On Monday, April 18th at 7pm Eastern, NSLI-Y Interactive hosted the virtual event "Daily Life on the NSLI-Y Program in Taiwan."
At this free NSLI-Y Interactive virtual event, a panel of NSLI-Y Chinese Academic Year students shared their experiences communicating across linguistic and cultural barriers, and how they are able to have meaningful relationships with others in their host countries despite differences in native language, nationality, or experience. Following the students' presentations, there was a Q&A session open to the audience.
Meet the speakers:
Max is a current participant in the 2021-2022 NSLI-Y Chinese Academic Year Program in Taipei, Taiwan. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Max's academic interests include philosophy, Mandarin, and mathematics. When not studying Mandarin, Max enjoys reading, listening to music, and exercising. In the future, Max hopes to work in either academia or the foreign service.
Sofía is currently studying in the 2021-2022 Mandarin academic year in Taiwan. She is from the Bay Area, California, where she has worked extensively in social justice, such as interning at the Alameda County Public Defender's Office, working as a youth researcher for the Alliance for Girls and the National Young Women's Advisory Council, and volunteering as a youth attorney for Centerforce Youth Court, a restorative justice program. Sofía's first language is Spanish, which she plans to continue studying alongside Mandarin in her global studies / international relations major next year at university. In her free time, Sofía loves going outdoors with her friends and family, perfecting her brownies recipe, and falling off her surfboard.
Bella is a current participant on the NSLI-Y Mandarin Academic Year program in New Taipei City. Upon returning to the US, she looks forward to pursuing the Global Studies track at the University of Chicago. Aside from studying Mandarin, Bella enjoys writing, exploring cafés, spending time with her sisters, and studying Spanish.
Joseph is a current 2021-2022 NSLI-Y student in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Joseph fell in love with intercultural communication through growing up in his hometown of Dover, New Jersey, a salad bowl of different communities and languages. Joseph hopes to use his Mandarin skills to interact directly with East Asia in the Global Marketing field.