四個月當兵期間的某天，我逃離了109旅太平里營區，前赴台北參加總統接見活動。這週一（6/2）剛拿到結訓令，下週一晚上就要飛往美國休士頓。這一切都和我這幾個月申請、審核、籌備的「青年百億海外圓夢基金計畫」有關，未來我也將在這個網站持續更新旅途中的種種經歷與感想。[English version at the bottom of each post]
什麼是青年百億海外圓夢基金計畫？
「青年百億海外圓夢基金計畫」是教育部青年發展署今年新推出的政策，向15至30歲的青年提供資金和其他相關輔導資源的協助，讓這群人有機會在國外完成自己嚮往已久但卻始終礙於現況而無法實踐的夢想。計畫內容依子計畫是否全由青年提出分為「築夢工場組」和「海外翱翔組」，前者由青年自行聯絡合作機構、從無到有完整規畫所有細節，後者則是由教育部先行制定子計畫初步方向、徵選合適且有興趣的青年一同合作。詳細資訊以官網公告為準。
因為前陣子當兵沒有太多餘裕去構思全新的計畫（不是在找藉口），所以我就上官網瀏覽了「海外翱翔組18-30歲」的各項子計畫，挑選了既符合我的背景與興趣、時間又接得上的其中一個，便是後來順利成功錄取的「B-5-3臺灣推廣者就是你！」。六月中到七月底的時間，我將前往美國休士頓的亞洲協會德州中心（Asia Society Texas Center），針對該組織運作見習，同時協助辦理文化推廣營隊，設計並輔導當地幼童的藝文展演活動。
這個計畫申請時程為何？
在此列出我的申請時程供大家參考：
- 1/28 在Threads上面第一次聽說這個計畫
- 3/10 上傳書面文件（⚠️強烈建議大家提早上傳以免發生悲劇⚠️）
- 3/17 官方書審繳交截止
- 4/13 收到書審通過暨面審通知（註）
- 4/23 參與線上面審
- 4/30 收到錄取通知
- 5/13 參與總統接見活動
註：書審通過暨面審通知比當初公告的時程晚了兩個星期左右，個人推測可能是因為第一次舉辦這個計畫而低估了申請人數與審核時間。未來計畫運作應該會越來越上軌道！
我在申請時做了什麼準備？
由於我是申請「海外翱翔組」的子計畫，以下準備未必適用「築夢工場組」的申請方式。
1. 挑選適合自己的計畫
申請到好的計畫應是「互利共生」的。換句話說，不僅要對計畫有熱情與興趣、期待從計畫學習到一些技能或素養，同時也要能夠說明自己可以帶給計畫什麼樣的貢獻。因此，首要任務便屬「認識自己」，回顧自己過往的各種校內外經驗，思考自己具備何種能力，又缺乏哪些亟需補強的部分。唯有深刻的認識自己，才能在撰寫書面文件時講出具說服力的故事，才能在面試當下讓評審看出你的潛能。
以我自己為例子。對上學期剛完成高中英文教育實習的我來說，對於課程設計、師生互動、語言教學有基本的認識，卻較少實際接觸到小學或甚至學齡前的幼童，也沒有太多藝術方面的訓練。藉由這個「B-5-3臺灣推廣者就是你！」子計畫，我能夠運用我所具備的台灣文化背景知識與教學知能，亦能從見習過程中培養幼齡互動、藝術策展等其他能力。
2. 安排書審文件排版設計
雖然簡章規定申請者必須使用Word編輯，且行高、字體風格大小都被限制得死死的，其實還是可以透過一些小撇步提升文件的易讀性。加上我這個子計畫和藝術有關，所以我當時刻意設計了一下避免看起來毫無美觀可言。
- 在適合的地方將文字圖表化，例如三大見習重點、時程規畫。
- 挑選同色系的顏色，調整明度製造層級差異。
- 安插圖片，把段落文字視覺化，提高可信度。
3. 預先構思面審可能被問的問題
十分鐘面審的前三分鐘是自我介紹和計畫說明，剩下時間交由評審輪流提問。自我介紹和計畫說明相信通過書審就沒有太大的問題，記得掌控好時間分配。評審提問的環節比較刺激緊張一點，畢竟無法事先得知評審會問哪方面的問題。不過，可以從自己的每一項背景試著延伸出一兩個可能的問題，或是請別人閱讀後提問。其實，現今AI工具相當發達，我們可以把自己的書審文件餵給它，請它模擬評審的角色，它有時候還真的可以看出我們忽略的面向。
Day 0 Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative. Nice to meet you!
One day during my four months serving in the army, I escaped from the 109th Brigade’s Taipingli Camp and traveled to Taipei for a presidential reception. This Monday (June 2), I just got my training completion certificate, and next Monday night, I will be flying to Houston, USA. All of this is related to the “Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative” that I have been applying for, reviewing, and preparing for in the past few months, and I will continue to update this website with my experiences and thoughts on the trip.
What is Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative?
The “Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative” is a new policy launched by the Ministry of Education’s Youth Development Administration this year to provide funding and other related counseling resources to young people between the ages of 15 and 30, so that they can have the opportunity to fulfill their long-wished-for dreams abroad, but are unable to do so due to the current situation. Depending on whether or not the sub-projects are proposed by the youth, the program is divided into a “Dream Building Workshop Group” and an “Overseas Soaring Group”, with the former allowing the youth to contact partner organizations on their own and plan all the details from scratch, while the latter allows the Ministry of Education to formulate the initial direction of the sub-projects and recruit suitable and interested youth to work with them. Please refer detailed information to the official website.
Since I didn’t have much time to think of a brand new program while I was serving in the military (not looking for excuses), I went to the official website and browsed through the various sub-programs of the “Overseas Soaring Group for 18-30 year olds”, and chose one that fit my background, interests, and my schedule. That’s the one that I was successfully accepted as the “B-5-3 Taiwan Promoter is YOU!”. From mid-June to the end of July, I will be visiting the Asia Society Texas Center in Houston, USA, to observe the organization’s operations and to assist in organizing a cultural outreach camp, designing and coaching local children’s arts and cultural performances.
What is the application timeline for this program?
Here is a list of my application timeline for your reference:
- 1/28 First time heard about this program on Threads.
- 3/10 Uploaded my documents (⚠️ strongly suggest uploading early to avoid tragedy ⚠️)
- 3/17 Official deadline for book review
- 4/13 Received notification of passing the book review and interview (P.S.)
- 4/23 Participated in an online interview
- 4/30 Received acceptance notification
- 5/13 Participated in the Presidential Reception
P.S. The document review and interview notification was about two weeks later than originally announced, which I speculate may be due to an underestimation of the number of applicants and the review time because it was the first time the program was held. In the future, the operation of the program should be more and more on track!
What did I do to prepare for my application?
Since I am applying for the “Overseas Soaring Group” sub-program, the following preparations may not be applicable to the “Dream Building Workshop Group” application.
1. Pick a program that suits your needs
A good program should be “mutually beneficial.” In other words, not only do you need to have a passion and interest in the program, and expect to learn some skills or qualities from the program, but you also need to be able to explain what you can bring to the program. Therefore, the first and foremost task is to “get to know yourself” by reviewing your past experiences both inside and outside of school, and thinking about what you have and what you lack. Only with a deep understanding of yourself can you tell a convincing story in your written documents, and let the judges see your potential in the interview.
Take myself as an example. I just completed my high school English education internship last semester. I have a basic understanding of curriculum design, teacher-student interaction, and language teaching, but I have had little contact with elementary school or even preschool children, and I have not had much training in the arts. Through this “B-5-3 Taiwan Promoter is YOU! sub-program, I was able to utilize my knowledge of Taiwan’s cultural background and pedagogical skills, as well as develop other skills such as early childhood interaction and art curation through the internship.
2. Arranging the layout of the review document
Even though the brief requires applicants to use Word to edit, and line height and font size are limited, there are some small steps that can be taken to improve the readability of the document. Since my sub-project is art-related, I designed it to avoid looking unattractive.
- Graphicize the text in appropriate places, such as the three key learning points and the timeline.
- Choose the same color scheme and adjust the brightness to create a hierarchical difference.
- Include pictures to visualize the text of the paragraphs to increase credibility.
3. Think in advance about possible questions that may be asked during the interview
The first three minutes of the ten-minute interview are for self-introduction and program description, and the rest of the time is for the judges to take turns asking questions. I don’t think you’ll have much trouble passing the interview, so remember to control your time. The questioning session is a bit more exciting and tense, as you will not be able to know in advance what questions the judges will ask. However, you can try to extend one or two possible questions from each of your backgrounds, or ask others to read and ask questions. In fact, AI tools are so advanced nowadays that we can feed them our book review documents and ask them to simulate the role of a reviewer, and sometimes they can actually see the aspects we have overlooked.
