2. Budding Entrepreneur in Philadelphia,
USA after an adventurous 13 months in Ecuador, Innocent Toddler in
India, Palestine, and Bolivia. Convinced of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Bit by a
entrepreneurship as most effective way of monkey that left a huge scar on
driving fundamentally disruptive change, my left wrist, helping me
as well as great personality fit. distinguish between left and
right. Supposedly possessed by
evil spirits after the accident
until intervention of a temple.
Novice Lobbyist in rural
Georgia, USA. Model student
by day, tireless advocate of
school reform by night.
Underlying theme of my Smart troublemaker in
efforts: inspiration, rather Vancouver, Canada. Enjoyed
than control, should be the reading any novel I could
land my hands on, got
central theme of education.
bullied a lot, and had
trouble staying out of
principal’s office for
extended periods of time
(mostly for acts of self-
defense). Loved spending
10-15 yrs time outdoors and playing
Teenage Maverick in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. sports despite conditions of
The norm involved ~15 hours of academic time asthma, which faded away.
per day, but I made sports, drama, and community
service an absolute priority. First “lobbying”
experience dealt with physical punishment in
This timeline is presented in a circular fashion in accordance with my
academic settings (very common in Taiwan).
Buddhist beliefs of reincarnation, where death is but a predecessor to rebirth.
3. A photographer I met at Bethlehem’s
“Security Fence,” working on 5+4=1
Taking a break from futile attempts to
teach English in Dharmasala, India
My high school publication, launching pad for school
reform campaigns during my reign as Editor-in-chief
Un-Buttoned photoshoot for a feature on America’s
Coolest College Startups (which never happened…) Peace Corp’s World Map Project with kids of Jama, Ecuador
Lake Titicaca, Bolivia with ICYE volunteers
4. •So I turned to the private sector in search for solutions & experience.
•Volunteering in community development projects around the world
was phenomenal, small-scale nonprofits simply was not the answer.
•So I designed my own gap year education – entirely through Google.
•I dreamed of tackling the world’s most complex challenges, but very
little of my formal education had been related to my aspirations.
•My parents, career public servants, instilled in me the desire to serve.
•Moving back and forth between the East & West equipped me with
the ability to quickly adapt and think on a global scale.
5. Through these experiences, I learned working with amazing people is
just as – if not more – important as working on amazing projects.
6. More importantly, I learned that simply being surrounded by amazing
people – in a work setting or not – is an amazing way to grow.
As a “Third Culture Kid” who’s never lived in 1 country for more than 5 years, I (subconsciously) undervalued
friendship because of its transient nature for me. This semester has marked a drastic mindset change.
7. Through
I want to build relationships with more amazing people and join a
network of trailblazing social innovators.
I want to meet mentors who inspire, coach, and challenge me.
I want to find answers to some doubts I’ve been having lately;
ways around walls I’ve been hitting.
And I want to all this through StartingBloc in particular, because according
to Eden, you guys are by far the best program out of all she’s been to!
Thank you for your time and consideration!
Clarke Hung | 洪煜勳
