Zoe's Story
Tyler has been on the debating journey for nearly twenty years and has been teaching for ten. Throughout his career, he has always believed that the core of education is not merely the transmission of knowledge, but rather igniting in students a thirst for truth, a sense of responsibility for justice, and empathy for the world. Born in Kansas, USA, Tyler stepped onto the debating stage by chance in high school and has been inseparable from it ever since. His passion and talent for critical thinking led him to be recruited by Western Kentucky University, one of the most prestigious debating teams in the United States. He not only won numerous competitions in the Lincoln-Douglas debate, impromptu and spontaneous speeches , but was also known for his diligence, being one of the most meticulously researched and well-prepared debaters on the team.
During his four years at university, Tyler simultaneously studied three fields: economics, international affairs, and Asian religious culture, and completed the Chinese Flagship Project established by the U.S. Department of Defense. Every weekend, he traveled across the United States to participate in competitions, and devoted almost all of his spare time to coaching and practice. His passion and perseverance in learning earned him numerous international honors, including the Fulbright, Gilman, Boren, and Critical Language Scholarships, and gave him the opportunity to conduct in-depth language and social research in Taiwan and China.
Tyler's influence extends far beyond the classroom. He served as a research assistant at the U.S. State Department, specializing in analyzing artificial intelligence policy, and his reports were cited by the U.S. Secretary of State. He is committed to social justice and founded "UBI Taiwan" in Taiwan, advocating for a basic income policy and launching a series of projects to support single-parent families and cultivate youth social participation, making ideals not just slogans, but tangible actions.
Currently, Tyler is pursuing a doctoral degree at National Chengchi University, focusing on a comparative study of the welfare systems of Taiwan and South Korea. He is also an executive member of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), leading a young scholar program that connects young people around the world to engage in meaningful policy research and leverage collective knowledge and creativity.
For Tyler, what he's most proud of isn't his personal awards or titles, but the students he's mentored. Some have become national champion debaters, while others have incorporated debating into every step of their life choices. He believes, "The true value of debating isn't just winning a competition, but teaching a person how to listen, how to think, and how to speak up for the world."
Through this leap of thought, Tyler is striving to transform the inspiration and opportunities he received in his youth into a driving force for more young people to move forward. He believes that every student deserves the opportunity to find their own voice—and he is willing to walk this path with them.
