazatenango of Guatemala, Isaac considers his background to be an important part of his identity. “Being adopted is important to me, as it defines my character. I am someone who was given a chance to be with a family that loves me.”

[PHOTO COURTESY OF TAS HUMAN RESOURCES]

from Ethiopia. For Franki, the process took less than a year. But because the Ethiopian government kept shutting down, her son’s application took almost three years. While Ms. Blais waited to adopt her son, Franki and Ms. Blais talked about him often to prepare for his addition to the family. “It was like he was already a part of the family,” Ms. Blais said.

Ms. Blais found that the hardest part was that “all the decisions were in other people’s hands like the adoption agencies, the other country’s government, and my own government,” she said. At the end of the day, everything she had to do was worth it for her family.

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the blue & gold february 22, 2019

Fashion club and art students design new school merchandise Isabella Lu (‘21), an Art Honor Society member, designed and pitched this design for the new water bottles. [DESIGN COURTESY OF ISABELLA LU]

By Maxwell Chen (‘19) For the past six months, the I Love Art Fashion Club and Art Honor Society have been working with Catherine Chou (‘19) and Si Yun Ee (‘19) to design new T-shirts and water bottles for the Tiger Shop. They plan to distribute the first new merchandise between mid-March and early April.

Catherine and Si Yun introduced the idea of designing new merchandise for their social entrepreneurship class, taught by Mr. Anthony Ives. Social entrepreneurship students are expected to construct a yearlong project with a partner, so Catherine and Si Yun decided to design new school merchandise for the Tiger Shop. “Everyone either complains about the merch or just [doesn’t] wear it. [Catherine] and I thought this project would make the Tiger Shop seem new and fresh,” Si Yun said.

Since there are so many designs to choose from, the ILA Fashion Club and AHS

created a survey for students. The current Tiger Shop merchandise was designed without consulting any students, but this project allowed people to vote on their favorite t-shirt and water bottle designs and how much they would be willing to pay for the merchandise. “If kids vote on what they want, I think more people will wear and use the merch,” Catherine said.

Peter Chiu (‘19), the president of the ILA Fashion Club, has designed four unique t-shirts. Most of his designs feature an actual tiger, rather than the simple tiger logo that the current merchandise uses. After a student survey was conducted, Si Yun and Catherine determined that each shirt would be sold at $490 NT. However, students need to preorder 50 shirts by the end of February to start production. Since this is the first time students are designing school merchandise, Peter is careful with producing too much merchandise at once. “This shirt is testing the

waters,” Peter said. “If [students] support, we will continue with different types and designs.” The Tiger Shop will sell 100 shirts in the first wave, and will continue to produce more based on the shirt’s popularity.

50 percent of the profit will be donated to a charity group that the ILA Fashion Club decides on next year.

While Peter designed the T-shirts, Sharon Kuo (‘19), the co-president of AHS, designed new water bottles, with five unique designs in three different colors. However, the water bottles will not be released until September and expected to cost anywhere between $550-$1000 NT. After working on this project since the beginning of this academic year, Catherine and Si Yun hope to hit their 50 pre-order target by the end of this month. The new t-shirts will be available in the Tiger Shop later this semester and can be purchased by either cash or ID card.

Four different water bottle designed by the Art Honor Society President, Sharon Kuo. [DESIGN COURTESY OF SHARON KUO]

From dishwasher to Shangri-La’s F&B Director One ex-engineering student’s spontaneous career change leads him to success

Saif Ali Siddiqui, now veteran of the F&B industry. [PHOTO COURTESY OF SAIF ALI SIDDIQUI]

By Charlotte Lee (‘20) Growing up, Saif Ali Siddiqui was the stereotypical Indian parent’s ideal son.

He always had good grades, scored 88th percentile on his national exams, and was even on his way to becoming an aeronautical engineer. Thus, in his world, he was simply invincible. ”Whatever I did, I would be good at it,” he said.

That is, until he stumbled upon the hotel industry. Siddiqui was sitting around with a few of his friends after a long game of football one day in college, when one of his friends boldly announced that he was going to major in hotel management. “People will go out to eat and drink until the end of time,” his friend said. “This industry will never die.” Hearing this, Saif Ali filled out the application for the hotel management entrance exam and

jumped headfirst into this new career field.

Saif Ali began his hotel management career at the Four Seasons in Mumbai in 2013, where he was hired by the Regional Vice President and General Manager Armado Kraenzelin. Armando offered him two choices: take a temporary job as an intern supervisor on an 18 month contract or join the hotel staff permanently as a steward.

Because the latter included dishwashing and other slightly less appealing chores, Saif Ali told his boss that he did not envision himself in that line of work. Ever the go-getter, he opted for the internship instead.

One month in, he fell in love with the elegance of the hotel industry. The combination of service and luxury made for the ideal job. But a taste wasn’t enough: Saif Ali went back to Armando and asked him what he had to do to keep his position.

Armando reminded Saif Ali that there would be no shortcuts. If he truly felt passionate about the hotel industry, Saif Ali would have to tough it out and start from the very bottom, and this time, dishwashing could not be avoided. “In India, we are trained to be crazy competitive. We want to be bosses, managers. Everything we want, we want it tomorrow. We’re trained to run—if you don’t go for it, someone else will take it,” Saif Ali said.

Saif Ali took up stewarding in Four Seasons Maldives, which he later referred to as the “best decision he ever made.” While he believes that he could have been easily hired at any other company as a permanent supervisor, he chose to stay with the Four Seasons because the company treated its employees as valuable assets rather than disposables. “They don’t value your knowledge. You’re first hired on your attitude, and then trained for skill,” Saif Ali said.

“Everything we want, we want it tomorrow. We’re trained to run—if you don’t go for it, someone else will take it.”

After he gained a few years of experience under his belt, he was offered a one year contract as an Operational Training Manager.

Under the impression that he was “nailing everything,” he took the job.

“People did not respect me. After six months, I went back and told Armando, I don’t want to do this. I suck at it,” Saif Ali said.

To his disdain, Armando told him that he would not be getting out of his commitment that easily. However, perhaps understanding his own failure was the first step.

The next six months, Saif Ali attempted a different strategy. Rather than modeling his leadership style after those of previous training managers, he followed his gut instinct and trained his staff based on methods he thought would be most effective. The employees warmed to him, and Saif Ali could tell that he was becoming good at his job.

Saif Ali is now the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Shangri La in Taipei. He has traveled to the Maldives, Singapore and Kyoto through his work and remains in contact with some of his very first clients. “I want to leave each job having made an impact on people’s lives, including staff and guests,” he said. “When you leave a place, people should love and remember you because you’ve invested in them.”

After eleven years in hotel management, Saif Ali is at the point where he is living the glamorous life that he had set out for from the day he applied for the entrance exam in college. ”I don’t have to be filthy rich. I’m getting paid to enjoy my life,” he said.

But this last decade has taught him so much more than the mere luxuries of sitting in a Michelin star restaurant and sipping wine: He learned the frustrations of failure, then the satisfaction of triumph, and most importantly, the importance of washing dishes.

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the blue & gold february 22, 2019

The guardian angels of Taipei American School

The Value of friendship in the mailroom

By Joon Kim (‘19) The first year that Mr. Value Huang transferred from his job as a security guard to a mailroom clerk at Taipei American School, he received a letter from a retired Lower School teacher who used to gift him a box of mooncakes every Chinese New Year. “She remembered me,” he said.

In 2008, Mr. Huang was employed as a security guard at Taipei American School. He had been jobless, and one of his family members was ill. Because the hospital could not treat the disease, he and his wife did everything in search for a way to ease the situation. This job was the safest choice, for he could return home quickly if there was an emergency. During this time, he named himself Value, inspired by the Buddhist idea of valuing one’s life.

“We have been grateful that things are working OK,” Mr. Huang said. After six years

of working as a security guard, he became a mailroom clerk.

Now, Mr. Huang works at the mailroom from 7:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. He sorts, records, packages and delivers parcels to all 27 school departments every day. He walks three roundabout trips across the campus by the school’s recommendation. He always checks his delivery bag and agenda before reaching the next stop.“It’ll save the trouble, Mr. Huang said. “To save my energy and time, I developed my personal roadmap.” He considers a being clerk a managerial role, in which self-discipline is much needed. “I can control where things are going,” he said.

But control is not always easy, especially when it comes to the Internal Revenue Service, which deals with collecting taxes. It is one part of his job that can be rather troubling: He worries about making mistakes while handling

faculty accounts. One teacher responded to neither Mr. Huang nor the service for months.

Every afternoon, a local postman carries in a satchel filled with letters. Mr. Huang then takes this mail and organizes them inside mailboxes which teachers check once a week or month. “Four years ago, the bag was almost full,” Mr. Huang said. Under his thorough oversight, all the junk mail and advertisements are removed.

In addition to the meticulous care that Mr. Huang demonstrates in his job, Mr. Huang also loves talking to his fellow staff members. “Some people are willing to have a social conversation with me. But it depends on people. Maybe I’m ugly or not handsome, But for some people, it’s okay,” he said. These seemingly trivial interactions sometimes lead to lasting relationships.

Mr. Value Huang sorts and delivers letters in the TAS mailroom. [JOON KIM/THE BLUE & GOLD]

The guardian at the gate: Albert Tseng

By Natalie Scheidel (‘21) From being a veteran serving his country to working as a security guard, Mr. Albert Tseng continuously exhibits his passionate and joyful energy in all of his jobs.

Mr. Tseng applied to be a security guard at TAS in 2013. “I googled Taipei American School, as I thought that in this job I could enhance my English abilities, which I love to do,” Mr. Tseng said.

Additionally, having a stable job and more time with family is a “win-win” for Mr. Tseng.

“When I was in the military, I only got to see my daughter once or twice a month, and every time I left, I was devastated,” Mr. Tseng said.

“Now I have the opportunity to do things I wasn’t able to before it’s too late.” Ever since becoming employed as a guard at TAS, he is able to see his two daughters every day.

When hiring security guards, TAS security supervisor, Mr. Ming-der Huang, looks for guards that are both kind and vigilant. Because

of the school’s happy work environment, it is absolutely crucial for guards to not rush into solving problems, but to take care and consider everyone in the situation. “I try to create my team as a service-oriented security team, so I put service in a big portion in our security measures,” Mr. Huang said.

Mr. Tseng describes the most important aspects of his job as campus security, and his responsibility is to keep everyone safe. “I work by wanting to serve the school’s needs, whether it’s for parents, students or faculty, and that keeps me going,” Mr. Tseng said. Whether he is coordinating to help people around the school, conducting traffic or keeping everyone safe, he does so in an enthusiastic manner.

Mr. Tseng describes the students at TAS as respectful, joyful and happy. Unlike students at local schools who are constantly stressed, he believes students are happier here because of the “strong sense of community instilled in students at a young age,” Mr. Tseng said.

During the day, Lower School kids often yell out “Albert” and wave frantically when they see him. “When they do that it makes me feel awkward, but very happy,” he said.

He also finds it fulfilling when he accomplishes things that are difficult. When a problem arises, the guards have a duty to not only solve the problem but make sure everyone involved is cared for. “My job is full of challenges, I love it,” Mr. Tseng said.

For example, even though many find it hard to believe, Mr. Tseng said the most challenging part is actually conducting traffic in the parking lot. “It seems easy, but it’s so hard to make the cars run smoothly,” Mr. Tseng said. The parking lot is especially busy before school and after school, because all parents and drivers want to drop their kids off and take them home at their convenience.

“After all, I have the mindset where I live by the five school values, and work with enthusiasm and passion,” Mr. Tseng said.

Mr. Albert Tseng stands in his usual spot, behind the TAS main gate. [NATALIE SCHEIDEL/THE BLUE & GOLD]

The orange angel in the locker room

By Phoebe Chen (‘21) Every morning at 7 a.m., girls locker room janitor and maintenance woman Ms. Chun Chu-wei makes her way to the middle and Upper School girls locker rooms to start off a long day’s work of cleaning, working and running errands.

Ms. Chun’s work as a janitor at Taipei American School primarily consists of physical work, from cleaning bathroom stalls and lockers to carrying fresh towels to the swimming pool for PE students to use. “From Monday to Friday, from morning to night, my schedule is all the same. I clean the environment, sweep the floors, mop in the gyms and sweep outside,” she said.

“I often see Ms. Chun in the locker room, lower school gym and PE hallway,” physical education instructor and teacher Ms. Caroline Lay said. “In fact, every morning at 7:30 a.m.

I am greeted with a beautiful smile and a ‘zao’.”

Ever since becoming employed as a janitor at TAS five years ago, Ms. Chun has been working in the locker rooms and gyms. “When I first came to TAS, I was already stationed to work where I am now,” Ms. Chun said. “I didn’t get to choose what I wanted to do and I was very

nervous for my first day, but I liked it the second I started.”

Ms. Chun has not always been working as a custodian. Before applying for janitorial work at TAS, Ms. Chun worked at home as a chef by selling noodles and dumplings. It was not until she strained her arm that she stopped work as a chef.

“After getting hurt, I quit my job and rested at home for two years,” Ms. Chun said.“However, soon after my arm healed and my body stayed healthy, I figured it was time to find a new job.”

As a full-time janitor at TAS, Ms. Chun’s favorite aspect of her job are the “cute and happy children” she sees on a daily basis.

“Seeing the students happy is very cute.

Especially when they get off of school they’re always happy then,” Ms. Chun said. Not only does she enjoy the company of joyful children, but she is also constantly surprised by the polite students that attend TAS. “It is because of their polite and adorable behavior that I prefer my job at TAS over being a chef,” she said.

However, work as a janitor at TAS has not

always been easy for Ms. Chun. The greatest difficulty she faces on a day-to-day basis are the constant toilet plumbing issues.

“The only thing that may be difficult is cleaning the toilet,” Ms. Chun said. “A lot of the times, the students are not very careful with the toilets, and they get clogged with tissue paper.”

Eventually, due to the constant difficulties with the clogging of toilets, Ms. Chun decided to reach out to other faculty members to help create paper signs that reminded students of discarding their trash and tissue in trash cans. “One day, the clogging was so bad that it took hours to pump out all the trash that was flushed into the toilet,” Ms. Chun said. “After that, I couldn’t help but reach out to a few other teachers to create paper signs in order to remind students where they should properly throw away used tissue.”

To Ms. Chun, work at TAS is a significant aspect of her life. “I am supposed to be retired since I’m already 65, so work here means a lot to me,” Ms. Chun said. “It proves that my body is still healthy, and I hope to work here for as long as I can.”

Ms. Chun Chu-wei sweeps the girls locker room floor. [PHOEBE CHEN/THE BLUE & GOLD]

the blue & gold february 22, 2019

Thrifting: Finding new life in old clothes

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Text and photos by Sharon Lee (‘22) and Laura Hsu (‘22)

For the past few years in Taipei, thrift shopping has risen in popularity. Lifestyle YouTubers and fashion bloggers have renewed and galvanized the trend of “thrifting.” Although buying secondhand clothing may have been more of a common practice across different countries a few years ago, recently, thrifting has made its comeback in Taipei and has deeply influenced teenager fashion.

EWF VINTAGE

GOYOUNG VINTAGE

BANANA CATS

ROCK VILLAGE

Address: No. 3, Lane 49, Chifeng St., Datong District, Taipei City, 103

Address: 1F, No. 1, Lane 134, Siwei St., Datong District, Taipei City, 103

Address: No. 11, Lane 49, Chifeng St., Datong District, Taipei City, 103

Address: No. 7, Lane 27, Chengdu Rd., Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108

Standout Purchase: Japanese vintage

Standout Purchase: Leather items

Standout Purchase: DIY vintage

Standout Purchase: Rock vintage

EWF, a vintage clothing store located between Zhongshan MRT station and Shuanglian MRT station, has a large space to store and display their products. A parking lot within walking distance from the store makes shopping convenient.

The store’s huge wine-colored door, and the white embroidery design decorating the storefront, are its hallmarks. According to the storeowner, they allow customers to spot this antique store from afar.

The three-lettered store name is derived from a famous song from the English rock band “Suede,” called “Everything Will Flow.”

Just last September, the store remodeled into a larger space, attracting even more customers than before. EWF sells its vintage jackets at between $1500-$2000 NT, which is cheap compared to other vintage stores.

On the outside, the store displays on mannequins various outfits inspired by the 60s and 80s. These eye-catching attires invite passerby to browse through their vintage collection. Although the store mostly sells Japanese-style clothing, there are also a few American vintage pieces.

Some rare finds in the store include Ralph Lauren and Burberry pieces. Rather than carrying everyday staples, the shop focuses almost solely on bold statement pieces, like flowered print dresses or colorful sunhats.

Check out EWF if you want to spice up your wardrobe with a few statement pieces.

A 10-minute walk from Daan station, GoYoung Vintage is neat and ­aesthetically pleasing. Upon walking into the gate, you will notice a miniature garden full of beautiful plants. Small stone steps lead up to a glass door.

Contrary to my expectations, the shop’s modern interior, with light-colored stone floors and wooden walls, contrast with the vintage feel of its products. The shop sells many leather items, such as old-fashioned travel bags, shoes, small wallets and purses.

Soft, loose collared dresses bought from Japan come in both plain and playful designs.

The store also sells white knitted sweaters suitable for winter weather, checkered shirts, cowboy jackets with inlay fur and dainty gold and silver accessories.

Although GoYoung Vintage is branded as a secondhand clothing store, most look brand new. GoYoung Vintage imports many of its items, which undergo a cleaning process before being transported to the store.

Each item is colorful and unique, and there is usually only one of each kind sold at the shop.

The price tags at GoYoung Vintage, ranging from $1000-$5000 NT, are high.

The accessories also have a higher cost, as they are from high-end brands like Cartier, Moschino, and Dior. However, its products are in very good condition, so their expensiveness makes sense.

“Where the Crawdads Sing”

By Delia Owens Penguin Random House, August 2018

By Christine Lin (‘19)

There is something inviting about the natural world that lends itself to catalyzing character transcendence. As seen in numerous literary works like Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and Dante’s “Inferno,” a protagonist enters the mysterious yet intriguing forest seeking refuge, adventure, or answers.

Just a five-minute walk from Zhongshan MRT station, Banana Cats is a great spot for designer products like Louis Vuitton and Gucci vintage handbags.

The store’s expansive collection of vintage clothing, accessories and bags crowds its small interior, so it sells additional goods online. Though online prices are higher than in-store prices, the website’s quality items are definitely worth a look.

The store provides unique hands-on experience with vintage fashion. It offers a workshop where people are taught to work with buttons and accessorize vintage clothing provided in the store. This fosters the customer interactions and allows more people to get involved in the thrift shopping trend.

Banana Cats actually focuses on vintage remakes The store not only restitches old clothing patches onto new ones, it also sells handmade leather goods.

The store is known for its offbeat approach to vintage clothing. One interesting item in the store was a bomber jacket on which patches of a vintage flower carpet are stitched on. This oddly fascinating method of remaking vintage clothing creatively upgrades the products Banana Cats carries.

Banana Cats is a great vintage store that allows customers to engage in the vintage trend, while offering a diverse collection of innovative mix-and-match designs.

Rock Village is inconspicuously tucked away in the third floor of a small building lining a Ximending alley. With very narrow and steep staircases, the building can seem eerie at night.

The shop is cramped, with clothes taking up almost all the space in the room, but this does not detract from the attractiveness of its products.

Rock Vintage has been opened for 11 years, and it sells a huge variety of clothes.

There is a collection of old-fashioned dresses and blouses, as well as beautiful leather and denim jackets of all sizes. These jackets have cool designs such as pearls, flowers, and patterns sewn on them. Most of the clothing are more rock-style, including retro rock band T-shirts with their logos and designs on them. One unique aspect of Rock Vintage is its imported army clothes from Germany and the United States. Among its small collection of accessories, its thick rings, with bold punk designs such as skeletons, stand out.

Many different discounts are available at the store, and the items are all very affordable.

Clothes cost about $400-$800 NT each, while accessories cost about $100 NT. The staff at the store are very accommodating, and will o­ bligingly introduce items in detail.

Overal­l, Rock Vintage is a great place to shop for more affordable and rock-style vintage clothing.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” is Delia Owens’s ode to her love for the wild and all the wonders it holds. A coming-of-age tale set in the coast marsh, namely “The Marsh,” of North Carolina in the 1960s, this novel follows Kya Clark, abandoned as a girl by her mother and siblings, as she navigates in isolation her young adulthood and all its pains and joys. Delia Owens, wild-life scientist turned novelist, has dedicated much of her professional life researching African animals. Her discovery of the importance of female grouping in social mammals inspired the narrative of “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which explores the behavioral impact on a

young woman who is forced to live much of her young life alone.”

Owens’s expertise in natural life shows through beautifully in her natural writing.

Next to Kya, the Marsh is the most prominent character of this novel, as Kya often escapes to the safety of mist and greens of her most loyal companion. Paired with whimsical descriptions of the very much alive Marsh and small coastal town, the harrowing and painful emotion evoked from Owen’s carefully crafted dialogues highlight the most heartbreaking events Kya experiences with abandonment, isolation, assault, love and self-discovery.

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the blue & gold february 22, 2019

FROM CRUTCHES TO IASAS

The Blue & Gold explores Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools athlete Bianca Tseng’s (‘19) recovery from a gruesome knee injury.

By Maxwell Chen (‘19) On a sunny October day in 2017, Bianca Tseng (‘19) was participating in a one-on-one drill for her last day of touch rugby tryouts.

Bianca was determined to make the IASAS roster again for her second consecutive year.

Suddenly, as she tried to step her opponent, her left knee collapsed. Although she did not realize it at the time, Bianca accidentally encountered an athlete’s worst nightmare: she tore her anterior cruciate ligament.

A month after the injury, Bianca had to undergo ACL reconstruction surgery.

The ACL is crucial for not only sports, but also leg movement in general. It keeps the lower leg from sliding forward, stabilizing the whole leg and ultimately allowing people to shuffle, sidestep and even cut on the run.

Not only did Bianca’s surgery leave her in a wheelchair for three weeks and crutches for another month, but it also prohibited her from competing in sports for nine months.

While experiencing the injury was extremely painful, Bianca’s recovery was much more tedious and difficult. Because she was not in the right condition to play, Bianca had to go through extensive physical therapy.

“I spent more time doing rehab than I would have going to practice,” Bianca said. “Around two hours every day.” Bianca worked with Ms. Amber Hardy, TAS’ athletic and fitness trainer, in hopes of recovering from the torn ligament.

After ten months of physical therapy, Bianca was almost ready to play soccer again.

At the beginning of the season, Bianca had to modify several drills and pass physical evaluations before she was cleared to play and compete at IASAS. “It was just always having to be careful.

I [had] to wear this knee brace with hard plastic beams on the sides,” Bianca said. Even though she made it on the team, Bianca still struggled with her final stages of recovery. “I wasn’t able to get my full range of motion back,” Bianca said. “My left leg can’t straighten fully.”

This rugby season, Bianca was able to compete in IASAS rugby hosted by the International school of Kuala Lumpur.

After a painful, lengthy 15 months of recovery and physical therapy, Bianca was nearly completely healthy again. “I have no

STUDENT ATHLETE INJURIES AND HOW TO PREVENT THEM

1. ANKLE SPRAIN Strength training for the muscles and ligaments surrounding the ankle joint, balance and core training.

2. KNEE TENDINITIS Quadriceps and hamstring strengthening, proper footwear.

3. BACK PAIN Bianca Tseng (‘19) wears a knee brace on her left leg as she passes the ball during an IASAS touch rugby game. [PHOTO COURTESY OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF KUALA LUMPUR] problems with movements other than quick changes of direction,” Bianca said.

While this meant Bianca could compete well during her matches, she was still more vulnerable on defense.

On the second day of IASAS, Bianca was facing the International School of Bangkok. She was playing line defense and trying to prevent her opponents from scoring. However, as Bianca dove at an opponent, she ended up accidentally landing on her knee at an awkward angle. While her leg bothered her for part of the game, Bianca was still able to play out the rest of the tournament.

Despite missing out on two seasons, Bianca still had a lot of support from her teammates and coaches. Throughout Bianca’s surgery and tough recovery process, her peers

“It hurt, but I didn’t realize how bad it was until the person I stepped said she heard a pop.”

1,041

appointments with TAS athletic trainers for evaluation or treatment in the 2017-2018 school year. helped raise morale. “I got a varsity shirt and [my teammates] put me as ‘Team Manager’,” Bianca said. “It was so cute. They included me as part of the team.” Her coaches also helped Bianca’s transition back to sports as smooth as possible. “Since I missed a year of touch, [my coaches] helped me feel confident playing touch through encouragement and just letting me know what I was doing right or wrong,” Bianca said.

Core and hamstring strengthening, maintaining good posture.

4. CONCUSSION Neck strengthening and core strengthening, protective gear.

5. HAMSTRING STRAIN

Hamstring strengthening and stretching.

Determination wins the race for triathlete Alex Lin

By Nicole Chang (‘21)

Four-time triathlete Alex Lin (‘19) completed his first race at just 14 years old. He swam 1.5 km, biked 40 km, then ran 10 km, covering a total distance of 51.5 km.

The scorching sun glowed bright above his head as the humid July air engulfed him. After 41.5 kilometers, he had reached the final stage of the race. With only 10 kilometers left in front of him, he pushed himself to run.

In 2015, Alex Lin (’19), who was only 14

years old at the time, competed in his first triathlon in Hualien. After being given an opportunity to compete in his first triathlon with his coach and team members from his previous school, he took it.

In a standard triathlon competition,

racers first swim 1.5 kilometers, then they bike for 40 kilometers and finish off by running 10 kilometers.

Prior to the race, he felt extremely anxious. However, throughout the rest of the race, he felt surprisingly calm. “I was only feeling anxious before. It was actually kind of refreshing during the race, although it was super hot and it was tiring, I still enjoyed the process,” Alex said.

Yet, he still faced some challenges during the competition. The cycling portion of the triathlon, was on mountainous terrain, and it took a toll on his body. As he moved on

to the running part of the competition, he underwent a lot of pain. “When swimming and biking, you use a lot of power and you put a lot of strength into it, so the last few kilometers I felt like my muscles were bursting apart,“ he said.

Moreover, the training for his race was not an easy process. Alex had to train every day for around two hours, and changes also had to be made to his daily routine. “A few months before the race I had to cut down on sugary foods, and I also made my sleep schedule more consistent,” he said.

Despite the hardships Alex experienced

and the hard work he inputted, the end result was rewarding. “After the race, I felt like all the training had paid off. I had actually finished the whole race, the whole 51.5 kilometers. You feel a sense of achievement, you feel fulfilled,” he said.

Alex also learned how determination plays an important role in success. “I accomplished this by persistent training, and I would not have finished the race without it,” he said.

Having competed in a total of four triathlons, he hopes to run another in the near future.