2003 Arts and Creativity Award 

Name and school: Mung-ling Tsai (蔡孟凌), from Sheng Kung Girls’ High School

My dream: To become a professional counselor, or teach children in rural, needy areas.

My idol: My older cousin. I admire how my cousin has set her life goals so early on. She understands what she wants to do, and she is an independent, confident, modern woman.

Person who has influenced me the most, and why: My parents, who always trusted me, let me follow my every dream. They are the reason I am the person I am today.

Encouragement for the rest of Taiwan’s daughters: Maybe you have not seen your results yet, or you’re still struggling, or maybe you have already struck out a few times. It does not matter how other people see you, as long as you learn to love and value yourself. You will discover that the sun is always shining, though there may be times when you can’t see it because the clouds are too thick.

Reflections of a Champion: I am very thankful to the Garden of Hope for choosing me to have this opportunity. I remember that in my personal narrative, I shared this thought:  My attitude toward writing will not change if I do not get this award. Every contest is a new experience, and a new chance for me to learn.

I have always loved creating. Since I was young I developed a habit of reading, so writing came naturally. I do not set high expectations for test scores and school compositions; instead, I focus on putting my heart into them. Often, I write poetry and short stories to share with my friends. Gradually this has become a kind of hobby.

In the future, I want to do counseling work. Maybe I will work with juveniles as a means of crime prevention. I remember that in my interview I said that whether or not I get this award today will not make a difference, because sooner or later I will work at the Garden of Hope. If I get this award, it only lets me into this circle earlier.

Throughout this competition, people continually questioned and chastised me, asking “Did you get the award?”,  “Didn’t you want to do crime prevention?”, or “Are you doing Chinese Studies?”, “You’re so boring…” etc. In the materials that I gave the judges, I wrote that writing is my interest, not because I want to make it my job or let it become an added stress. I don’t like writing drafts. I like to think of a subject for a few days, then just turn on my computer and write. In the interview, I remember one judge had a question about my attitude toward writing. “According to your personal narrative, your future career will have nothing to do with your writing?” I told her that I would never make writing my job, but it will always be an important hobby. 

To me, creating is a tool. I will use it write my thesis about youth crime, and write for busy city people or homework-laden youth to use as a reference, or I will write inspirational poetry to communicate and share with my friends. Now that I have earned this award, I have started thinking back on how much I have learned through the selection process, whether I was writing a narrative or preparing materials for the interview. Although I forfeited my senior high school exams, I know everything will work out.  

Judges’ comments: Mung-ling Tsai has great wisdom, and her writing ability was very strong. As well as her writing skills, she was also very concerned about society, which was very impressive. She is very confident and hopeful about the future, and unafraid to voice her own point of view. She understands her goals for the future.