The Blue & Gold Crossword

As the show progressed, participants were gradually eliminated based on their performances. For Will, the elimination process was not easy.

“It was pretty intense and tiring, but fun at the same time,” he said.

After being selected from his planet group, Mercury, to perform, Will began long hours of dance practice and music lessons. He would arrive at the studio at 3 a.m. for makeup, then would have dance rehearsals and 12 hours of filming to around 3 or 4 a.m. the next day.

Will enjoyed being in the recording studios and learning skills, such as evoking emotions and singing fluidly, from professional teachers.

Will’s most memorable moment in the show was his first stage performance in front of judges and other competitors. Due to his inexperience with performing on stage, he underwent overwhelming emotions.

“The first time was tough. I was fake smiling. I was blushing,” he said. When interviewed by the show, Will explained how he was tearing up from the stress of his performance. “My first performance was definitely something that’s going to stick with me forever,” he said.

Will’s musical journey comes with

After Will finished “Atom Boyz,” music companies started scouting for the singers they wanted. Will, alongside four other members in Mercury, were selected and signed into a group with Catwalk, the largest modeling company in Taiwan. Thus, AcQUA was born.

“[The members of AcQUA] are not competitors anymore,” Will said. “We have to be more professional.”

AcQUA released its debut song called “AcQUArius” on Oct. 27, which currently has over 900,000 views on YouTube. The group is planning on producing a second song either this month or early next year.

“Seeing his group go from competing in a television show, to getting signed and to releasing a single … was surreal because the person on the screen was this person next to me,” Cedric L. (‘24, he/him), a friend of Will, said.

Ultimately, Will hopes that everyone can enjoy his performances and support his new group, but also respect him by giving him space and privacy. “We need some privacy… Sometimes you get overwhelmed when it’s too much,” Will said.

“I’m just so incredibly proud of Will and I can’t wait for him to release an album,” Cedric said. “No pressure though.”

RD.

TAIPEI 11152 TAIWAN

EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

AMBER WU (‘23, she/her)

AUDREY HWANG (‘23, she/her)

MANAGING EDITOR (PRINT)

ARIEL LEE (‘23, she/her)

MANAGING EDITOR (ONLINE)

VICTORIA HSU (‘24, she/her)

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

ABBY CHANG (‘24, she/her)

STAFF WRITERS

KATHERINE MA (‘24, she/her)

ERIN WU (‘25, she/her)

AINA CHEN (‘26, she/her)

ADVISER

MS. JEI-JEI TAN (she/her)

MISSION STATEMENT

The Blue & Gold is a student-run publication dedicated to sharing stories from the Taipei American School community. Regularly publishing content by student reporters during the academic year, The Blue & Gold strives to inform our school community by covering events and issues relevant to TAS and showcasing the diversity of our community.

CORRECTIONS

We take all measures possible to report accurately and seek to bring professional, thorough reporting to our readers. Please report any inaccuracies in our content to our email, blueandgold@students.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 the TAS student body, staff, faculty or administration.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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

By Amber Wu (‘23)

While it is common for many upper school students with driver’s licenses to drive themselves to school in the U.S., most Taipei American School (TAS) students are not seen searching for parking spaces on campus, leading many to question why TAS students are less likely to drive to school.

The current policy indicates that seniors who are 18 and have passed their driving test are allowed to operate a vehicle on school grounds; however, like parents dropping their children off at school, they cannot park at school during the school days, which makes driving to school very inconvenient. “Students [driving to school] need just make it clear [that] it is for drop off and pickup, and not for parking,” Mr. Ming-Der Huang (he/him), the security manager, said.

The parking restrictions were established due to the lack of parking spots on campus. The school had considered procuring more parking spots but was not able to as school grounds are too small. “There are not many

Letter To The Editor

spots [in the basement], with a long waiting list for spots when they open,” Mr. Larry Kraut (he/him), the chief operating officer, said. “As for the West Side Campus, we have a few parking spots and they’re also on a sign up basis for employees, with a long wait list.”

The school’s decision to disallow parking also stems from the potential accidents caused by increased traffic. “It’s understandable because there’s not enough parking spaces for everyone,” Connie L. (‘22, she/her), a TAS alumnus who got her driver’s license in her senior year at TAS, said. “I think it’s good that students aren’t allowed to drive on campus because it can mitigate accidents.”

However, the administration should allow students to park on campus during weekends when students need to stay at school for longer periods of time as it is more difficult to access school transportation. Although many students are required to come on campus for certain activities, they cannot take the school bus on weekends as it only operates on the weekdays.

Because the bus parking lot at school is vacant during the weekends, the administration can consider opening the spots to students who wish to drive to school during special events for convenience. Students would not have to scour the streets for a public parking spot or take public transportation that would require more time to travel to campus.

While providing more spaces in the bus parking lot for students to park on the weekends would greatly benefit student drivers, the school should still maintain a policy with a limit on parking times. “It is important to limit the parking times to school days or when students need to come on campus for events so the school can use the space more efficiently,” Claire C. (‘23, she/her), a current student driver, said. Fundamentally, although there are not enough spaces for car parking on school days, the administration should allow students to park on campus for special occasions and events on the weekends.