My dormitory experience at Taiwan Normal University/Carlos Pueblo

 My dormitory experience at Taiwan Normal University/Carlos Pueblo

One of my former college classmate insists that I must appreciate the Nationalist Government of Taiwan to provide me a tuition to study at Taiwan Normal University which is an institute for the secondary school teachers. As I described on my previous article that I did receive a tuition free and a meager US$5 equivalent Taiwanese currency a month to purchase a meal ticket including  two quarters in that $5 a month for a hair cut. According to the rule, I was expected to have a bed at the student dormitory for the first three years, yet I only had had two. During my sophomore year, my application to that bed was rejected and I was forced to forfeit that $5 to pay a bed outside of the campus. There was not very much to thank for the regime anyway.

I had to work extra tutor job to make the difference; therefore, I blamed my poor grade for not having sufficient time to study. Most of the day time, I was sleepy at classes and never had had time to study. I knew what was wrong with me for that rejection because of my awkward relationship with the ROTC officer at the department he was in charge of the student affair. I was the nail pup up from the surface and he liked to smash it. Later I believe that is a shown discrimination from Chinese to the native like me. I did appeal the case to the President of the University and the head of the ROTC, a major general, wa instructed by the President's chief of staff to let me have that bed in the dorm. I was granted a conditional OK with a vote of the roommates and I lost by 3-4. They preferred to keep the empty bed as a storage space.

My life was totally changed. My college life was no longer like a dream of study yet a real work-study. I had to take care of the room and board. I refuse to give the credit to the Nationalist Regime for providing me to study at Taiwan Normal at all. A more experience friend gave me an advice to send a gift to my ROTC officer so I did deliver a small gift to him and he returned it to me. On my junior year, he invited me back to the dormitory with the same room.

There are several respectful roommates at that room later on their life such as Roger Huang, a Ph.D from Tokyo University, Tse-sheng Lee of the person I mention on my last article, and Wen-shaw Liu, my senior year roommate outside of the campus and a Ph.D. from Kent University in Ohio. There is this room 106 that I have had many life time friends whom I have appreciated so much, Henry Wei, a Marquette Ph.D., Chi-ho Su, a Cincinnati Ph.D., Carl Chen, and Yuan-kuan Chen who are all graduated from Tainan First Boys Senior High. Kuan-ming Yeh is a very successful business owner and also with a M.S. degree from the famous Chin-hwa University. There was an oversea student in that room who was very gentle to me.

I lived out side of the campus on my sophomore year. Al Huang and Chao-shi Kuo were my roommate. Al has a Ph.D. from Wayne State in Detroit and Kuo is retired from teaching for years in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. There were romantic stories involving them with two beautiful co-eds which I admired very much. I like to tell that story one day.