Values catapult student from Taiwan to success

“What she (Tseng) has achieved in golf, I would like to do in science. Science programs in Taiwan have so much potential and I really hope to see them grow,” she said.

On Nov. 12, Lai was part of a winning team from the University of Washington that competed in the International Genetically Engineered Machine World Championship Competition (iGEM), where 65 of the most competitive teams worldwide of undergraduate students convened at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to present their synthetic biology projects.

Awards were presented and four of the most impressive top teams (MIT, Imperial College London, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and the University of Washington in Seattle) were announced as finalists. After deliberation, an international panel of judges awarded the University of Washington the grand prize, the first time ever a team from the United States has won the award.

A Self-Analysis

Lai attributed her success to her “tenacity,” a character trait she developed as a young schoolgirl in Taiwan, where the popular slogan “victory goes to he who strives persistently (愛拼才會贏)” left an indelible impression on her before her move to Canada as a seventh grader.

“Growing up and receiving my early education in Taiwan forged a tenacious character in me. I think that the Taiwanese culture puts a lot of emphasis on hard work,” Lai wrote in an e-mail message.

“And that is exactly what has been driving me forward,” said Lai, who had attended the grade school attached to the private Wesley Girls High School (衛理女中附設國中部) and an elementary school in Taipei before she and her family moved to Vancouver, Canada, where she attended Point Grey Secondary School (8th through 12th grade) in the British Columbia city on the Canadian west coast.

“Whenever I face any difficulties, this part of me would tell myself to persevere, because at the end of the day, I know 'sweet fruits' await me,” the budding microbiologist said in her e-mail message.

“The iGEM project is a perfect example of it. Doing science requires a lot of patience and determination. It's not quite possible to get good data all the time, and of course there were times I just wanted to give up. But if I hadn't been able to persist, I would not have had the opportunity to enjoy this glory,” she explained.

Her high school experience in Canada and her subsequent science education in the United States taught her more than scientific rules. An ability to think outside the box, a new-found courage to speak up, and a sense of responsibility, acquired in the two North American countries, also have contributed to her success as a member of the winning team honored at the science fair.

Recalling her experience in the two countries across the Pacific from Taiwan, she said in her email that she had developed other strengths since her emigration to Canada.

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