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Trent Cunningham 林世平, America , 32 years old

Trent Cunningham 林世平

Trent Cunningham first came to Taiwan during his vacations from working at Wal-Mart in 2006 to visit his best friend from high school.  Little did he know that his 1st overseas vacation would see the start of a whole new world of opportunities for Cunningham.  Today he is in his second semester of getting a Bachelor’s Degree with a Business major, getting taught to speak, read and write Chinese – and all of it with a FULL scholarship, INCLUDING housing, at Kainan University in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

What’s it like?  Cunningham described the coursework that ranges from Accounting to Chinese Characters.  What’s it like to be at Kainan University in Taoyuan, Taiwan?  He describes the smaller sized city of Taoyuan as the right choice, even though he was accepted by schools in the capital, Taipei.  “…the teachers…are really nice,…really helpful."  And the students? 

“You know everyone is away from their home, their families.  Everyone treats everyone else like family.  You know, I come from a small town - so everyone in the city is family.  So, its nice to be in a place that’s like that too.” 

Cunningham described new friends who hail from Vietnam, and his international travel plans for the upcoming school holidays.  He has 3 roommates.  They are from Mongolia, Vietnam and Philippines.

When he’s not studying what is Cunningham doing?  Lazing around the campus?  Not him.  He travels to Jhongli to visit his friend Hickey, or he goes camping or hiking in Taiwan’s nearby vast mountains with other members of the International Students Organization or the International Cultural Organization - something he’s gotten encouragement from professors to do: studying overseas means getting outside, into the culture and the countryside.  Not all books all the time.

What are the people like in Taiwan?  Trent describes taking busses on the weekends to visit Hickey.   Since he’s just begun to learn to read Chinese characters, it can be easy to get a bit mis-directed.  “Every time I’ve had problems I’ve been able to find someone to help me…and even if they don’t understand they will talk to someone and try to get me some help.”

Cunningham says that he really likes the diversity of his classmates.  Sharing classes, coursework and life with people from all around the world means you are really getting to “learn about other cultures & languages” first-hand.  Trent was spent his vacation in 2006 visiting his friend Hickey in Taiwan.  They traveled from Taipei to Kenting LINKS.  Now he’s back and living, learning and studying in Taiwan.

 

International students at Kainan University