Strive for the Future with Dedication

On March 30, 2015, the Commonwealth magazine and the Career Development Center at Soochow University co-sponsored a forum tour on the theme "Strive for the future with dedication.” SCU President, Wei-Ta Pan (潘維大), stated that he had long been reading the Commonwealth magazine since its first issue published in 1981, and he enjoyed its articles because of the diverse and inspiring reports about Taiwan and the world, offering general introduction and trend analysis of domestic and international industries, solving problems of economic development, social equity, and value system of the new generation in Taiwan, etc. President Pan encouraged SCU students to dedicate themselves to future goals and to create a promising future for Taiwan, instead of surrendering to harsh reality or feeling content with small happiness.  

The chief editor of the Commonwealth magazine, Wan-Yu Wu (吳婉瑜), is a SCU alumnus from the Department and Graduate Institute of Social Work. In the forum she brought students close together, asking them to use cards "O" and "╳" to answer questions, then she introduced the initiative and operation of the forum conveying the faith that had been kept for years by the Commonwealth magazine, that is, to be the mediator between employers and employees in Taiwan enterprises, and to carry out the conviction through mutual understanding. 
 
Struggle for Yourself 
In the forum a documentary was played, divided into two parts, "Preparation” and "Conquest,” to introduce respectively Zhi-Chao Zhuang (莊智超), Founder of the social organization IOH (International Open House), Yun-Ru Chen (陳韻儒), Business Manager of Xin Ji Information Technology Corporation, and Wen-Bin Su (蘇文彬), Director of Advantech Branch Office. 

In the former part, Zhuang collects information about overseas Taiwanese students recommending their fields of study and reciting their living experiences abroad, then makes videos and uploaded to Internet. His forums and videos are all free of charge, for he believes that the younger generation is usually beginners without many resources and should be assisted by well-established predecessors. 

In the later part, Chen and Su tell about their pioneering experiences in opening up international markets in Brazil and other countries. These countries are full of business opportunities, but they worry few young people in Taiwan are willing to take the challenge; therefore, they encourage young people to step out of comfortable hometowns and to strive bravely for their own as well as their country's future.

When the documentary was over, Hui-Qing Tsai (蔡惠卿), General Manager of HIWIN Technologies Corporation, shared her life experiences with SCU students. She said, even though she had been vulnerable since childhood and not excellent in academic performance, she kept pondering on the meaning of life and did her best in learning all things. Indeed she learned a lot, so she enjoyed quoting from Albert Einstein, "In order to be a perfect member of a flock of sheep, one has to be, the foremost sheep.” Qing-Xiang Chen (陳清祥),President of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd Taiwan, is an alumnus of Department of Accounting at SCU. He introduced himself in a humorous manner and declared in his speech that, "To give up is easy to say, but to strive is the true dedication."

Encouragements from the Speakers
Zhuang claimed that, when everyone lifted a lamp, even darkness can be seen. Established with such a solid conviction, IOH has for years enabled students studying abroad to become, not an isolated struggle, but a group of partners striving together for their dreams through an open platform online. Many people have been inspired by this compassion and accordingly are willing to provide resources for others to fulfill dreams.

 
During the Q&A session, Wan-Yu Wu asked the three speakers questions raised by SCU students in their questionnaires, and the speakers answered all sorts of questions to solve students' problems in life and to get them ready for entering workplace. The two-hour forum ended satisfactorily with all participants fully equipped to strive for their future.