I would like to join Red Cross due to the fact that I believe it is really meaningful if I could use

my power as a privileged secondary school student to bring an impact to the lives of people who
have faced disasters, conflicts or other major obstacles in their lives and aid them in conquering
these challenges. In addition, engaging in Red Cross volunteering experiences would mean
becoming part of a global community dedicated towards humanitarian causes, despite still being
in school, offering a way to fulfill empty words into action that will make a difference. Joining Red
Cross would provide me with an opportunity to improve, grow and flourish individually as well as
giving back to society in a meaningful, life changing manner.

I believe that my main three personality traits would be compassion, organization and
communication skills. First and foremost, my compassion and ability to step into another
person’s shoes would allow me to understand and comprehend what those in need want the
most, instead of merely just throwing resources towards them without even thinking about what
to prioritize. My empathetic nature is what mainly motivates me and drives my desire to help
others who are facing challenges. Next, organization skills would allow me to support the Red
Cross team in organizing events such as concerts or fund-raising projects. This skill would
ensure that these events are planned precisely and that all of these plans would run smoothly.
Lastly, communication often helps and aids me in cooperating and listening to the ideas of
people who are also in the Red Cross team, in order to ensure that I do not neglect any other
ideas and that I propose my own without ignoring others. By doing this, the team will be able to
produce the best version of the events that were planned and achieve the goal of helping the
most people possible.

I want to be treasurer in Red Cross due to the fact that I believe it is crucial for the Red Cross
society to have a clear and transparent way to check their finances and the best way of doing
that is having a treasurer. If I am treasurer, I will be able to ensure that the Red Cross committee
gets financial records and reports done on time while organizing what events would need
different amounts of budget to run. This will ensure that Red Cross runs more efficiently and will
give me an opportunity to contribute to hosting and planning events regarding Red Cross.

In order to create transparency and stability in the club’s finances, I will create a google sheet
that will be shared to the Red Cross team through the google classroom. In addition, if we do
have any expenditures, I will report it during the meeting of the week in order to ensure that
everyone has an idea of where the funds and money that we collect are going and to let the
members know that our fund-raising activities and efforts have actually been able to create a
significant impact in people’s lives. Lastly, I will research and present to the Red Cross
committee about ideas on our event budgets and expenses which will create more transparency
about Red Cross’s finances.

I am a good candidate for being treasurer due to the fact that I have good organizational,
communication and time management skills. First of all, my organizational skills will aid me
greatly in taking note of all of the Red Cross’s spendings and to ensure that these essential
pieces of information are completely clear to me. This skill also enables me to pay close
attention to details about our financial budget which is essential when it comes to calculating
budgets and taking everything into account. Next, my communication skills allow me to convey
financial information clearly and concisely to not only those who are in Red Cross, but perhaps
organizations we are looking to work with. Lastly, my time management can assist me in
meeting deadlines and prioritizing tasks well in order to ensure that financial records are done
on time.

I want to be part of the student council because I believe that, though our school is good in
some ways, there are still aspects that we, as students, can help improve which will lead to
meaningful impacts within the student community. In addition, being in the student council would
help me understand how to create a positive and engaging school, this will create a profound
effect on the students and peers around me. In my opinion, by representing my peers and taking
in my own hands the environment that I want to be learning and flourishing in, this could really
create a tremendous impact on our school lives.

I believe that my main personality traits would be teamwork and communication skills. First and
foremost, my teamwork and communication skills will ensure that I can cooperate with peers
that may not always share the same opinions as me and that I can discuss or adjust my ideas
after having listened attentively to theirs. Furthermore, teamwork will also allow me to organize
events efficiently with sufficient communication and cooperation with other teammates. In
addition, communication skills not only apply during student council meetings, they can also
assist in organizing events and promoting school spirit or inclusivity

Being part of the student council will provide me with a rare opportunity to develop leadership
skills. In my opinion, with the organization of various events throughout the school as well as the
possibility to cooperate with peers that I am not as familiar with, I will be forced to use my
leadership skills and come up with innovative ideas in order to guide other students. In addition,
being in the student council will aid with the demonstration of leadership skill which will also help
me acquire decision making skills as well as team building skills in order to bring people
together and foster collaboration.

CATES conference
Regarding the theme of communication and leadership, I am a member of the Junior Student
council, a team of students who interact, connect and listen closely to the ideas and opinions of
their peers before presenting these opinions during weekly meetings in order to advocate for
change in the school. This not only gives me plenty of opportunities to interact with the general
public and school community, this also allows me to use effective communication and
demonstrate leadership skills to put these ideas into practice, creating necessary change to our
school or to other communities. Another demonstration of this would be my leadership role in
the Unitary Basic Income Taiwan project that took place this year. During this project, I was able
to interact with the general public with various different backgrounds, from the poorest of the
poor to esteemed, impactful government officials. This allowed me as a student leader to
understand how to connect with the general community and create meaningful change.

As a student myself, I believe that regarding communication and leadership I would incorporate
a few key points. I would like to introduce details regarding what exactly effective
communication and leadership skills actually look like as well as some common issues that
occur when it is not achieved. This gives student leaders a guideline or a checklist as to how to
improve and connect with students. In addition, I would like to address a few of my unique
opinions from my point of view as a student. This offers all student leaders an opportunity to
look at leadership in a different light, not as a leader, but as a participant. This allows me to
show the audience problems students may encounter when ineffective communication is
occurring. In addition, I would also like to introduce simple, but useful skills that will not only
boost leadership, but also create intricate relationships between students and their leaders.

What does effective and ineffective communication look like?

Common issues when not occurred

Guideline and checklist

My name is Jasmine Li and I am currently a 14 year old freshman at Taipei European School. In
my free time, I love playing golf, swimming and ballroom dancing, but I am especially interested
in biology, particularly the study of diseases. Digging into the way illnesses can impact the
patient themselves, I have always asked myself what action I, as a student, could possibly take
to help them. It is propelled with this thought that I came across CKF while scrolling on my for
you page and it gave me the motivation to support young patients through tangible ways

Aside from academics, I participate in a few other extracurricular activities such as debate,
Model United Nations, Red Cross and student council. Growing up in a very “stereotypical”
Asian family, I have always had very high standards from myself, in terms of academic grades,
but also in terms of exposing myself to a range of different hobbies and interests. From calm
piano lessons to harsh swimming training, I have experienced each of these activities that not
only opened my eyes, gave me knowledge and expertise, but also more importantly allowed me
to acquire time management skills. I have had experiences struggling to balance school and my
other passions; however, from these experiences, I have been able to establish effective
methods to reach a perfect equilibrium. I am convinced that it can apply for the creation of my
CKF chapter in TES. First of all, to ensure I balance my responsibilities, I plan to establish a
structured schedule that prioritizes the key CKF initiatives and activities. This will allow me to
distribute my limited time more equally and allow me to prioritize CKF projects while not
neglecting my other obligations. Secondly, I will distribute roles and responsibilities to each
member of the CKF leadership team. I understand that it is impossible for me to do everything
without getting overwhelmed while maintaining excellent efficiency; therefore, I will be creating a
“master planning” document that I use often during leadership opportunities in order to track the
chapter’s progress, to distribute tasks and truly maximize our ability to put cancer kids first.

An accomplishment that I am definitely most proud of would be being one of the keynote
speakers at Taiwan’s national student leadership conference. Initially, when I applied for the role
of keynote speaker, I was bracing myself for a refusal as I was one of the youngest out of 20
applicants. Despite having this thought in my mind, I still spent a significant amount of time
asking for letters of recommendations and finalizing my entire application. During this process, I
actively asked teachers and older students around me for advice in the hopes of successfully
applying. To my surprise, the organising committee was impressed by the way I wanted to tackle
the issue of leadership, starting a chapter, like CKF and impacting the world as students. They
saw my age as a great opportunity for me to connect with the students and to really speak in
their shoes instead of acting like a superior looking down on the participants of the conference.
After the grueling application process, I was

One event that I am most proud of is making Taiwan’s National Debate team. Two years ago, in
October, I had started learning debate by myself online by watching videos and I had attended
my first debate tournament. For a beginner, I did quite well at the tournament and a few weeks
after it ended, I received an email from the organizing committee, informing me that I was invited
to participate in the tryouts for Taiwan’s National Debate squad. At first I was shocked about this
news, I had almost sent an email asking if it was an accident, but I decided to seize the
opportunity and to participate in the tryouts anyway. That weekend, I joined an online zoom
where I was asked to do multiple rounds of debate with various other candidates for an entire
day. At the end of the day, I was actually quite excited. I thought that I had done very well and I
felt like I had sufficiently impressed the judges to join the team. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The
next week, I got an email rejection from the organizing committee and I was devastated. I didn’t
understand what I had done wrong, I couldn’t see what I could do better, but I was angry and
that anger propelled me to ask judge after judge, teacher after teacher about how I could
improve. Throughout the next year, my goal was to be accepted in the National Debate team at
all costs, I simply didn’t want another refusal. In order to accomplish this, I not only joined
debate classes and tournaments, I watched more debate-related videos online, sought for
individual feedback and reflected on constructive criticism. This allowed me to flourish and grow
both as a debater and a student. The following year, the tryouts were a breeze, they were not as
difficult as I remembered. The week after those tryouts, an acceptance letter arrived
congratulating me and my hard work. Now, I am participating in rigorous training to represent
Taiwan in a major debate competition happening in Japan next month. This story is one that I
am most proud of as it proves to myself that I can achieve my goals if I am motivated and am
willing to stretch myself beyond my limits.

In my opinion, being committed to a cause primarily means being dedicated to a certain mission
even if it means sacrificing time and even when obstacles are met along the way. An example of
this would be my leadership position in the iGEM competition school project. Last semester, I
wrote a proposition for the creation of an iGEM club in my school. I spent about 1 month drafting
a proposition including an introduction, benefits to students, a rough timeline and resources
needed from the school. Despite the fact that I had multiple exams throughout the month, I
studied efficiently in order to always leave roughly 30 minutes to work on the proposition.

After finishing the draft, I sent it to my principal as well as the head of science. My principal was
not very informed about this competition and simply asked me for the cost for purchasing
resources. On the other hand, the head of science told me that she was reluctant to support and
organize this project as it would be very difficult for this biology competition to happen because
our school did not have the necessary resources (such as professors and specialized
laboratories). I knew it would be nearly impossible to carry out the project without the head of
science’s support, but I had spent so much time on this proposition and I was sure that it could
work some way or another. Therefore, I continued interacting with my principal in order to find
another feasible solution.

After several lunchtime sessions brainstorming ideas with different teachers, I ended up
reaching out to professors and teachers specializing in iGEM outside of school for their support
in helping the school purchase equipment and lead the project. Along with my principal, we
were able to establish a mechanism that paid these teachers a fixed amount of money per hour
that was cost effective and was significantly helpful to the establishment of the iGEM club. I was
also able to learn the logistics and steps to start a club in my school because of this opportunity.
In conclusion, this experience shows my commitment to a certain cause as it demonstrates my
perseverance despite challenges, my determination to always find another way out and to never
give up.

An example of when I overcame a challenging situation would be during a fundraising event for
the student council. Each half term, our student council supports a different marginalized group
through various fundraisers. Around Christmas last year, the student council decided to
organize a sunglasses donation and bake sale at our school’s christmas bazaar for poor
villagers in the Himalayas. These citizens get drastic eye damage due to over-exposure to UV
light and we wanted to raise both money and sunglasses for these villagers through a bake
sale.

I was one of the student officers in charge of planning, organizing and promoting the bake sale.
Bake sales are a relatively new concept in our school (our bake sales was most likely the first
one to take place) and I had barely anyone to ask for advice from. With a total of 400 cookies to
bake, we simply could not make them inside someone’s apartment without being too crowded
and it was impossible for only one person to make all the batches. The situation was quite
complicated and I had little to no ideas; therefore, I gathered my fellow student council peers for
a lunchtime discussion. At first, the discussion was a bit messy as no one had any experience
with bake sales and there were many unfeasible ideas. Even so, I led the team throughout the
meeting and we were slowly able to eliminate some ideas, elaborating a plan that could
ultimately make the bake sale a true success.

First of all, we decided to split the baking team into two groups, one group would make 200
cookies and the other group would bake 200 more. The groups were asked to estimate their
approximate budget and to share a google sheet with their ingredients along with their
respective prices. Secondly, with the budget, we were able to submit both an oral and a written
proposal to the parent council in search of financial support and assistance which we eventually
received before the groups started baking. Meanwhile, I contacted different people and found
out that my classmate’s church had a gigantic kitchen that could take around 20 people at once.
I called the church and asked whether we could borrow it for one day if we kept everything clean
and didn’t set off fire alarms (which we accidentally did). One group ended up using this church
while the other one baked at one of their bigger apartments. Ultimately, we raised around 9,000
NTD and about 40 pairs of sunglasses which were all sent off to assist those in the Himalayas.

Work Ethic: Responsibility

I take full responsibility for the actions and commitments I dedicate myself to, always organizing
events carefully, completing tasks on time and ensuring that I give the best possible version of
myself. Responsibility to describe who I am as a person as I try to be reliable, stay organized
and recognize the full extent of the impact my actions have on others. This is mainly the reason
why I can become a leader, it is because I understand I am responsible for my actions, but also
the others around me regardless of it being family, friends or entire clubs.

Personality: Creative

As a person, I tend to think outside the box. Not simply in creative writing, but also in thinking of
innovative ideas to promote events in my local community. I believe that creativity is what
describes me the best simply because of the twinge of frustration I feel each time a member of a
club mentions a stereotypical “fundraising project” like putting a cardboard box expecting
donations to come. I have understood through past experiences that I am good at coming up
with fresh ideas that create a twist to the events hosted by the clubs I am involved in.

Social skills: Empathy

In my opinion, my strongest social skill would definitely be empathy. I am used to putting myself
in the shoes of others before I speak and I am able to interpret when and where it is suitable to
say certain things. Empathy has helped me in various ways. First, it has motivated me to do
volunteer work. I am able to picture the people I am assisting and their hardships which propels
me to devote more time to my clubs and projects. In addition, it gives me the ability to
communicate with others, putting every person’s considerations into account.

I believe that constructive criticism is essential for flourishing and growing as a person; however,
I do admit I find it challenging sometimes to react positively. Normally, my initial reaction would
be forcing myself to avoid the negative feelings of disappointment or anger and shifting my
mindset to a positive one where I am grateful for the criticism I receive and view it as an
opportunity to improve. Next, I would take a step back, reflect on the feedback calmly and
examine the criticism through different lenses in order to evaluate what I could have done better
and what went wrong. In addition, I am always eager to ask clarifying questions if something
seems unclear to me which gives me the opportunity to focus on how I can apply the advice into
the enhancement of my skill. Each time I receive constructive criticism, I set a goal for myself
not to receive the same feedback next time in order to demonstrate my growth in the discipline
regardless of whether it is academics or leading extracurricular activities.

My background will serve as a source of inspiration for working with Cancer Kids First in a two
different ways. Two years ago around Christmas, both my grandmothers were diagnosed with
cancer. Although both cancers were not terminal and had not spread to distant parts of the body,
both sides of my family were greatly affected. I remember each night my parents would stay up
until 1 AM, trying to find potential cures, reaching out to doctors, searching for connections.
They would always be exhausted in the morning, my siblings and I understood, but still we felt a
little neglected. During one weekend, both my parents were at the hospital and as the oldest
child, I decided to do something for our grandmothers. That day, I asked my siblings to work
with me on a get well soon card for our grandmothers with pictures of us together and our
favorite moments together stuck onto that piece of paper. The next day, we asked our parents to
bring them to our grandmothers and they were delighted. On a phone call with them that
evening, both told me that the card was like a bit of joy in the tense hospital room. It reignited
their hope, gave them warmth, love and most importantly a little bit of normalcy. This touching
experience is engraved in my mind. As you can see, I have witnessed the way the CKF mission
can really make a difference to patients regardless of their age. By joining the chapter, I will be
motivated to reproduce the small miracle with my grandmothers to a much larger, significant
scale, impacting not just those around me, but the millions of young children diagnosed with
cancer all over the world.

Secondly, my passion for science and biology is a strength for my work in CKF. I am a keen
scientist and I have recently been doing pioneering lab research on cancer in Taiwan. This
research has allowed me to understand that cancer is a multifaceted issue and that it is very
difficult to come up with a definite cure to this life-threatening condition. I am sure that although
scientists are working hard to come up with a cure, it will definitely take time and during that
time, it is only fair for patients, especially children to live their life to the fullest, which is exactly
the purpose of CKF.

Currently, I have a few student officers in mind:

Leadership roles:
1.​ Vice president: supports the president in managing initiatives, organizing events and
steps in for the president when needed
2.​ Secretary: takes notes of meetings, manages schedule, keeps record of activities and
opportunities
 3.​ Treasurer: oversees the finances of CKF, keeps track of donations, manages the
fundraising events and efforts (works closely with secretary)
Outreach roles:
1.​ Social Media managers (1-2): in charge of creating CKF at TES social media
accounts/page, posting about fundraising events … etc
2.​ Student outreach coordinator: encourages students to join CKF, promote the chapter in
school, speak at assemblies … etc

From my past experience of being deputy president of the Red Cross, I will be following various
steps in order to promote CKF in our school. First and foremost, I would put CKF club into our
extracurricular activities google site and list in order to increase exposure and for all the
students wishing to sign up to a specific CCA to notice.

To advertise my Cancer Kids First chapter, I would utilize a combination of school resources,
social media and engaging events. First and foremost, I will be putting the CKF chapter as an
extracurricular activity on our school’s extracurricular activity website. Each term, this website
will be sent out to all students a few weeks before the extracurricular sign up opens and it will
effectively expose them to new activities and clubs like CKF. By doing this, the CKF chapter will
gain initial popularity and exposure. In addition, I will put together an instagram account that will
post about signing up to the chapter in school, details of what will be happening as well as the
benefits students can gain. By creating visually appealing posts, asking different people to
repost the story and by interactions with different individuals online, I think social media is
arguably one of the best ways to promote interest. Aside from posting for recruitment purposes,
the instagram page will also share updates, volunteer opportunities and success stories to
increase visibility in the school community. Next, I plan to cooperate with other school chapters
with similar missions. For example, our school has clubs such as Doctors without Borders, Red
Cross or HOSA which all have similar missions as CKF. Although the missions might not be the
exact same; however, there is a lot of overlap. There have already been prior instances where
HOSA has worked with doctors without borders to create a larger scale fundraising event. By
cooperating with other clubs in our school, we can carry out the CKF mission at a bigger scale,
increase exposure, and give members of other clubs an opportunity to join and support CKF.
Lastly, to incentivize membership I would also offer different leadership opportunities,
volunteering hours and most importantly, hands on experiences for members joining the club.
This will create a supportive, fun environment allowing students to feel a sense of community,
knowing they are helping children in need in tangible, impactful manners.

In order to ensure the CKF chapter remains active throughout the entire school year, I will
implement and execute a structured plan with regular events, strong leadership and consistent
communication with each individual in the team. Firstly, I will create a clearly structured
schedule with the events that I hope to host and plan in our schools each month. This easily
comprehensible grid will be shared in a CKF club google drive file with all the members of the
chapter. By doing this, I and the entire club will always be able to keep track of the upcoming
events, when to plan them and how to organize them. In addition to this, I will create a
mechanism where different groups can propose their respective fundraising ideas every month.
The leadership team will then decide on which ideas to implement and execute to carry out the
CKF mission statement the best. During that month, it will be both the student’s and the
leadership team’s responsibility to organize the project. Implementing this initiative, students will
feel more motivated to keep the club active by having leadership opportunities and creating the
most innovative ideas. Additionally, the chapter will have meetings in a fixed supervising
teacher’s classroom every single week. This means that the chapter will always be
brainstorming and organizing events one day of each week, ensuring that the club will stay
active throughout the year. The supervising teacher will also assist us in organizing events and
making sure that we are creating meaningful change during the school year. Aside from this, I
will also create a point-based reward system where members of the club can earn points
through organizing projects, bringing donations or attending events which are redeemable for
small prizes, house points or higher level leadership opportunities. This not only allows me to
understand which members are the most engaged, but will also be an extra incentive for
members to dedicate their time into CKF and maintain its activity. Regular social media updates
will also be put in place to encourage participation all year round.

1.​ Regivers: This project would consist of creating a visually appealing donation stall in
front of our school’s entrance and asking students to donate old toys such as legos,
board games such as snakes and ladders and books that they do not need at home
anymore. Each donation will earn students different amounts of house points and
depending on the amount of budget we have, it may be possible to give students food
like home-made dumplings, hotdogs or bubble milk tea. These donations will then be
packaged with packaging paper by the CKF team during our weekly meetings and
shipped to hospitalized children with cancer.
2.​ Collaborating with our school’s library: As far as I am aware, many children's books in
our library are still in very good condition, but are rarely borrowed as they are less
appropriate for secondary school students. The librarians have been complaining about
this issue to the school and the student council for a very long time, but no impactful
action has been taken to maximize the use of these books. In my opinion, the perfect
solution is to cooperate with the library, helping both the school and the children in need.
Students in the club would add some personal touch by incorporating book notes and
dedications inside these donated books during meeting sessions before shipping them
overseas.
3.​ Wish List Wall: The club would create a wishlist wall around holiday seasons where a
bulletin board would be full of small cards with wishes from sick patients. Students and
teachers will have the opportunity to choose a card and to buy the specific product along
with writing a card to the child.
4.​ Cards for courage: During lunch, I would organize an activity in the atrium of our school
where tables would be set up for the entire week in which students can sit down with
their friends and write motivational letters to the children. I would ask CKF members to
 organize the event, promote this project and also guide other students to create their
own cards. We would have different themed stands to increase the diversity and variety
of the cards being made. There would also be Cards for courage boxes in each
homeroom to keep up this event all year round. Additionally, I am thinking of
incorporating a “friendly competition” between grades or houses to encourage students.
5.​ Cancer Kids First concert/disco: Collaborate with the music department in order to host a
concert at school. Snacks, beverages and baked goods can be bought and all money
raised will be going to donations to cancer kids first
6.​ Christmas Bake sale: We would bake around 400-500 cookies and bring them to the
Christmas bazaar where we would sell them. In addition, we would also promote
donations for toys, books and board games during the sale.

What attracted me the most to cancer kids first is its deep commitment to make a tangible
difference. CKF’s ability to incorporate both practical and emotional impact in simply 5 different
programs is what spoke to me the most. Throughout my past volunteering experiences, I always
felt like many organizations were too one sided, meaning they never truly understand what
patients need the most, they simply raise awareness and donations for objects that they simply
assume patients need instead of what they really want. From my family’s background of doctors
and nurses, I have come to realize that sometimes what a patient needs the most is not just
practical medical aid, but also support emotionally and mentally. Cancer Kids First is one of the
only organizations who realizes this important concept and is the only organization who can
help young children combat cancer through every single aspect of life.

Aside from this, I have looked up to the founder of CKF, Olivia Zhang, from a very young age.
When I was in 5th grade, my mom told me about a high school student who had created her
own club to help kids with cancer. At that age, I was stunned by the idea, I never thought that a
student would be able to do that and the names CKF’s founder and the organization have been
engraved in my mind ever since. When I was first informed that I was able to create a school
club, I immediately thought of Olivia Zhang and what she had done when she was only a bit
older than me. I thought it would be a bit ambitious to start my own NGO so I ended up
searching for CKF online and now, applying to open a chapter.

Planning a fundraising event in our school requires a few basic steps and some connections
with teachers. First of all, I would set a precise goal for the fundraising event. After
understanding the main objective for this project, I would then start delegating tasks to the
students in my chapter. Normally, I like to split the group into three equally important teams.
Promotion, which is the group of students in charge of promoting the event, creating posters,
flyers and social media posts. Logistics, the students in charge of communicating with teachers,
ensuring smooth running of the event or overseeing schedules and timings. Fundraising, a team
of students who focus solely on organizing the fundraising events by managing donation boxes,
planning and running the event, collecting donations and tracking funds raised. In many cases,
these task delegations sometimes overlap and members from different teams have to work
together.

Usually, for promotions, I ask students to create a “save the date” post a few weeks before the
actual event and to tag every member of the club for reposting. After that, there should be
another post regarding details of the event and the execution of the fundraiser. In addition,
posters should be in the school at least 3 weeks before the event for more exposure and the
promotions team will go to assemblies, promoting the sale. On the other hand, the logistics
team should have successfully asked for permission roughly one month before the actual
project and should be ready to intervene if anything unexpected happens. Lastly, the fundraising
committee should have the details of the fundraising sorted out 2 weeks before the event and
should create some sort of art or design along with it.

In terms of budgeting, our school and the parent council supports these student-led initiatives by
helping financially. In the past, I have created proposals about 1 page long regarding the total
budget needed for the project and where the budget will be going. I then sent these proposals
through email to my principal and the head of our parent association who both asked to speak
to me during lunchtime. Normally, they will have some recommendations to change various
parts of the budgeting; however, there were cases where the parent association agreed to my
budget immediately. In terms of details for budgeting, I would allocate most of the money we
have access to to purchasing materials such as ingredients for bake sales, packaging for
presents or other specialized objects that would not be used daily. During fundraising events, I
normally estimate an income according to the products we have access to and calculate a
reasonable budget accordingly.

I have quite a profound understanding of the way to start an extracurricular activity in our school
as I have been through the process with the iGEM club before. Before starting a club, the club
must first be approved by either the principal or the deputy principal. As I have worked with the
principal before, it would just be necessary to send a short proposal to him regarding the
purpose of CKF, what it will achieve, its benefits and more details. The principal will ask to
discuss the formation of this extracurricular during lunch break and by the end of that break, the
principal will either approve or disapprove of the club. If he approves, I would have to find a
supervising teacher in order to supervise the club during its meeting sessions. This would
require talking to different teachers and perhaps looking for more popular teachers for
promotional purposes. When I find a teacher, I can ask him to add the CKF club onto the
extracurricular website and onto the school’s extracurricular sign up platform for students to join
the extracurricular.

1.​ Create a

Our school extracurricular atmosphere is quite vibrant and diverse, our school greatly
encourages and pushes for student led activities and community services. Clubs that receive a
lot of support and attention from the school community would be social impact clubs and
volunteer based organizations. For example, extracurriculars like Red Cross, Amnesty
International and Doctors without Borders tend to do quite well. Clubs that are popular often
incorporate many hands-on activities (making cards, baked goods … etc), charity events and
can allow students to gain volunteering experience as students find it exciting and meaningful at
the same time.

Cancer Kids first can stand out in our school in two different ways. First, by blending CKF’s
cause with the interests of the student body. The majority of students in our school enjoy
hands-on activities, artwork combined with volunteering and charity service projects. In the
projects that I plan for CKF, I will try to incorporate as much student participation as I can in
order to ensure that CKF flourishes and grows in our school community by really connecting
with the student body. Secondly, many of the student-led initiatives in our school look more like
students creating the extracurricular simply to put on their college applications instead of
leaders trying to make actual change. I think one of the best ways for CKF to stand out is to
show the students that CKF is making a tangible difference. This would mean updating our
social media with events, fundraisers and projects that we have planned, showing concrete
evidence of what we do in our meeting sessions as well as displaying the clear impacts we
make on cancer patients all around the world. We need to let the school understand that the
purpose of CKF is not just for college admissions, it is more importantly about helping young
children with cancer to experience normalcy and putting them first. By doing these two easy
steps, I believe CKF has the potential to stand out in our school community.

I am definitely the right person to maintain the Cancer Kids First chapter because of my genuine
commitment to CKF’s cause and my determination to allow our school to make a difference.
From my background, growing up hearing stories of my father’s patients pass away due to
cancer to eventually experiencing what it is like, as a loved one dealing with cancer, I
understand how much the CKF cause could me to families and young children, how one book,
toy or gift could reignite the fire of hope in their hearts. Although as a kid, I was traumatized by
the thought of cancer and death, now that I am older, I have overcome that fear and I want to
make a difference and I understand that committing to the cause of CKF will allow me to burn
that flame of hope for cancer kids around the world. This commitment will propel me to maintain
this club at a high standard at all costs as it is not just a small extracurricular in Taiwan, but a
representation of the pathway towards a brighter future for sick cancer patients all over the
world. In my opinion, having commitment is one of the major steps towards success; however, I
do have many other skills that allow me to lead the chapter well. First of all, I have strong
leadership and organizational skills. Through prior experiences in other clubs, I have learnt the
major keys to good organization and leadership which can allow me to maintain the CKF
chapter extremely well. For instance, I have understood that using a schedule and a “master
planning document” is arguably one of the most efficient ways to stay organized and that
leadership is most effective when there is two way communication between the leader and the
student. All of these little tips and tricks learnt through experience makes me the right person to
lead the chapter. Other than that, I also have the ability to rally support amongst students and
staff in order to maximise our impact to CKF. From participating in many different activities, I
have established relationships with various members of staff as well as many different students
in the school. By allowing me to lead the chapter, I can use these connections to my advantage,
attracting many more eager students to join in the club, contributing to a greater impact.

The importance of the CKF mission statement lies greatly in the fact that it strives to bring
support, resources and most importantly, hope to children combating cancer. My interpretation is
every single toy, book or health care package a child receives is equivalent to a sign of hope. A
touching way to tell the child that they are not alone in this harsh fight, that the power of
students, teachers and individuals all over the world are backing them up. The CKF mission
statement is important not just because it raises awareness, gets tangible donations and toys,
but also more importantly because it is one that encourages children combating cancer to keep
on hoping, dreaming and to never give up.

In terms of how my traits will allow me to achieve this mission, I am highly organized; therefore, I
am able to plan and create feasible steps that will really allow my chapter to achieve the goal of
the mission statement. This skill will be crucial when managing multiple projects and ensuring
the smooth running of the chapter throughout the entire year. Additionally, I believe that I have
strong leadership skills. This means I am able to effectively convey the urgency of the mission
statement to each member of the chapter which will incentivize and motivate them to work hard,
give them a sense of passion to the cause while reigniting the fire of hope in sick children’s
hearts. Aside from that, I am also adaptable, meaning I have the ability to bounce back after
mistakes and I am not scared of people saying “no” to me. This means that I have the courage
to try creative, extreme fundraising/volunteering events and projects in order to create the best
possible impact. Even when I am met with a refusal, I will always try my best to negotiate with
the superior in order to find the best possible solution that will allow me to maximise my ability to
achieve the mission statement in TES. All of these qualities will either directly or indirectly
support CKF’s mission and will help CKF continue making a positive, significant impact on all
children with cancer.

I want to become an Amnesty leader to make a tangible difference on pressing human rights
issues and drive for meaningful change. Starting from the Write for Rights unit our year group
did for English class and the Flash drives for freedom campaign, I started to be awed about how
impactful a single word, USB, letter or speech can be to the lives of millions of people. As an
Amnesty leader, I want to take action against injustice and allow every single student to make a
change. In my opinion, the role of an Amnesty leader goes far beyond simply a title and a
position. It is one of the only ways I can lead the Amnesty CCA to recognize the importance of
the human rights violations around us, and plan successful events in order to forge a strong
school community that actively stands up for all human rights.

Junior student council

What qualities do you believe are most important in a student leader, and how do you demonstrate these
qualities in your daily life?

In my opinion, there are three many skills that are important in becoming a successful student leader.
Firstly, responsibility is crucial in ensuring that leadership is effective and efficient. For me, I take full
responsibility for the actions and commitments I dedicate myself to, always organizing events carefully,
completing tasks on time and ensuring that I give the best possible version of myself. I try to be reliable,
stay organized and recognize the full extent of the impact my actions have on others. An example of me
demonstrating responsibility in my daily life would be leading the public forum debate CCA. Throughout
this past year of running this extracurricular activity, I have taken my sense of responsibility to the next
level, implementing it into leadership and managing a team. I have learnt how to organize myself through
creating neat google drive folders, communication platforms and planning documents that maximize my
ability to stay responsible and committed to the task at hand while leading the team to success.

The next skill I think is really important is resilience: the ability to bounce back after encountering failure
while finding other paths to reach a goal. It is essential for a leader to acknowledge that even if things
don’t work out the way they were planned, there is always something to learn from failure and another
way out. I have demonstrated resilience in the past through my proposal of the iGEM project in our
school. This February, I spent at least one month creating a proposal for iGEM before later finding out that
this project would be unfeasible in TES due to a lack of scientific equipment and resources. Although my
initial feeling of disappointment was brutal and demoralizing, I soon saw that this failure actually opened
doors for me. By sending my proposal to various teachers and Mr. Redden, I was able to reinforce
connections with these teachers. In fact, Mr. Redden now knows me and invited me to participate in an
International Holocaust Remembrance Day event. In addition to this, I never gave up looking for biology
research projects similar to iGEM. I recently went to a science fair where I had the opportunity to discuss
with a biology professor at a local university and she has invited me to conduct research with her team
during the summer holidays. This is a clear example of myself bouncing back despite failure and these
repeated experiences in my life will allow me to become a good leader.

A time where I achieved a common goal through working with other people would be organizing the
Taipei European School Debate Tournament. When the head students first asked me to join in
this process, I felt intimidated by their superior expertise and experience; therefore, I was rather
hesitant to express my ideas and step outside of my comfort zone. Even so, after a few weeks
of planning and logistics, I rapidly became aware that the only way to succeed in a team was by
speaking up and proposing my unique ideas. That was when I really started to work towards the
common goal of making our debate tournament a success. It would be untrue to say that the
entire process was smooth and easy. We encountered problems with technology, parental
permission, budgeting and much more, many of which seemed impossible to solve at the time,
but we were able to overcome all of these challenges through working as a group and using our
strengths to successfully organize the tournament. For example, when we faced a problem with
debate-specific technology (all of our sign-ups were deleted), I used my communication skills to
reach out to the IT and other experienced debate coaches in search of a solution while a few of
my other team members used their knowledge of computer science to attempt to solve the
problem. With both external and internal assistance, this challenge was solved in a few days
time, affecting our schedule by very little. This has allowed me to learn how teamwork may
seem intimidating at first, but is the best way to succeed in reaching a common goal.
I am interested in leading the Junior Student Council because I want to use this position to
make tangible impacts in our school community. I believe that, though our school is good in
some ways, there are still aspects that we, as students, can help improve which will lead to
meaningful impacts within the student community. I think leading the Junior Student Council will
not only allow me to develop the skills needed to become a leader, but also give me the power
and opportunity to work on my own project with a group of dedicated students to make a
difference in the school.

In addition, leading the student council would help me understand how to create a positive and
engaging school, this will create a profound effect on the students and peers around me. In my
opinion, by representing my peers and taking in my own hands the environment that I want to
be learning and flourishing in, this could really create a tremendous impact on our school lives.
Ultimately, leading the junior council will help me represent the voice of our students in a larger,
more significant way and this will finally give me the ability to take action for the changes I,
along with many other students, wish to see in the future to foster a better, brighter educational
environment for everyone.

During my H1 year in the Junior Student Council, I think one of the most meaningful
experiences was raising money and fundraising for charity. Whether it was for underprivileged
women living in Taiwan or citizens living in the Himalaya mountains, I thought this was a truly
impactful way to change our world using the seemingly limited power of the junior student
council. If I were to become a leader in the Junior Student Council, I wish to carry on these
fundraising events on a monthly basis and incorporate more activities for the school to join. I
already have an organization in mind called “Cancer Kids First”, a student-led NGO based in
America and I recently obtained permission through a long application process to create a
branch of this organization in our school. I would like to cooperate with the Junior Student
Council to organize more creative events such as raffle tickets or “night market” like booths and
stalls during lunch times in order to raise money for this NGO. Another project we could add
may be to host events during drop down days in order to reinforce the presence of the Junior
Student Council in our school and to create more impact.

I want to be a red cross leader because I strongly believe in making tangible changes to our
society given the power we have, as privileged international students in Taiwan. Bringing an
impact to the lives of people who have faced disasters, conflicts or other major obstacles in their
lives and aiding them in conquering these challenges is something that is extremely important
for me personally. I think by leading the Red Cross in TES, I want to create events that will fulfill
this mission statement and help those in need in our local community. The main difference
between being a member of the club and leading it is that being a leader will not only allow me
to develop valuable skills, but also give me the power and opportunity to work on my own
project with a group of dedicated students to make a difference in our society. In addition,
engaging in Red Cross volunteering experiences would mean becoming part of a global
community dedicated towards humanitarian causes, despite still being in school, offering a way
to fulfill empty words into action that will make a difference. Leading the Red Cross would
provide me with an opportunity to plan events that will really help those in need, as well as
giving back to society in a meaningful, life changing manner.

In my opinion, I have many skills that allow me to fulfill the role of being a leader. First and
foremost, I am able to work with my team efficiently and effectively. This does not mean that I
simply follow and do not provide my own insights, instead, I am able to find a perfect balance
between listening to other ideas and proposing my own solutions. This teamwork has allowed
me to find success during activities such as planning events during the Junior Student Council
or during debate. A vivid example of demonstrating teamwork would be when I was one of the
students in charge of planning, organizing and promoting a bake sale for marginalized groups in
the Himalayan mountains. With a total of 400 cookies to bake, we simply could not make them
inside someone’s apartment without being too crowded and it was impossible for only one
person to make all the batches. The situation was quite complicated and although I had some
initial ideas, I gathered my peers for a lunchtime discussion. At first, the discussion was a bit
messy as no one had any experience with bake sales and there were many unfeasible ideas.
Even so, I led the team throughout the meeting and we were slowly able to eliminate some
ideas, elaborating a plan that could ultimately make the bake sale a true success.

Another skill I have is responsibility. I take full responsibility for the actions and commitments I
dedicate myself to, always organizing events carefully, completing tasks on time and ensuring
that I give the best possible version of myself. Responsibility to describe who I am as a person
as I try to be reliable, stay organized and recognize the full extent of the impact my actions have
on others. This is mainly the reason why I can become a leader, it is because I understand I am
responsible for my actions, but also the others around me regardless of it being family, friends or
entire clubs. An example of me demonstrating responsibility in my daily life would be leading the public
forum debate CCA. Throughout this past year of running this extracurricular activity, I have taken my
sense of responsibility to the next level, implementing it into leadership and managing a team. I have
learnt how to organize myself through creating neat google drive folders, communication platforms and
planning documents that maximize my ability to stay responsible and committed to the task at hand while
leading the team to success.

A third skill I have is creativity. As a person, I tend to think outside the box. Not simply in creative
activities, but also in thinking of innovative ideas to promote events in my local community. I
believe that creativity is what describes me the best simply because of the twinge of frustration I
feel each time a member of a club mentions a stereotypical “fundraising project” like putting a
cardboard box expecting donations to come. I have understood through past experiences that I
am good at coming up with fresh ideas that create a twist to the events hosted by the clubs I am
involved in. An example of this would be when I was working for the Unitary Basic Income
project. During this project, we were supposed to set up a fundraising project in order to raise
money for our initiative. Each member of the project proposed a

I have a few new ideas for the Red Cross Club next year. My first idea is collaborating with other
clubs who have a similar mission statement to the Red Cross. For example, we could
collaborate with Doctors without Borders to help specific marginalized groups or people in need
in order to expand our sphere of influence and to create more meaningful impact to our local
community. Another idea I have would be to work with ChengYi orphanage. During my global
perspectives project this year, I established some connections with this orphanage and I
discovered that it often lacked easily accessible resources that we can raise. My global
perspectives project fundraised and used the money we earned to buy disposable resources
such as diapers and wet tissues for the orphanage. In addition, we could also collaborate with
this orphanage for monthly visits and take care of the children. Taipei American School works
with orphanages in this way and I think this could be feasible as well. Lastly, we could organize
first aid workshops which could teach basic first aid to students, similar to the CPR training
event.