"After listening to your speech, some classmates in our grade rushed to the library after class to flip through university brochures," When I received this feedback from high school juniors and seniors, I thought it was wonderful—these students had someone telling them what might happen in their future, and at the age of seventeen no less.

On 4/17, I gave a talk at my alma mater "Xinbei Senior High School." The day before, I reflected back on my own junior year of high school, and I realized that was 2007...which means there's an 11-12 year generational gap between me and this group of students. I knew that discussing "personal values" would be completely useless for them at this stage, so instead I used news clips to show them what peers their age are thinking, and I even said in a somber tone: "Choosing your university is your first major life decision, and it will have consequences that last a lifetime!"

I shared my painful example—in high school I loved joining clubs way too much. For three straight years I was doing cheerleading: practicing at lunch, practicing in the evenings, practicing on weekends, practicing during winter and summer breaks. I even performed in my senior year. I played so hard that my grades collapsed, and by the time I actually woke up wondering what to do with my future, I'd already taken the Mandarin Proficiency Test.

After the test, my score was roughly slightly above the national median. Honestly, it wasn't so bad that I couldn't afford to go to university, but I was terrible at taking exams. Back then, the National Higher Education Entrance Exam had a penalty system—if you got one question right and another wrong, you could score zero. Don't think it's impossible, because I actually scored zero on a mock exam, which created lasting fear and trauma.

Once my test results came out, I didn't even consider taking the National Exam, and I absolutely refused to attend any school below Fu Jen University. So I used my scores—two subjects at the median level, two at the high level, and one at the low level—to apply to Fu Jen's Department of Mass Communication through the recommendation system. Actually, they only required the minimum threshold.

But why Mass Communication? You might think that because I'm now a journalist, do PR, and build personal brands, these must be lifelong interests and goals of mine. But here's the thing—that's completely wrong. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do in the future!

Here's how I chose my university major. I remember very clearly: I opened the course catalog and muttered, "Chinese studies? No. Accounting? No. History? No. Business management? No...Mass Communication! Mass Communication works." The only courses without much theory were practical filming classes, and my family ran a photography studio, so I thought, why not! That's how I entered the Department of Mass Communication...and stumbled my way into a media career.

I have to admit, I was lucky in some ways. I discovered that I actually had some talent for media and a bit of interest in it. Even luckier is that the media industry has no limits—marketing, PR, advertising, journalism are all part of it, and it continues to grow with technology and changing times. It's not rigid or formulaic. In this era of integrated marketing, being able to do everything became my advantage.

But the truth is, your university major really can affect most people's entire lives. Don't gamble with your future!

Here's what I told the juniors and seniors: "Go to the university fair," even if it's pouring rain at nine in the morning with crowds packed into the Taiwan University sports complex. You don't even have to go looking at majors—you should go see how many people your own age have clear goals, how certain they are about what they want to do in the future and what they're capable of doing. Actually simulate choosing this path and see what kind of future it creates, instead of being like me and waiting until I was twenty-five and started working to suddenly realize that I'd spent the first half of my life essentially sleepwalking through it.

My teacher told me that before I came, these students were refusing to go to the university fair. After listening to my speech, they started seriously thinking about their futures. That's the whole point of why I give these talks. I want to plant a seed in their hearts that will slowly sprout and grow with time!

If your students don't want to go to the university fair, feel free to have me come give a talk XDDD (just kidding)