Ladies and Gentlemen, 
Recently there has been a huge dispute over the education system in Taiwan. Some said that the educational reform over the past 10 years has been a big mistake. Some claimed that there's a foundamental problem with the traditional system and reform is neccessary. 

Well, I grew up and received education in Taiwan. For me, Taiwan's education system is actually doing okay. However, there is indeed ONE BIG PROBLEM!! 

Since the first grade in elementary schools, I, along with millions of otherTaiwan students, had been asked to write about a same topic in writing classes every year. 

That topic is "What I want to be in the future?", "What I want to be in  the future?"  Every single year!! It's like "Yeh, we know what you wanted to be last year, but we are kind of wondering whether you have changed your mind this year." 
　

At a time, it seemed to me like that there were only two topics in my writing classes "What I want to be in the future" and "How to return to Mainland China". 
　

And I could guarantee, if we collect all the papers with those two topics from students all over Taiwan, we could actually build a paper bridge across Taiwan strait and really "Return to Mainland China". 
　

Take me as an example. 
　

When I was a little boy, all I wanted to be was an astronaut!! 

Because being an astronaut is just so cool! I often picutred myself landing on the moon, and talking to the thousands of millions of people waiting on earth by the radio, like you guys. Then slowly I would say "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind --- and for those of you who don't have the chances to come, don't worry. You didn't miss much, coz' there's nothing here.". 
　

However, my dream was quickly shattered. As my eyesight degraded, they told me that only those with good eyes could be astronauts. For me it's pretty much nonsense -- I mean, come on, the moon is that huge, do I really need a 20-20 to be able to find that thing in the space and land on it? I don't think so. 
　

Anyway, I had to give up. But luckily, I found a new target pretty soon -- I wanted to win the Nobel Prize!! 
　

At that time, Dr. 李遠哲 just won a Nobel Prize, and everyone was talking about him. The teachers wanted us to study as hard as he did. The parents wanted us to use him as a role model. Even the most beautiful girl in my class said she wanted to marry a Nobel Prize winner in the future. So naturally, every boy in my class swore to her that he will win the Nobel Prize one day -- including me.
　

The only difference is, the other boys said so just to get the girl's attention, while I was the only one to actually believe that I could make it. 
　

I did!! I even made a plan called "The Way to Nobel Prize". The 10-page plan was designed to help me win the Nobel Prize before 28. It detailed all the studies I had to do every year, all the science books I had to finish before college. Although my parents thought I was crazy, they're kind of happy to see me working so hard. At that time, everything went on so smoothly, so perfectly, until one thing happened -- that girl, that cold-blooded boy-terminator, moved to Canada one day, without even saying goodbye. 
　

I was heartbroken. Out of sadness, I buried the plan in my backyard, and gave up on Nobel Prize. 
　

So, had that girl not moved to Canada, had I not given up on my plan, I would be winning my Nobel Prize, ooops, this year!! I would be giving a speech to the Sweden Royal Academy instead of you guys. So you guys are really really lucky. 
　

After giving up on Nobel Prize, I was pretty much without a dream for several years. And you could imagine how difficult it is to write about the same old Nobel Prize plan in the writing classes, every single year. 
　

And that's until high school, when I found a new target. This time, I wanted to become 徐志摩. 
　

I mean, not become 徐志摩 himself, but become a great writer and a great lover like him. I wanted to be able to write beautiful essays and poems like him. More importantly, I wanted to be admired by girls -- just like him. 
　

And in order to achieve that, I made a plan, again. 

I forced myself to write at least one essay and one poem every week and asked my teacher to review them. I walked like him, talked like him. I even bought a new pair of glasses to look just like him. 
　

I guess now you must be eager to learn how I quit this dream. Well, the reason is very simple: I stunk. 
　

The essays and poems I wrote were so bad that my teacher begged me to stop torturing him.  
　

My friends refused to walk side by side with me in the campus because they said I walked and talked like 瓊瑤 novels instead of 徐志摩. 
　

And some of them even stopped discussing homeworks with me, since everytime they asked me a question, I always started with "Let me grant you a future",

which kind of bugged them a lot. 
　

So to save my friendship and my life, I had no choice but to bury the plan, again, in the backyard, right next to the Nobel Prize plan. 
　

So here I am, 28 years old, a tiny little engineer working in HsinChu. Technically, none of my dreams were fulfilled. But then again, in some way, they are-- I become a Toastmaster. 
　

I mean, although I could never actually land on the moon, I could always pretend that I did, and talk about it in a Tall Tale Contest. 
　

And although I will never be able to have the chance to win a Nobel Prize, I can always sign up in a Speech Contest and try to win the a Prize. So, wherever you are, dear judges, if you have any compassion, you know whom you should vote for. 
　

And not being able to become 徐志摩 might not be that bad a thing. Coz' girl today, they don't like 徐志摩 at all. What they love is Harry Potter!!
　

And trust me, it's much easier to become Harry Potter than become徐志摩. All I need is my magic cape, my magic wand, and guess what I can even recycle the glasses I bought to become 徐志摩. 

Contest Master