Kaohsiung Sunshine Social Care Association (hereinafter referred to as Sunshine Association) and National Sun Yat-sen University’s College of Management co-organized a charity event on October 8, 2022 entitled “Flying against the wind・Dreams of Taking off for NSYSU’s Management College.” A total of 32 young people from Kaohsiung Red Cross Nursery Center and Pingtung County’s GWG Family (飛夢林家園) were invited to participate. Through the campus tour and through personal sharing from current university students and EMBA graduates of NSYSU, it is hoped that the young people gained a preliminary understanding for the university, which in turn will inspire them to continue their studies. 
 

According to Sunshine Association’s current chairman, Shang-hsien Wu, the Sunshine Association was formed in 2014 by a group of NSYSU EMBA graduates in order to bring together business people who are interested in helping the disadvantaged, developing children in remote areas, farmers, and others by providing much needed resources and organizing activities. In this event, Sunshine Association donated NT$100,000 to GWG Family in Pingtung County. Shu-Chuan Jennifer Yeh, Dean of NSYSU’s College of Management, emphasized that the College places great importance on the promotion of ethics, social responsibility and sustainable education. Through teaching, service, research and external collaboration, the College hopes to create impact and implement the practice of University Social Responsibility (USR) together with other interested parties.

At the beginning of the event, a team of counselors from NSYSU planned a series of ice-breaker activities for the young people of Red Cross Nursery Center and GMG Family to get to know each other. In addition, the activities also allowed them to learn the importance of teamwork by experiencing that each person on the team has a different role to play but each person is an important part of the team.

After the ice-breaker activities, current undergraduate students from three departments of NSYSU’s College of Management shared their experiences of college life with the young people: Yu-Chiao Fu from the Department of Business Management, Wei-Lin Chang from the Department of Finance, and Hsuan-Yu Peng from the Department of Information Management. From the school’s curriculum planning to their future after graduation, the students used vivid practical examples to let the young people understand how knowledge learned in the university can be applied in the future. In addition to introducing academics, the students also shared the extracurricular activities they had personally participated in, giving them a taste of the richness of college life. Not only that, whether it is in preparation activities or entrepreneurial ideals, NSYSU’s College of Management also provides many resources to enthusiastically assist students so that they can do whatever they want with confidence.

During the event, EMBA CEO Hero Lin encouraged the young people, saying that as long as they are willing to work hard and make a little progress every day, they will have visible results within a year. Next, graduates of the EMBA program shared their life stories with the young people. First, Kuan-Ting Chen, Chairman of COTTAI LTD., shared that his academic journey had many difficulties, and the people around him were not optimistic when he started his own business, but he relied on persistence and worked hard to travel all over the world to create his own niche. Peng-Chieh Wang, the world champion bread baker and the founder of Shakespeare Bakery, also shared how he was once on the wrong path when he was studying. However, through a fateful encounter, he had an epiphany and realized he had to get out of that environment. Although he started later than others, Peng-Chieh Wang spent more time and effort to make up for it, and eventually reached the top of the world. Despite his humble background, Ta-Hsin Wang, Chairman of Sung Yang Construction Co., Ltd. Firmly believes that “suffering is a blessing in disguise.” He was not afraid in the face of any difficulty and finally made a place for himself in the construction industry.

The three EMBA alumni were not well received by the outside world when they were studying or starting their careers, but they still persisted in their chosen path and worked hard to pursue their goals. With time and effort, their efforts have borne fruit. Thanks to the alumni’s inspiring words, the young people can imagine their futures and become more likely to ambitiously fulfill their dreams.

At the end of the event, under the guidance of Yun-wen Peng, Director of the Institute of Public Affairs Management, the young people went to Sizihwan for a beach cleaning event. By actually stepping outside, they realized how the amount of garbage that people produce damages the marine environment and causes harm to animals. Many of the young people also gave feedback on the day, saying that they were more able to imagine their future and university life. Hearing the life stories of the students who came before them reminded the proverb “Heroes aren’t afraid of humble beginnings” and inspired them to believe that they can pull themselves out of difficult situations with their own efforts. They were also inspired to believe that they have the strength to improve the environment. NSYSU College of Management will continue to take actions to implement the practice of University Social Responsibility.

Video of the event: https://reurl.cc/Qbv0N5

(Contributed by Fang-yu Chang, second year MBA in Information Management student / Edited by College of Management)