High-school student Chen Chien-ying (陳芊穎) said she hopes to help others after so many helped her overcome the limitations of cerebral palsy, once she obtains a psychology degree from National Taiwan University (NTU).
On Thursday last week, Chen became the first student from Changhua County’s National Lukang Senior High School to be accepted into the prestigious university through its program to help disadvantaged students.
Born with cerebral palsy, Chen said that she has always found movement difficult.
Photo: Liu Hsiao-hsin, Taipei Times
When she was an infant, her parents thought that she was just developing slowly, but after she was diagnosed at one year old, her parents took her to different specialists in the hopes of taking advantage of an early intervention.
Her mother took her to rehabilitation and acupuncture clinics for treatment, which Chen said helped, but was painful to endure.
Due to her condition, she must wear foot braces and has difficulty performing small movements, she said.
Writing notes during class is challenging to her, so she often takes photographs of the blackboard with her phone and uploads them for her classmates — in addition to preparing in advance to ensure she does not fall behind, Chen said.
For essays, her teachers let her type on a laptop, she said, but added that math class is challenging, as she has to use a pencil to write out calculations and proofs.
Fortunately, she is given more time to take tests, enabling her to advance in her studies, Chen said.
Chen, who has never attended a cram school, received good-enough grades in her high-school entrance exam to attend National Changhua Girls’ Senior High School, but decided to stay closer to home.
She said that she has encountered many kind teachers and students during her time at Lukang Senior High, who are happy to help her move around the school.
“The teachers are all sympathetic and have been very kind to me,” she said.
Chen said that she was inspired to choose NTU’s Department of Psychology after becoming fascinated with her brother’s book about Sigmund Freud’s dream interpretations.
Since so many people have helped her throughout her life, she said that she hopes to help even more people by becoming a psychologist.
Chen’s counselor, Yu Chih-ting (余志挺), said that the choice of a study program suits her well, as Chen has a very sharp mind.
Chen is not deterred by limitations, but works hard to realize her dreams, Lukang Senior High principal Lin Yi-hsien (林宜賢) said.
NTU provides an additional admissions track for students from disadvantaged backgrounds that employs a holistic approach.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe