Zoe's Story
Before the age of 15, Allen grew up in Taiwanese public schools. With his drive to study abroad and a stroke of luck, he received nearly full scholarships to the United World College (UWC) and New York University (NYU), enabling him to fulfill his dream in his youth. He studied in Russia, Bosnia, the United States, and France, and finally graduated from NYU with the John W. Wilkes Award in History.
Allen, who initially refused to study in Taiwan's system because of its emphasis on rote memorization, thrived at UWC and NYU due to his inquisitive nature. This made him realize the differences between Eastern and Western education systems, and he resolved to change Taiwan's education system by bringing the essence of Western critical thinking education back to Taiwan, so that Taiwanese students could become future leaders who can think, converse, and communicate effectively.
Before founding ThinkTank, Allen founded Lead For Taiwan, which designs systematic critical thinking courses based on the IB education philosophy and trains university students and junior and senior high school teachers in Taiwan to teach critical thinking courses within the education system; in two years, nearly 3,000 students have benefited from this.
Allen, a history graduate, enjoys reading, writing, and debating, especially on topics related to the historical evolution of social, economic, and political systems. Therefore, Allen likes to incorporate macro-level and abstract themes into his debate and writing classes, aiming to help students transcend existing disciplinary frameworks and think more deeply about social issues around the world.
Through this thinking process, Allen hopes to enable resourceful students not only to develop essential contemporary critical thinking and problem-solving skills, but also to cultivate values such as social responsibility and deep thinking, and to take action in the future to become part of changing the world and bring their own good fortune to others.
Allen has encountered many mentors throughout his life, enabling him to escape the Taiwanese system and enjoy a world-class educational experience. Therefore, Allen deeply enjoys the intellectual exchange with his students, developing a mentor-student relationship through critical thinking and guiding them on their journey to becoming well-rounded individuals. He aspires to be a guide who illuminates the path for each student. What Allen is most proud of is not helping students gain admission to prestigious universities, but accompanying them in finding their own meaning in life and their willingness to put it into practice.
Allen's life dream is to build a UWC in Taiwan, making Taiwan a world-renowned school of peace, systematically cultivating future changemakers who can make a positive impact on the world through their own learning and international/social connections, rather than simply pursuing personal development.
