Ms. Chun Ning Hu '17
Regents' & Chancellor's Scholar

"Thank you to The Berkeley Club of Taiwan for your generous donation which has allowed me the opportunity to pursue my academic goals; I hope the club can continue to fund educational opportunities for students like me. "

I am a 4th year Public Health major and Global Poverty and Practice minor at UC Berkeley. I feel so blessed and gracious for the opportunity to attend this university, and my academics here have broadened my knowledge and made me more conscientious of health disparities and inequalities. Consequently, this has developed in me a passion for medicine, and I intend to pursue medical school after I graduate. Neither of my parents ever suspected this. Immigrating to the US in 2001 with my younger brother and me, they did not speak English, and my family had struggled financially for years. Although I have been in the US for most of my life, I still feel very connected to Taiwan, my birth country, and have gone back to visit family and to volunteer. For instance, two summers ago I interned with Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps (台灣路竹會) and went with them to set up mobile medical clinics in indigenous townships in Taiwan. My Chinese background and language skills have also allowed me to be involved in unique opportunities at UC Berkeley, which have further reinforced my interest in medicine. I am a Mandarin-English medical interpreter with VHIO and a labor coach with Asian Health Services. Last year, under the guidance of Professor Winston Tseng, some students and I also started an academic tutoring program in SF Chinatown for students living in Single Room Occupancy Housings (SRO) and from low-income backgrounds. We go once a week to teach modules on English, math, science, and cultural enrichment. I feel so grateful for the opportunity to study and expand my horizons at UC Berkeley, and this would not be possible without generous donations from The Berkeley Clun of Taiwan Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.

Fun fact: I am currently studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My hope is to improve my Spanish so that I can assist a more diverse population in California. There is actually a large Taiwanese population here, and it has been enriching to hear their stories and draw parallelism between Taiwanese immigrants in Argentina and those in the United States like myself.