February 22, 2023

For my first Ted Wang interview here in Taiwan, I invited one of the first Ted Wang fellows, Olivia Lewis, Class of 2020. It was a wonderful experience getting to chat with Olivia about her experience as a Ted Wang fellow in Shanghai, China and what she took away from the experience, particularly since I was just beginning my journey as a Ted Wang fellow in Taiwan when I interviewed her in February. Besides talking about the Ted Wang Fellowship and study abroad, it was really fun to connect with Olivia about being a Wellesley student and also learn from the advice she gave me.

I’ll first start with a little background about Olivia. She grew up in Washington, D.C., before attending Wellesley College, where she majored in East Asian Studies and minored in Economics. After graduating, she moved onto other wonderful opportunities such as being a Fulbright Scholar for the 2021-22 year in Taiwan and is now working as a Research Assistant at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.

As the inaugural class of the Ted Wang Fellowship, I was curious to hear how Olivia decided to apply and become one of the first to study abroad with this fellowship. Studying abroad for a full year was something she had always planned to do while in college, but she had originally planned to go to Taiwan for the Asia portion of her trip. However, by chance, she heard of the beginnings of the Ted Wang Fellowship being planned, but it was still in the process, so she didn’t hear much more about it for a while. Eventually in the fall of her junior year, the study abroad office reached out saying that fellows for Japan and Korea had already been selected, but they were still looking for a fellow to go to China. Additionally, Olivia was the only one who fulfilled all the requirements for the fellowship, so she decided to participate in this fellowship. Besides these facts though, Olivia shared with me how she was a bit unsure at first since she had familial connections in Taiwan and had wanted to go again. Ultimately though, she felt the Ted Wang Fellowship was a special opportunity that gave her the chance to both study and intern abroad.

When I asked Olivia what motivated her to choose to work abroad, she told me that it started even earlier than the Ted Wang Fellowship opportunity. After freshman year, she was able to participate in a scholarship under Hong Kong University, which allowed her to go to Hong Kong for a bit and then intern in Shanghai for 2 months. It sparked her love for Asia, making her consider working abroad after graduation. With that in mind, Olivia told me she wanted to stay closer to home immediately after graduation, but during that time, she couldn’t help thinking of how much she missed Asia. With the Fulbright Scholarship, she initially expected to just be in Asia for a year, but she realized that it didn’t have to be that way. Staying in Taiwan was also practical in many ways, since she was already there and became used to it already during her time as a Fulbright Scholar. 

Compared to life in the States, Olivia shared how easy and convenient life is in Taiwan so far. But, she did add that living abroad always has its difficulties. For example, Olivia shared that getting her job in Taiwan was an arduous process, with the work permit and job applications. She also told me that although she can communicate quite well in Mandarin, it’s still different and sometimes, she needs to ask someone to repeat themselves. Being someone from a mixed race background as well has made her stand out more, which she shared can be tiring when it’s a daily experience. However, her perspective is that overall, being abroad is something that she herself chose and is a life that she enjoys. There are always stressful moments in life wherever you may be, which was something that particularly spoke to me.

“There’s pros and cons, you know, but I am, I would say, by and large happier here than I have been living anywhere else.”

Apart from the differences in daily life, Olivia also talked with me about how work environments are different here in Taiwan. She described her current workplace as being a fairly traditional Taiwanese company where a certain degree of formality is expected. One thing in particular that she had to grow accustomed to was indirect vs. direct communication, which meant having to interpret a little more about what coworkers might be saying to her or considering how to phrase something herself. Little things are also important to be aware of since others who are used to this culture might just do it naturally themselves, but she said it was a process to learn how to do things correctly in the way that it is expected over here.

As for challenges during her time abroad, Olivia described to me the difficulties she had as she was searching for a job in Taiwan. While still working her job under the Fulbright program, she was applying for jobs and navigating the hiring process with a limited timeframe. It wasn’t just the innate difficulty of applying to jobs that she had to deal with, but also writing materials in another language, different work customs, communication etc. Even after being hired by her current employer, the process of getting a work permit took an extremely long time. In a way, Olivia told me that this process showed her how trying to find a job in a foreign country on your own truly is complex and tiring, becoming one of the biggest challenges that she has faced.

On a lighter note, Olivia and I chatted about some of her favorite things here in Taiwan. The people she has met here, particularly in Yunlin during her Fulbright, made a big impact on her and she’s kept many of those friends still. She also recommended that I visit some of the outer islands of Taiwan and enjoy the beauty of this island. Even while walking along rivers in Taipei, Olivia said there are just good vibes, watching the old people singing karaoke and enjoying life.

Towards the end of our interview, I asked Olivia if she could summarize where she is now in her life in 3 words. Her first choice was ‘grateful/lucky’, because she didn’t expect to be where she is now and that she had so much help from past connections and friends to get to this point today. Second, she chose ‘joyful’ since being here has allowed her to feel so much more alive, feeling the energy of others around her and being able to quickly decompress even after a long work day. Lastly, she used a family phrase that translates roughly to be something so chaotic that it’s unfathomable or it’s unexpected. Although her life is ‘fairly conventional’ as she described it to me, she said that there’s always unexpected things that she’ll come across, new surprises to share with her family on their weekly call.

The final conclusion to my chat with Olivia was her last pieces of advice that she shared with me, particularly since I was just at the beginning of my own Ted Wang Fellowship journey. She encouraged me to explore Taiwan, but make sure to set aside time for myself to rest. Another more practical piece of advice was to try talking to new people since some of the best friendships could come out of a simple conversation. Olivia also emphasized that I should cherish this moment, taking in the experience of studying abroad during undergrad and savoring the little things around me. A tip she had for study abroad was to keep a journal, something to allow me to look back on in a few years and recall a memory. Finally, Olivia advised to not worry about post-grad too much and to “live in the present”, even though she understands it might be tough to avoid worrying.

I gained so much from my interview with Olivia, covering various topics of her experiences abroad but also learning from a Wellesley alum about life during college and afterwards. It was such a lucky experience for me to talk with one of the first Ted Wang Fellows ahead of my time here in Taiwan. Thank you, Olivia! My next interview will be with Kelly Fan, a local computer science graduate who now works as a software engineer. Hope you enjoyed my first interview and look forward to my next post!