Taipei American School | 800 Zhongshan N. Rd., Section 6, Taipei, Taiwan | blueandgoldonline.org | VOLUME XXX, ISS. 02 | May 23, 2024
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Class of 2024: The highlights
Meet the TAS freshman playing Olympic hockey By Victoria Hsu & Katherine Ma (‘24)
Kyle C. (‘27) is already kicking off his professional hockey career as a freshman. He participated as a defenseman in the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 on behalf of Taiwan’s hockey team this past winter. This year, the tournament was held in Gangwon, Korea, and was the fourth-ever Youth Olympic Games tournament. The Taiwanese team, competing formally as Chinese Taipei, took home a win against Spain in the men’s 3-on-3 preliminary rounds. Kyle’s passion for hockey first started when he was only seven years old. “I started by roller skating when I was a kid,” Kyle said. “Then, at an ice skating rink, a coach asked me if I wanted to play [hockey].” The trialing process for the youth hockey team lasted a total of three days, but preparation for the athletes began almost three months prior to tryouts. “The coach chose the players on the last tryout day after watching us scrimmage and practice,” Kyle said. “I had a good time playing with some of my friends over the course of the three tryout days.” Kyle has to put in a lot of work to maintain his hockey skills, both on and off hockey season. During hockey season, Kyle practices six times a week, three times with his team and three times individually. Off-season, he reduces his training to three days a week, all of which are private lessons where he is able to refine his own skills. In the future, Kyle hopes to continue playing hockey for the Taiwan National team. “If there are teams I can join in college or university, I’ll probably join,” he said. “However, I don’t have any plans to play professionally.”
ILLUSTRATION BY XUN C. (‘27)
Annual “Adulting 101” workshops teach seniors skills for success By Katherine Ma & Abby Chang (‘24)
The “Adulting 101” program, an annual teaching event consisting of a wide range of workshops designed to help seniors transition into an independent lifestyle after high school, has been ongoing for the past five to six years. With student and alumni feedback regarding the program, changes to the timing and content have been implemented this year. Depending on the workshop, the session ranges from 30 minutes to about an hour. This year, the event
includes two mandatory workshops. The first one featured Luna Gayeski from Prevention Ed, an organization that partners with schools to inform students about current research regarding substance use and promote healthy decisions. Mr. Gayeski’s discussion aimed to inform students about the dangers of drug use and encourage them to make educated decisions. The second workshop was hosted by the Director of Inclusion and Wellbeing at Taipei American School (TAS), Ms. E-chieh Lin. Ms. Lin discussed how microaggressions can
impact students and how students can best navigate them. There were also optional workshops offered, featuring topics such as financial literacy and self-defense. Differing from previous years, this year’s workshops have been moved to the Spring semester so seniors can be more receptive and engaged with the content as they prepare for life after high school. “We know that at this time of the school year, many of our seniors are mentally rehearsing what their next chapter will look, sound, and feel like,” Dr. Evelyn Chen, one of the Upper School (US) Associate
Principals at TAS, said. Designed to spread awareness about critical topics for students going to colleges and universities all over the world, these mandatory workshops provide insight into the difficulties and differences students may experience and witness outside of Taiwan. “We love that our grade 12 students have this intentional time set aside to engage in conversations with one another about topics that feel both really important and relevant for them at this stage in their lives,” Dr. Chen said.