Come to think of the past eight months, it is quite incredible to find that Cynthia’s junior year of being an English major took an unexpected turn after being accepted as an intern at Enspyre.
During the internship, Cynthia gets to experience what it is like to be an employee who works for an award-winning SME, an author who does extensive research and racks her brain for the perfect word, an interviewer who is privileged to talk to ambitious and passionate foreign entrepreneurs, and a website designer who transforms a blank page to a graphic pleasure. Looking back, she finds it very amusing that one day she is dealing with texts from Edgar Allan Poe’s ominous short stories and William Wordsworth’s sentimental poems, the next day she is swamped with legal issues and personal stories regarding entrepreneurship in Taiwan. The journey is not lighthearted nor easy, but it turns out to be surprisingly rewarding and fulfilling. What’s more, she finds herself enjoying the process every step of the way.
More importantly, since Elias comes from Sweden and she has been working with three other interns from Australia, Korea and Saint Lucia respectively, this project has drastically changed the way she looks at her home country—Taiwan. The process of writing the book gives her an unusual opportunity to appreciate the country that she has grown too accustomed to. In addition, this experience makes Cynthia, a local, discover the merits as well as the obstacles of being a foreigner in Taiwan. It is not everyday that she gets to see things in alternative ways. This project manages to let her question what she takes for granted and to remind herself to embrace new possibilities and not to be too at ease in her comfort zone.
Now that the project has come to an end, and Cynthia cannot be more proud of the results and the intern team. Hopefully How to Start a Business in Taiwan and its corresponding website can be proven helpful and influential for anyone who shares the dream of starting a business in Taiwan.
* Cynthia Chang is a soon-to-be senior studying English Literature at National Taiwan University. She has been greatly involved in Model UN activities, having served the roles of a delegate, a co-chair and a chair in conferences held in Taiwan and abroad. Besides engaging herself in international issues, she likes listening to music, watching films, and going to art performances and exhibitions. Because of her great passion for art, she hopes to pursue a career in art administration or entertainment management.