Argeo Toring, Philippines

Studying here in Taiwan was the first time I am away from my family for a very long time. I knew before it is going to be hard, but at the same time excited on what the future holds, as I going out of our comfort zone can help us learn more about ourselves.

My main goal is to learn IC design, and Taiwan offers probably the best universities in the world when it comes to the major I have chosen. The first thing I learned is the different study habits the engineering students here have compared to my country. There are few classes that we need to take, but they still spend considerable amount of time in the lab to self-study, and learn the skills needed for the research works. I have adopted as well, spending atleast 10 hours a day in the lab. It was hard at first, but with the help of the Senior Taiwanese students and of my Filipino labmates, I was able to learn many skills in a relatively short amount of time. Our adviser is also a strict person, but as expected, he does know a lot of things, and very quick to suggest resources to study and things to focus on when I need it the most.

Although majority of my time has been focused in the laboratory, I still met some new friends in the dorm. I arrived during the peak of Covid-19, thus only a handful of new international students came to the university. However, this also means I was able to bond with them fast, and we usually go out to different places here in Taiwan when the schedule is not very tight.

As I am coming to my last semester here in NTPU, I sometimes can’t believe it’s been two years already. Nevertheless, I know I have learned many things regarding IC design, and more importantly, I learn to survive without immediate help from my family. It’s a holistic growth I would say.