(note: these talks were paraphrased)

Hochie wanted to see what everyone has in mind about the college program, and see where everyone is coming from. There are 12 people in the room at the moment. We're going around the table to hear preliminary thoughts.

(I missed Margaret's talk, we'll have two people covering people's thoughts)

Heather:
College is a time to start thinking about yoruself, and realize whether you're doing certain things for your parents or for yourself, and how you're going ot go about handling that.

Brenden:
Just graduated in May, 7-8 months ago. In this transition time, I can look back at college, and see that it was filled with good times, but also saw things that I could have changed. Can think of college as a past, as where I've been, or as future, as to where I'm going. Different from what heather said, I always feel like I'm incomplete. I just feel like I'm further form whole. I've never had a time where I thought I was whole, and complete. I always feel like I have a lot to learn.

Christine:
I graduated a long time ago, but I'm in the danger of making the same mistake that I started to make in college. But I felt like I had this path I was suppose take. "Oh, you sing, so you should do this." "Oh you live in michigan, so you should go to U mich" When I was college, I was trying the hardest to just try and leave, and in retrospect, that wasn't the best. But good thing that in college, I had time to sit down and really think about where I wanted to go, and I think many college students might make the mistake of not being introspective.

Harmony:
I finished my first year of college. basically what it came down to was between Santa Clara and U of I. It was choosing between not knowing anyone and a comfort zone. So I decided to explore more things, and came out here ot Santa Clara. I'm definitely glad that I came out here, and probably met more people as a result. My excitment kinda overthrew my fear. And like, I think, me and my brother had always been independent, cuz my parents were usually busy, but what's weird is that I talk more to my parents now that I'm out here. I just felt that I've had a new experience here, and I'm glad. If there is a college program, we wouldn't want it completely disconnected from youth. If you asked any of us when we were in JH, we prolly said that JH was happening, but some other people had said, JH wasn't as happening as compared when we were there. Just cuz our JH groups were more close knit. We had 2 hour crying sessions. But when we went to youth, we were less close.
(what would make you want to join the college prgm and not staff?)
I dunno. I never thought about that...cuz there really isn't a college prgm. haven't thought much about it before.

Zeyen:
Well, for college, one of the things I've thought about is how to organize your experience in college into something more coherent. And at the same time, you're growing as a person, and relationships to other people, and try to see it in terms of TA identity, in terms of society. One of the things for the people ocming from different college experiences; and even if you go to U of I and everyone's from Chicago, everyone has new experiences, and no one seems to really have time to reflect. And esp for me, it's important to reflect where you fit in society. I definitely feel like a whole new world opens up when you go to college.

Karen:
Along the lines of Zeyen, I've been thinking about how and where we stand in today's society, and in hist as well, and how that really dictates how we live our lives, and how that's different from how people use to live it. So maybe if people are more aware of how, we think we have a lot of choice, because we sometimes really don't, because it's influenced by a lot of factors that limit our choices. So hopefully, if we understood, we'd better understand the world we live in.

Jon:
I'm a senior in college, um, I've changed majors five times, and I really don't know what I want to do. I think whatever I end up doing, will have nothing to do with what I major with in college. So for college, I think it's a time of, if you've managed to find yourself and your identity, doing whatever you want to do, following your dreams, and do stuff, that...I don't do whatever my parents want me to do, but that's a step, but I don't know what ot say. I guess for me, college is a time, where it's a lot easier...FOR ME...for me, college is a life where I can hang out w/ my firneds. My aspirations for after college are like making movies. But yeah, I'm just coming from is that there's lot of jumbles to be coming from.

Hoch:
Honestly, I don't have any answers either. What am I doing here to help out here w/ this college program. IT's strange, because I spent the last decade with the junior program, and just dealing w/ kids. And really realize the potential for their life path is established early on. But only in the recent years, have finally felt like I've grown up myself. Now, seeing that these juniors are of college age, or after college, that I've felt like I should help them out on the other end. We don't have anything for them after HS at TAF, and it's like sending lemmings off the cliff. I don't know how this college will take shape, and had ideas million years ago. It could have been where TA leaders meet...or where staff are also in there...or do we bring in non-taffers there? I've gone through the whole wide specturm. You know, I think that doesn't matter, I don't care, as long as that void is filled. I feel like we've sent these kids off the cliff. I'm finally finishing my residency, and I'm going through what other college kids are going here. I think it's key that we're all sitting here in the same room. I think the college program in the past just didn't had the same appeal, were I that age. But yeah, that's it for me.

Sophia:
One thing that Jon hit upon is uncertainy. Most of my friends had paths, but the question is, what do you do afterwards? it prolly drives Taiwanese parents crazy that we don't. I don't know if I really want to go to law school, but it says a lot, cuz at least you're doing something. What's really happening is that a lot of people don't know what to do, even if they went to the top schools. Taiwanese parents says that it's not ok to know the path [one's taking]. So being able to negotiate with the parents with the path is a thing to think. Along those lines, learning to live life in a practical way...cuz I had an ideal of what law is like, or engineering is like. The type of things that Taiwanese parents do to immigration patterns...they go into sciences, so it seems to limit what 2nd gen people think that they can do. But the whole point is that parents are starting to see that there's other paths other than the standard 'safe' careers, so people can see, 'hey, I turned out ok'. Post college is kinda lonely in alot of different ways, esp when you moved to different places...you feel very disconnected, you kinda fall into mindless consumerism. But basically, it's hard to connect the meaning that you had in college, and talk about the different hings that you had in college, and be in a different place...and that feeling that you have a sense of accountibility.

Nancy:
I'm 3rd year pharmacy, and coming out [into the real world]. The reason I'm here, cuz I've been here in taf for a long time and grown up in the program. I thought the college program would be a good idea, cuz it's like a cliff [with lemmings falling off of it] like ho chie said, cuz you never stop growing in college. You've taken so many directions, training time for staff, etc. As for what I see for college program, hopefully not so isolated from the other programs. They just seemed like they were just out there. I think integration would be a good thing. Cuz college didn't feel like taf, the same as jh or youth, cuz I'd just see them being 'intellectual' over coffee, and playing frisbee... Hopefully, also having the mentors, seeing a place for older people as mentors for younger people, and help them see where we're at and where we want to be. The whole 2nd gen syndrome, and getting out, and not knowing what you want to do, and your parents pressuring you to get on a path.