2008 TAA-NNJ Scholarship Recipient -- Frank Sung

Northern Valley Regional High School, Grade 12

It is September 15, 2007 and the people around me are wearing green and chanting. At first, we were at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the United Nations headquarters and now we are marching towards Times Square. I am handing out tissue packets with messages on them to strangers I pass by on the street. Half of the strangers happily accept it. Is this a rally? Yes, this is. What for? We are trying to have Taiwan admitted into the United Nations. As a Taiwanese-American, participating in activities, such as the rally, helps me get in touch with my identity, change the way I look at myself and others, and have more insight of the world.

When I was an adolescent, I was always confused with which race I was. I thought that since I spoke Chinese, it meant that I was Chinese. But my parents spoke another language, one that I did not understand. It was Taiwanese, the native language of Taiwan, which I am sorry to say, I have not yet learned. But still, to me, this language represents the struggles my parents experienced. They did not learn Taiwanese in a school because the government did not fund it. Their parents painstakingly taught them at home. As I grew older, I started to understand that I was Taiwanese, not Chinese. Visiting Taiwan once every few years has helped me get in touch with my culture. I always try to spread the culture of Taiwan. I tell people that the renowned beverage, bubble tea, was created in Taiwan. There are times that irritate me when after telling people that I am Taiwanese, some of them have said, “Oh! I love Thai food!” in which I reply, “Thai food is from Thailand, not Taiwan.” It has been a long journey for me to get in touch with my identity.

My perspective has changed because I am a Taiwanese-American. In the summer of 2007, I attended two camps, one called the Taiwanese-American Conference (TAC), and one called the Taiwanese-American Foundation (TAF). All the attendees of these camps were Taiwanese-American. I was very surprised because I had never seen so many Taiwanese-Americans my age in one place before. In this camp, we learned a variety of things. TAF and TAC focuses on developing leadership, building strong social and cultural bonds in the Taiwanese-American community, and fostering our life skills. At first, I was hesitant about going to these camps since I am a very shy, but as I got to know my peers around me, I suddenly felt much more comfortable around them. There was a notable activity that we did that absolutely changed the way I view people. We were put in a pitch black room to create anonymity. In this room, we all had the chance to talk about our life, our thoughts, and our struggles honestly. People began to spill words out that they had never told anyone before. I started to realize how similar I was to most of them and that I have it better compared to others. Behind our tears we had a certain feeling that we held to ourselves, this sense of being a unique minority: a common struggle that Taiwanese-Americans experience. I have made life-long friends in both these camps and a huge reason was because we could all relate to each other. The “Thai food” situation I mentioned earlier is something we all relate to. Both of these programs, especially TAF, which was a week long, have changed my life.

Being Taiwanese-American has helped me get involved with world issues, many of them relating to Taiwan. I had mentioned above that I went to a rally supporting Taiwan’s bid into the United Nations. This rally has been going on annually for many years and I have participated in the two most recent ones. Taiwan has not been accepted into the United Nations yet. The reason is that the Chinese government believes that Taiwan is a part of China. How can this democratic nation that holds presidential elections be part of China? How can this economic powerhouse be part of China? My goal is to raise awareness of these kinds of issues.

Being Taiwanese-American has molded me into what I am now. I have become a more mature person. This sense of a unique identity, a deep understanding of me, and insight of the world has opened my eyes and prepared me for the future. So now, I go back to this rally: joined by 3,000 people in New York City and another 300,000 people in Taiwan. I’m in this crowd, yet an individual, doing what everyone else wants to do in life: make a difference.