Weinberg junior Suzanne Chang never would have guessed her freshman seminar final paper would eventually become the basis for the essay that would earn her the chance to meet the president of Taiwan.
This summer she received the top recognition for her submission to the 2010 Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan essay contest, a competition held by the National Taiwan University. The award ceremony was part of a three-day academic conference in Taipei. Chang applied last spring after urging from her father and found out she was one of 100 finalists who would attend the conference at the beginning of the summer. Her six-page essay, on the economic benefits of adopting green technology in China, came out of her Economics of Energy freshman seminar final project, she said.
It wasn’t until she was already at the conference that Chang found out her essay had won first place and President Ma Ying-jeou would present her with a certificate.
Chang said although it wasn’t like meeting President Barack Obama, it was an honor to meet the Taiwanese president.
“He was there for about 10 minutes,” she said. “But my parents were really excited for me and proud. It was a great opportunity.”
Ph.D. students as well as other graduate and undergraduate students from all over the world were chosen as finalists to attend the conference. Chang won a $400 grant in the form of a subsidy to her airplane ticket.
“It was really humbling,” she said. “You realize how passionate some people are. To think my essay was picked out of all these essays was very shocking.”
Weinberg junior Stacy Chow said Chang spent weeks writing the essay and working on the presentation.
“The award is a reflection of the work she put in,” she said. “She deserved the award, and I’m glad they gave it to her.”
The presentation consisted of a 15-minute PowerPoint demonstration and a summary of the main points in the essay to the 100 finalists, Chang said. She said the mental preparation for giving the presentation was the most difficult.
“Having to put myself in that situation and give a presentation in front of a big group of people was intimidating, but I figured out it was possible,” she said.
Chang, whose parents are from Taiwan and are both college professors, plans to graduate a year early and is already applying to graduate schools and research assistant positions. She said she hopes to be a professor of either economics or finance at a top university.
Weinberg junior Thea Klein-Mayer was Chang’s roommate during the summer while she prepared for the conference presentation. She said she expects big things from Chang.
“She’s hardworking; she works until she succeeds,” she said. “It’s very admirable.”
