Welcome visitors from Taiwan 2022/Carlos Pueblo

 Welcome visitors from Taiwan 2022/Carlos Pueblo

There was a dinner party to welcome visitors from Taiwan, a group of professors at the National Taiwan Normal University under President Wu Cheng-yi's leading to Houston on Tuesday of the 16th in August. NTNU is my alma mater and I have been so appreciated to have such opportunity to have my education over there in Taipei, Taiwan. Plus, I have so much fond memory of my returning back to visit in my life . I asked Amy to drive me to the meeting due to my left eye surgery on a previous day.

President Wu is on a cross country tour of the United States like to visit the sister university of the University of Maryland at the University Park as well as an academic exchange visit of our University of Texas at Austin, his alma mater of his Ph.D. study. I believe that he selects to visit Houston because that our local alumni association keeps a good relationship with the NTNU for many decades. Our Association has contributed a small amount of the scholarship to help needed students every year.

The reason why I have been so appreciated of my relationship with the University, first, I obtained the opportunity to get a science degree in Chemistry and paved my way to study abroad and eventually immigrated to the U.S. It was almost free in tuitions and fees at that time plus some food allowance. We had to pay back for two years teaching service at high schools. My parents were very pleased for such arrangement back to that time when I got the admission. It was a way for low income family children to receive college educations.

I followed the rule to apply for a teaching assistantship when I was eligible after my two years draft and two years teaching in Taiwan. I have come to the U.S. and fulfilled my dream in my childhood. All most all our guests present at the dinner party are with my experience identically. 

The NTNU campus was originally built as a Senior high school during the Imperial Japanese era called Taipei Senior High School, a system like British Eden and Rugby back to that old time. It was between the middle school and the college. After Japanese went back in 1945, the National Chinese converted the old campus to be a normal college to train secondary school teachers. I am very glad that the University takes the old Japanese part of history and now the University has just reached a century.

When I was there, there were about 4,000 enrollment, three colleges at one campus. Now, there are 9 colleges split on three campuses with grand total 17,000 students. Students can also enroll classrooms with near by two other  famous Universities. National Taiwan University and National Taipei University of Science and Engineering for academic credits.