Senior Writer Felix Tsai explains the issue of plastic pollution, primarily caused by oil companies, and proposes solutions to reduce it.
Stop fearing failure | Kira Lei Chen – Grade 8
Teenagers in Taiwan fear failure. They view success as the most important thing in the world whereas failure is something they should try their best to avoid. Teens fear failure so much because parents and teachers teach them that they have to be perfect. This fear of...
Top-ranked schools are more stressful | Zoe Chen – Grade 8
Staff writer Zoe Chen shares her experiences as a current student in a top-ranked school, and how it’s more stressful.
Taiwanese education hampers critical thinking | Kate Huang – Grade 10
Taiwanese people, both parents and students, are heavily invested in education. According to reputable sources like the National Center of Education, Taiwan is one of the top-performing countries in terms of education. Taiwan’s academic performance, especially in...
All teens should have internet access | Kylie Ting – Grade 10
Staff writer Kylie Ting explains why parents should give their teens internet access, instead of limiting it like many do.
Cultural appropriation vs. appreciation | Chloe Hsu – Grade 11
Editor-in-Chief Chloe Hsu discusses why it’s essential to know the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation.
Is this generation raising weaker children? | Kira Lei Chen – Grade 8
Staff Writer Kira Lei Chen explains how the older generation tend to think the younger generation is weaker and how that is not the case.
Why studying at a girl’s high school is awesome | Jewel Chen – Grade 10
Staff writer Jewel Chen writes about her experience in an all-girls high school, and explains how attending this type of school is awesome.
Why is it so hard to apologize? | Kylie Ting – Grade 10
Staff writer Kylie Ting explains why apologizing is so hard, and emphasizes that despite its difficulty, it’s an essential thing to do.
The case of teenage jealousy | Chloe Hsu – Grade 11
Editor-in-Chief Chloe Hsu explains teenage jealousy: what it is, who it truly affects, and how to defeat it.
Book review: And the Mountains Echoed | Victor Lu
Senior Writer Victor Lu rates Khaled Hosseini’s epic novel, And the Mountains Echoed, in terms of its plot, settings, and themes.
“Wolf pack” mentality is stupid and dangerous | Felix Tsai – Grade 11
Senior Writer Felix Tsai explains the dangers behind the “wolf pack” mentality and the problematic “alpha male” ideology.
How should parents deal with their teens’ social lives? | Kira Lei Chen – Grade 8
Staff Writer Kira Lei Chen explains how parents should support teenagers to develop their social lives, and communicate with them when needed.
Four reasons why high school sucks | Kate Huang – Grade 10
Associate Editor Kate Huang talks about how the feeling of inadequacy, stress, drama, and judgement make high school an unpleasant experience.
Introverts and success | Kate Huang – Grade 10
Conventional wisdom assumes that an extrovert, an outgoing and outspoken person, makes for an ideal leader, and is thus more likely to be successful than the opposite: the introvert. There are plenty of studies that support this idea. For example, extroverted people...
Extroverts and success | Chloe Hsu – Grade 11
Editor-in-Chief Chloe Hsu explains the correlation between extroverts and success and whether extroverts can achieve success easier.
Why parents should not be overprotective to their kids | Victor Lu
Every parent considers their kid the most important thing in the world, and parents try their best to ensure kids are living carefree and safely. However, some parents become overly involved in their kids' lives. These overprotective parents shield kids from danger,...
Why do we make powerful AI when it scares us so much? | Felix Tsai – Grade 11
The first-ever use of the word “robot” was in the 1920 play Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel Čapek, where humanoid automatons toiled as unpaid labourers for their human overlords. The robots’ eventual revolt and extermination of the human race was used to explore...
How teenagers can achieve work-life balance | Victor Lu – Gap Year
Senior Staff Writer Victor Lu draws on his experiences and offers advise for teenagers to achieve work-life balance.
Systemic racism against migrant workers in Taiwan | Chloe Hsu – Grade 11
Editor-in-Chief Chloe Hsu explains the systemic racism that migrant workers — who are mostly from Southeast Asia — have to face in Taiwan.
You should read web novels. Here’s why. | Felix Tsai – Grade 11
Senior Staff Writer Felix explains that we should all read web novels, and that they are a great alternative to physical copies of books.
Stigma around mental health | Kate Huang – Grade 10
Stigma around mental health Millions of people are affected by mental issues every year, yet more than half do not receive treatment. This is due to a stigma surrounding mental health that makes speaking out about personal mental struggles immensely difficult. People...
Private school survival tips | Charlotte Lin – Grade 10
Staff Writer Charlotte Lin provides study and friendship-related tips for transfer students who are adapting to new school environments.
Helpful apps for students | Zoe Chen – Grade 8
Staff Writer Zoe Chen provides a list of helpful apps students can use to help them use their devices responsibly.
Formosa 900: My bike trip around Taiwan | Victor Lu – Gap Year
Cycling is my passion. It allows me to connect with others, trains my stamina, and is a way to relax and blow off steam. I always look forward to visiting new places on my bike, and one of my most exciting trips was biking around my beautiful homeland: Taiwan. When I...
Do STEM subjects offer better career opportunities? | Kate Huang – Grade 10
If you’re a student struggling to choose between studying STEM subjects, non-STEM subjects, or both, this article is for you. STEM – an abbreviation for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – is the group of subjects most people regard as better...
Clubs students should join in junior high | Zoe Chen – Grade 8
Joining a club is a way for students to take a break from studying. Clubs allow students to choose a class according to their liking and be devoted to it. Some people may want to use this period to be productive and increase their knowledge, while some want to join...
Why Taiwanese students are not getting enough sleep | Charlotte Lin – Grade 10
According to the Children Welfare League Foundation, Taiwanese students sleep 6.9 hours a night on average when they should be sleeping at least eight hours every night. The reason why students stay up late is mainly due to heavy school work loads. To make matters...
My virtual internship with non-profit organization SERVE | Chloe Hsu – Grade 11
This summer, I had the opportunity to participate in an online internship program hosted by Virtual Internships. As the name suggests, I interned at a company for four weeks, with a group, entirely online. The category of the company I chose was Social-Impact...
Do parents know what their children need in their studies? | Kira Lei Chen – Grade 8
The answer is no. Parents think that they know what their child needs, but in reality they are forcing their child to become something that the parents want, molding their child into the perfect student who is a prodigy in class. This is actually the most ineffective...
Why people don’t like being called feminist | Kate Huang – Grade 10
Associate Editor Kate Huang talks about why people don’t like being called feminist. She breaks down the misconceptions about feminism and explains the true meaning of it.
5 best riverside bike paths in Taipei | Victor Lu – Grade 12
Senior staff writer and avid bike rider Victor Lu catalogs some of the best cycling paths along Taipei’s riverside.
Should you be worried about anti-Asian hate when you visit America? | Kate Huang – Grade 9
Yes, anti-Asian hate is real. On March 16, 2021, a white man shot and murdered eight people, six of whom are Asian women, in three different spas across Atlanta. A 67-year-old Asian woman was stomped on and punched more than 125 times in New York City after being...
Schools should teach students about money and financial education | Kate Huang – Grade 9
There is one subject that will be useful throughout your entire life, but schools rarely teach you about it – money. While money seems like a topic that isn’t a concern in your teenage years, starting your financial education early is beneficial for your...
Casual homophobia in Taiwan | Chloe Hsu – Grade 10
May 24, 2019 was the day Taiwan made history by becoming the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. This was proof that Taiwan is one of the most progressive countries in Asia, and also proof that same-sex marriage has broad support with the citizens....
Drugs aren’t a crime, it’s an illness | Felix Tsai – Grade 10
In June of 1971, American President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse "public enemy number one" and kicked off the War on Drugs, a continuation of drug prohibition policies in the U.S., which prohibited the production, distribution, and consumption of drugs. Worse...
Why teenagers need art therapy | Victor Lu – Grade 12
Teenagers have to deal with academic stress, extracurricular activities, problems with their social lives, and expectations from both their parents and teachers. Because of all this, 20 percent of teenagers suffer from at least one mental health disorder. Because some...
Pros and Cons of food delivery apps | Una Chuang – Grade 10
On a hot, steamy summer day, with lunchtime approaching, what would you do: dress up and head out to buy groceries, get gross and sweaty, or chill at home, pull out your phone, and put in a quick and easy order on UberEats? As we are a generation spoiled by the...
Tips for dealing with common insecurities | Chloe Hsu – Grade 10
If there was one word I could use to describe everyone in the world, it’d be insecure. Everyone has insecurities. Even the most confident people in the whole wide world do. It is human nature to want to be better, and this means people often obsess over parts of...
Harry Potter isn’t as good as when you read it as a kid | Felix Tsai – Grade 10
Everybody remembers Harry Potter, if not for the fond memories of the magical world of flying broomsticks and messenger owls, then for it being the highest selling series ever. Its movie adaptations are nothing to scoff at either, with a total gross of $7.7 billion in...
How students can improve relationships with their teachers | Victor Lu – Grade 12
Teachers are central to education. They guide students in their lessons and cultivate passion for learning. Because teachers are supportive in students’ education, it is vital for students to build positive relationships with their teachers, and good teacher-student...
Homeschooling and why it is better than normal schools | Kira Lei Chen – Grade 7
Homeschooling is an education system for students that do not fit into ordinary education systems such as traditional public schools. Homeschooling helps every individual student because the student’s curriculum is custom-made and chosen to fit what the student needs....
Sexism in the education system | Chloe Hsu – Grade 10
Sexism in the education system? Didn’t we leave sexism back in the 1900s? We did, but we also didn’t. Sexism has always been something people are sensitive to, and women have long strived for gender equality. While nowadays, things are much better than a few decades...
Schools should pay more attention to student mental health | Kate Huang – Grade 9
When you see a student going up the stairs on crutches, you will give them a hand. However, when you see a depressed student in your class, you ignore the possibility that they are suffering from mental illnesses, assuming that they’re simply having a bad day....
Are cram schools for kids, or are they really for parents? | Kira Lei Chen – Grade 7
Almost every single student in Taiwan has been to a cram school, regardless of their age and their abilities. Cram schools, called buxibans, are part of the modern day Taiwanese culture, and without it the Taiwanese education system wouldn’t be what it is today....
Ad blockers, good or bad? | Felix Tsai – Grade 10
Ads are annoying. That is something that everybody, even the guy that invented pop-up ads, can agree on. Ads crowd the page when browsing through articles, get in the way when scrolling through Instagram, force little ten-second gaps when watching YouTube, and...
6 lessons I learned doing my college applications | Victor Lu – Grade 12
Twelfth grade is stressful. Most students have to apply for college, maintain their grades at school, and deal with tremendous pressure from both, especially from college applications. However, the college application process is still a valuable opportunity for...
Pro-life is anti-woman | Chloe Hsu – Grade 10
Abortion is one of the most controversial debates of all time. Both sides of the debate have raging enthusiasts willing to fight for their side of the argument. I, as someone who is pro-choice, believe that “pro-life” is anti-woman. But first, what are the two sides?...
Are big corporations evil? | Felix Tsai – Grade 10
McDonalds, Starbucks, Amazon, and Apple are all big corporations known around the globe. While these corporations provide us with convenient services and high quality items, they are also infamously known for doing things that are viewed as “evil”. For example, tax...
6 hiking attractions in Taipei | Victor Lu – Grade 12
Trekking on the hills along the riverbanks, enjoying the magnificent scenery, and feeling the joy of reaching the summit are all valuable moments of a hike. While there are many places for hiking, Taipei is a great choice for it because the city is surrounded by...
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