Christophe Andre Agung Lawin
Background
Growing up in Saint Lucia, a small country island in the Caribbean Sea whose job market was and still is heavily affected by the West (the United States in particular), Dianka John knew from a young age that whatever job she would eventually settle for had to be futureproof while also not serving as an overwhelming burden for herself. Her father proposed a plan to work as a lawyer, but he did not envision her as the same people that you would see in TV dramas like Suits or Better Call Saul – he instead was talking about the office-worker type of lawyer, the quieter office job that deals with the lesser-known aspects of law such as writing and reading contracts for businesses and firms. Although she did not have any qualms with the aspect of a lawyer by itself because of her affinity to history and by extension memorization, she loathed the idea of a monotonous office job, no matter if she was in a cramped cubicle or spacious office. Instead, her interests lay in architecture and interior design, stemming from her watching HGTV shows discussing colonial architecture’s unique quirks and construction techniques.
Journey’s Start
Even though she now works in hydrology, Dianka didn’t start studying any prerequisites to engineering until after high school, where she instead studied business and IT. Only after high school did she decide to pursue architecture and apply for an engineering college. However, even though she had never studied anything related to engineering before her time in college, she was able to adapt very well to the new curriculum through sheer diligence and passion and graduated at the top of her class. Fresh out of college, she interned as part of a hotel renovation team, with her main duty being to create diagrams of the soon-to-be renovated structures to help in the demolition process. After that, she worked with an architect and a civil engineer, both of whom had a great impact on her mindset and goals moving forward. Although she initially enjoyed working with the architect more than the engineer because she was more familiar with the former, she ended up seeing her engineer mentor in a better light because he gave her a lot more insight and was more open to sharing the lessons that he had learned in the past with her – the engineer had a more egalitarian mindset and was welcoming to anyone as long as they were capable, while the architect put an overbearing amount of emphasis on blindly following hierarchy and bowing to seniority. After her experience with both, Dianka’s appreciation for the lessons that the engineer taught her and pushed her to study the same branch of engineering as her mentor for university – civil engineering.
Now, Taiwan
But studying abroad in any capacity isn’t an easy task for many, especially if you have to travel nearly 16 thousand kilometers to do so. But thanks to Saint Lucia’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan and her abilities, Dianka was able to come to Taiwan as one of the fifteen scholarship recipients from the Ministry of Education. Before that, however, she had to spend a year in Taiwan learning Mandarin in Xinzhuang, in which she said that her main problem with the Mandarin language, that being the multiple tones, was more bearable to learn as she was taught using songs.
As tough as it was to come to a foreign country that speaks a completely different language to study, Dianka did not feel that the bad outweighed the good in any step of the way. She repeatedly praised NTU’s support system for international students, stating that she was always able to ask for help and never felt ignored or unseen throughout her 4 years. Although she did say that the university is still somewhat old-fashioned and conservative in some sense, she also praised the teachers for being kind, friendly, and most importantly, understanding of her circumstances. When it came to making friends, although she found it difficult at first, certain class policies such as TAs and professors incentivizing locals to partner up with international students for extra credits helped her get more opportunities to make friends. As with anyone studying in a field as demanding as engineering, she also had her moments of self-doubt and insecurity. But her optimistic outlook on life helped her to rise out of that poor mental state and achieve even greater heights. When asked if she experienced any discrimination during her time, her resounding words left a deep impact. “If you focus on negativity, you will find it.” Instead of letting narrow-minded and racist people get to her head, she diverted her attention to those who were curious instead of judgemental, and to those who wanted to learn more about her culture and heritage. Instead of feeling like a victim, she opted to feel like an unofficial ambassador of her people and home. One interaction that she thinks fondly of is when Obama was featured on the Taiwan news, and someone asked her if she knew Obama personally. She sarcastically responded with a yes, but since the other person believed her, she continued the act and enjoyed some harmless fun.
Dianka (third from the left) and her classmates during their graduation ceremony
Life After University
After graduating in 2013, Dianka returned home to unwind and take a well-deserved break before getting a job at Vinci, a French company focused on sustainability and building essential infrastructure. She ended up working in a field that she initially had a significant disdain for, that being hydrology, as she played a pivotal role in constructing the first water treatment plant in Saint Lucia’s Dennery Valley, a pivotal farming district and populated area plagued with past water issues.
Dianka preparing for on-site observation
A Senior’s Advice
Dianka’s life so far has been full of twists and turns, and her advice to her juniors at NTUCE is as follows: for the freshmen, remember to pace yourself and prioritize getting into the groove of the university over making sure you take all the recommended courses. For the sophomores, always remember that there are people you can ask for help such as counselors and the admin department. For the juniors, take advantage of your less hectic schedule to branch out and absorb as much as you can from as many different branches as you can. And for the seniors, don’t forget to make sure that all your credits are in place – there’s nothing worse than seeing all your friends graduate before you because you missed a class.