Importance Of Professionalism In Taiwan

Professionalism to most people is a quality one has to attain in order to achieve success. Yet in diverse cultures around the world, professionalism is often displayed in different levels as their mindsets and beliefs are different from one another. It would be interesting to compare the professionalism in Taiwan, my home country, to the professionalism I see in the United States, and how I adapt to the changes. Since professionalism is a fairly broad term, I would be taking a comprehensive look into student professionalism and how staggering the discrepancies are in these two different cultures. As I spent the past ten years of my life in Taiwan, I have noticed that there are not many students who possess the quality of professionalism.

In Taiwan, students in 12th grade are under a lot of pressure because of the college entrance exam. The mindset of Taiwanese students is that this exam determines their fate. If one aced the exam, one would be able to get in a prestigious college and have no need to worry about their pride. If one failed this exam, it would be an embarrassment for them as they did not get in those highly praised universities. Thus, the majority of students would go all lengths to get the grades that enable them to enter the most renowned universities despite giving up on their dreams. For example, as they care too much about how people look at their educational backgrounds, they would not mind if they chose a major that did not match their interests, as long as they are in the top colleges. However, I deem these thoughts unacceptable because I think that being certain about one’s own goals and following one’s heart is another aspect of showing student

This is a great culture shock to me because the students in Taiwan rarely speak out their minds and share personal thoughts. When teachers ask random questions, we Taiwanese students usually sit quietly in our seats and wait for the answer. Critical thinking in class is something we lack because we are used to getting the answers right away without thinking about it, let alone raising our hands to ask or answer questions. I found a reason for me being quiet in class because I am still stuck in the language conversion period. I sometimes think in my native language, Mandarin Chinese, and it would take me a long while to convey what I truly have in mind in English. Therefore, it is a problem for me at times to speak or write fluently. However, I noticed the importance of self-advocacy since the first few weeks of school. I know in my heart that if I am willing to adapt to this new environment and be successful in the future, I have to conquer my language obstacles ahead of me. Therefore, I tried my very best to break my comfort zone. I started talking to my classmates more often, and I even went to the Learning Resource Center in the library to ask for help on my homework. Since it would be impossible for me to do everything on my own, I started to reach out for assistance. Thus,