Going All Out to Pursue a Dream

The man in the photo is Hsieh Tze-huang, a former student who I taught for two years at NHSH and graduated from NHSH in 2001. We had a get-together yesterday afternoon at Moon River. He drove from Chang Gung University in Linkou after class. We had a hearty chat for more than 3 hours.

On April 20 this year, I attended his White Coat Ceremony at Chng Gung (See http://june.ettachou.com/2013/04/20/the-2013-white-coat-ceremony-at-chang-gung-university/#more-7396). That day, we didn't have much time to talk after the long and elaborate ceremony.

During yesterday's gathering, I finally had a very clear picture of what he has gone through for the past few years and I really admired his courage and persistence. After graduating from high school, he went into NTU, majoring in agriculture. In his freshman year, he took physics as his second major. Then in his junior year, he transferred to the Department of Math. In his senior year, he found himself interested in medicine, so after  before graduation, he went to cram school for a year and took the college entrance exam.  Not succeeding in getting into a medical school, he went to the army. After completing his military service, with an unbending will, he spent one year studying in the library and finally got admitted to the medical school at Chang Gung University. Not succeeding in getting into a medical school, he went to the army. After completing his military service, he went to cram school for a year and took another entrance exam, but still couldn't reach his goal. With an unbending will, he re-took the exam again and finally got admitted to the medical school at Chang Gung University. He told me that the more he studied medicine, the more he was attracted to it. Had it not been for his perseverance, he would be doing something he is not that passionate about.

On the last college entrance exam he took, he got over 95 90 in math chemistry and physics, and about 80 in math . This reminds me of what Steve Jobs mentioned in his iconic speech to Stanford graduates: "... you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards." The math and physics courses he took at NTU did contribute a lot to his good scores in these two subjects this subject on the entrance exam.

(Note: I'm sorry that I made a few mistakes in the above paragraph. Thank you, Tze-huang, for correcting them.--20140722)

He'd like to give English learners a piece of advice: Reading is the best way to enhance your English proficiency. In preparation for the English test on the entrance exams, he spent a lot of time reading magazines such as Ivy League. He told me what I had advocated--reading extensively--was right.

During the chat, I could feel how eager Tze-huang was to be a good doctor. I believe his wish will come true.