Christina Katsuse Student Ambassador Program

On Day 5 of the CKSAP Interviews, we met the Emamination Yuan’s Secretary Committee and the General Manager of Coca-Cola Taiwan.

When we first arrived to the large meeting room of the Emaination Yuan, the important officers and secretaries came to greet us and exchange name cards. Then we proceeded to watch a 15 minute history and introduction of the purpose of the Examination Yuan. Followed by leadership questions, the Secretary General, David Huang, answered as best he could. He metioned that perserverance, endurance, learning and health should be the main focus of the life of the youth in today’s modern world. He also stressed that we should focus on our studies and to be happy. Also, the Secretary General noted that outer appearance is not important to the greatness of a leader. He brought in the example of our own Pesident Lincoln showing that he was not of the best in outer appearance however he was one of the greatest leaders of our time. Furthermore, when facing difficulty and challenges, we should not be scared to stand up and fight it. We should not avoid difficulty but challenge it with the help of encouragement and assitance from other people.

Later that afternoon, we met with the General Manager of Coca-Cola Taiwan. He seemed very laid back and happy. He had a certain air of satisfaction and achievement and was very proud to be called one of the top leaders of Taiwan. His advice to us was also very inspiring! To the contrary of the Vice President of the Taiwanese Hospital System, the General Manager, Mr. Kao, said that instead of being speciallized in only one area, we should be well rounded and experience everything we can in life. And when asked the question, “How should we deal with stress?”, he replied that sports, music, and relaxation are all wonderful ways to relieve the difficult days in life. What I personally thought was very inspiring is when Mr. Kao said, “In this life, we either let the world change us, or instead, we change the world”. He explained that the 3 most important traits of leadership is Preserverance, Stradegy Thinking, and the Happiness. He also told us that we should always pick the most challenging option, the option nobody else would want to take, the option that is the most difficult, so not only do we gain knowledge but to also have more mistakes to learn from. He explained that mistake and failure are not bad, they are simply learning opprotunities. However, being a leader is also very stressful. Mr. Kao warns us that the imagery of leadership is like a pyramid. The bottom consists of the most people and at the top, there is only one tip, one man, on leader. This leader not only enjoys the view from the top but unfortunately, faces all the storms, the hails, the snows, first before all the other people. We ended the meeting by funny group pictures in front of a Coca-Cola logo. Our group felt that the advice given by this leader has been the most inspiring and pleasant of the interviews so far.