Lucas' Chinese Dream at ICLP
Donation protected
大家好， 我叫文豪杰。麻烦你，我需要你的帮助。
Hello everyone, my name is Lucas Lopes and I have a dream.
The Dream:
Attend the International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) at the National Taiwan University. Become fluent in Chinese. Finish writing my young adult wuxia fantasy novel set in ancient China - imagine Star Wars meets Avatar the Last Airbender meets Harry Potter meets Hideki Kamiya’s masterpiece Okami.
The Program:
ICLP is the best Chinese language program in the world. It is highly competitive, accepting only 35 - 50 students worldwide per year!
Here is a video of ICLP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cAVWEx5N_Y
The Why:
When you want to get to know someone, what do you do? At first, you probably just strike a casual conversation right? By using language alone you can get a rough idea of how that person behaves and acts. Yet, how do you decipher why a person behaves and acts a certain way? To puzzle that out, you will need to understand that person’s past experiences.
I believe that the best way to comprehend a person’s past experiences is by undergoing similar circumstances yourself. You need to grasp both, the how and the why, to make sense of the whole person. Otherwise, you can never be empathetic to that person’s conditions, you can only be sympathetic, and that is not the same thing.
Now how can I create believable, three-dimensional characters without empathy? It would be impossible to fathom their beliefs, hopes, dreams, and fears. Anyone can write a fantasy book set in ancient China, that is true. People do not need to be fluent in Chinese or live in Beijing or Taipei to accomplish such goal. However, I do not want to merely write a fantasy book set in ancient China.
I want to write a culturally aware novel that respects the language, the traditions, and the people which I am drawing inspiration from, and that’s why I need to be fluent in Chinese and attend ICLP in the upcoming 2017-2018 academic year.
Attending ICLP will not only bring me closer to Chinese fluency, but it will also increase my overall cultural sensibility, and allow me to create high-quality content, which is not only entertaining but also informative. Only by being fluent in Chinese and living in a Chinese speaking country for a prolonged time, will I be able to recreate the nuances in speech, the mannerisms, and the mentality of Chinese people in my characters.
I do not want to follow on Hollywood’s footsteps and create a world filled with culturally offensive material. Hollywood is the most infamous offender for regurgitating ill-informed stereotypes, cultural misappropriation, white-washing, and resorting to the harmful white savior story trope.
While a lot of people are aware of Hollywood’s sins, most of them just like to complain but they do not do anything about it. I want to be different. I want to help solve this issue with my own hands, and that’s why I decided that I will create the content myself.
I need to have the language skills, the how, and the cultural insight, the why, in order to write the best possible version of the story I want to tell. I would be selling my creation, myself, and the whole world short otherwise. Therefore, before I attempt to publish my wuxia fantasy novel, I have a self-imposed prerequisite to attend ICLP to improve my Chinese fluency and broaden my cultural comprehension.
I see my self-imposed requirement as nothing more than a quality check to create meaningful art. Everyone has a piece of art that speaks to them, an artwork that somehow understands how they feel. It may be a best-selling book, an award-wining movie, a groundbreaking graphic novel, a cheerful song, or an intriguing video game. Despite its medium, a particular work of art can motivate, inspire, cause terror, or bring happiness. That’s the power of art, and I intend to use it to its full potential.
A culturally aware young adult fiction novel, like the one I aim to write, has the power to inform the West about China more than any textbook or history class. When you see the world through the eyes of believable, three-dimensional characters, you are able to understand their motivations. This allows you to become emotionally invested in the characters, sharing their laughs along with their tears.
Suddenly you become empathetic to the characters’ circumstances, and your overall tolerance increases while your understanding expands. Given the world we currently live in, where people seem to be retroceding into prejudice and bigotry, I think any effort aiming to educate and foster cooperation is priceless, especially between China and the United States.
With the right tools and opportunities, I am certain that I can write a novel that will help promote better Sino-US relations by allowing its fellow readers to be more empathetic to one another. I am aware that this approach is not the most orthodox, but I see that as a strength. The world needs people with different ideas and varied approaches to solve issues.
I realize that you may have thought that my goal to write a best-selling novel may seem far-fetched, useless, or grandiose. Yet, I would like to help you see the aforementioned goal as nothing more than a possibility. A possibility to tear down the great walls of ignorance built around a West-centric environment.
Even though I am not Chinese, I have a deep respect and appreciation for Chinese language and culture, and I want to write a novel which is representative of Chinese people’s reality. I think that is the best way I can help create a more tolerant world. I hope I was able to help you understand why I need to study Chinese at ICLP.
Now, I need your help to turn the crystal clear vision I have in my mind into a reality.
The Situation:
The first time I was accepted to ICLP was back in 2015 for the 2015-2016 Academic Year. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend ICLP in 2015 because I did not have the means to finance my year abroad. I was devastated.
My goal was to skip the 2016 cycle to save money and apply again in 2017. I would have the money to pay for the program myself now, but on October 7th 2015 I tore the TFCC ligament in my wrist and pinched the ulnar nerve in my left elbow.
The tear was quite painful and caused wrist instability. The nerve compression led my ring finger and pinky to go numb. I used my ICLP fund to pay for two surgeries, one on my wrist to fix the tear and one on my elbow to release and decompress the nerve.
The surgery, coupled with three months of physical therapy, depleted my savings. When 2017 came around and it was time to apply to ICLP once again, I was broke.
Nevertheless, I decided to apply to ICLP along with a couple scholarships this past January. About a month ago, I was accepted to ICLP for a second time. I was thrilled to be accepted for the 2017-2018 Academic Year!
My savings since the surgeries together with the scholarships would’ve been enough to cover my year at ICLP; however, in the past month, I received the news that I was not awarded the most important scholarship I applied to.
That’s why I am coming to you! I do not want to wait another year to fulfill my dream of attending ICLP.
Classes start September 11th, and I would need to have the funds by August 31st, so we have time and I have hope.
If we raise the 35k I need, I will start a blog and/or YouTube channel to give everyone here bi-weekly updates of my time over there :)
Thank you so much for your support!
The Obstacle:
Below is the cost-breakdown of ICLP’s Costs & Fees according to the school website:
Tuition:
1st Quarter - US $4,500
2nd Quarter - US $4,200
3rd Quarter - US $4,200
4th Quarter - US $4,500
Housing:
1st Quarter - US $1,800
2nd Quarter - US $1,800
3rd Quarter - US $1,800
4th Quarter - US $1,800
*US $600/month
Food/Incidentals:
1st Quarter - US $1,800
2nd Quarter - US $1,800
3rd Quarter - US $1,800
4th Quarter - US $1,800
*US $150/week
Textbooks:
1st Quarter - US $100
2nd Quarter - US $100
3rd Quarter - US $100
4th Quarter - US $100
Insurance:
1st Quarter - US $40
2nd Quarter - US $40
3rd Quarter - US $40
4th Quarter - US $40
Travel:
Airplane ticket from Houston to Taipei - US $2,000
Here’s the school link detailing the Costs & Fees:
http://iclp.ntu.edu.tw/program/ins.php?index_id=3&index_m_id=3
Thank you so much for everyone's help! Together we can turn this dream into a reality! :)
谢谢大家！
Hello everyone, my name is Lucas Lopes and I have a dream.
The Dream:
Attend the International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) at the National Taiwan University. Become fluent in Chinese. Finish writing my young adult wuxia fantasy novel set in ancient China - imagine Star Wars meets Avatar the Last Airbender meets Harry Potter meets Hideki Kamiya’s masterpiece Okami.
The Program:
ICLP is the best Chinese language program in the world. It is highly competitive, accepting only 35 - 50 students worldwide per year!
Here is a video of ICLP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cAVWEx5N_Y
The Why:
When you want to get to know someone, what do you do? At first, you probably just strike a casual conversation right? By using language alone you can get a rough idea of how that person behaves and acts. Yet, how do you decipher why a person behaves and acts a certain way? To puzzle that out, you will need to understand that person’s past experiences.
I believe that the best way to comprehend a person’s past experiences is by undergoing similar circumstances yourself. You need to grasp both, the how and the why, to make sense of the whole person. Otherwise, you can never be empathetic to that person’s conditions, you can only be sympathetic, and that is not the same thing.
Now how can I create believable, three-dimensional characters without empathy? It would be impossible to fathom their beliefs, hopes, dreams, and fears. Anyone can write a fantasy book set in ancient China, that is true. People do not need to be fluent in Chinese or live in Beijing or Taipei to accomplish such goal. However, I do not want to merely write a fantasy book set in ancient China.
I want to write a culturally aware novel that respects the language, the traditions, and the people which I am drawing inspiration from, and that’s why I need to be fluent in Chinese and attend ICLP in the upcoming 2017-2018 academic year.
Attending ICLP will not only bring me closer to Chinese fluency, but it will also increase my overall cultural sensibility, and allow me to create high-quality content, which is not only entertaining but also informative. Only by being fluent in Chinese and living in a Chinese speaking country for a prolonged time, will I be able to recreate the nuances in speech, the mannerisms, and the mentality of Chinese people in my characters.
I do not want to follow on Hollywood’s footsteps and create a world filled with culturally offensive material. Hollywood is the most infamous offender for regurgitating ill-informed stereotypes, cultural misappropriation, white-washing, and resorting to the harmful white savior story trope.
While a lot of people are aware of Hollywood’s sins, most of them just like to complain but they do not do anything about it. I want to be different. I want to help solve this issue with my own hands, and that’s why I decided that I will create the content myself.
I need to have the language skills, the how, and the cultural insight, the why, in order to write the best possible version of the story I want to tell. I would be selling my creation, myself, and the whole world short otherwise. Therefore, before I attempt to publish my wuxia fantasy novel, I have a self-imposed prerequisite to attend ICLP to improve my Chinese fluency and broaden my cultural comprehension.
I see my self-imposed requirement as nothing more than a quality check to create meaningful art. Everyone has a piece of art that speaks to them, an artwork that somehow understands how they feel. It may be a best-selling book, an award-wining movie, a groundbreaking graphic novel, a cheerful song, or an intriguing video game. Despite its medium, a particular work of art can motivate, inspire, cause terror, or bring happiness. That’s the power of art, and I intend to use it to its full potential.
A culturally aware young adult fiction novel, like the one I aim to write, has the power to inform the West about China more than any textbook or history class. When you see the world through the eyes of believable, three-dimensional characters, you are able to understand their motivations. This allows you to become emotionally invested in the characters, sharing their laughs along with their tears.
Suddenly you become empathetic to the characters’ circumstances, and your overall tolerance increases while your understanding expands. Given the world we currently live in, where people seem to be retroceding into prejudice and bigotry, I think any effort aiming to educate and foster cooperation is priceless, especially between China and the United States.
With the right tools and opportunities, I am certain that I can write a novel that will help promote better Sino-US relations by allowing its fellow readers to be more empathetic to one another. I am aware that this approach is not the most orthodox, but I see that as a strength. The world needs people with different ideas and varied approaches to solve issues.
I realize that you may have thought that my goal to write a best-selling novel may seem far-fetched, useless, or grandiose. Yet, I would like to help you see the aforementioned goal as nothing more than a possibility. A possibility to tear down the great walls of ignorance built around a West-centric environment.
Even though I am not Chinese, I have a deep respect and appreciation for Chinese language and culture, and I want to write a novel which is representative of Chinese people’s reality. I think that is the best way I can help create a more tolerant world. I hope I was able to help you understand why I need to study Chinese at ICLP.
Now, I need your help to turn the crystal clear vision I have in my mind into a reality.
The Situation:
The first time I was accepted to ICLP was back in 2015 for the 2015-2016 Academic Year. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend ICLP in 2015 because I did not have the means to finance my year abroad. I was devastated.
My goal was to skip the 2016 cycle to save money and apply again in 2017. I would have the money to pay for the program myself now, but on October 7th 2015 I tore the TFCC ligament in my wrist and pinched the ulnar nerve in my left elbow.
The tear was quite painful and caused wrist instability. The nerve compression led my ring finger and pinky to go numb. I used my ICLP fund to pay for two surgeries, one on my wrist to fix the tear and one on my elbow to release and decompress the nerve.
The surgery, coupled with three months of physical therapy, depleted my savings. When 2017 came around and it was time to apply to ICLP once again, I was broke.
Nevertheless, I decided to apply to ICLP along with a couple scholarships this past January. About a month ago, I was accepted to ICLP for a second time. I was thrilled to be accepted for the 2017-2018 Academic Year!
My savings since the surgeries together with the scholarships would’ve been enough to cover my year at ICLP; however, in the past month, I received the news that I was not awarded the most important scholarship I applied to.
That’s why I am coming to you! I do not want to wait another year to fulfill my dream of attending ICLP.
Classes start September 11th, and I would need to have the funds by August 31st, so we have time and I have hope.
If we raise the 35k I need, I will start a blog and/or YouTube channel to give everyone here bi-weekly updates of my time over there :)
Thank you so much for your support!
The Obstacle:
Below is the cost-breakdown of ICLP’s Costs & Fees according to the school website:
Tuition:
1st Quarter - US $4,500
2nd Quarter - US $4,200
3rd Quarter - US $4,200
4th Quarter - US $4,500
Housing:
1st Quarter - US $1,800
2nd Quarter - US $1,800
3rd Quarter - US $1,800
4th Quarter - US $1,800
*US $600/month
Food/Incidentals:
1st Quarter - US $1,800
2nd Quarter - US $1,800
3rd Quarter - US $1,800
4th Quarter - US $1,800
*US $150/week
Textbooks:
1st Quarter - US $100
2nd Quarter - US $100
3rd Quarter - US $100
4th Quarter - US $100
Insurance:
1st Quarter - US $40
2nd Quarter - US $40
3rd Quarter - US $40
4th Quarter - US $40
Travel:
Airplane ticket from Houston to Taipei - US $2,000
Here’s the school link detailing the Costs & Fees:
http://iclp.ntu.edu.tw/program/ins.php?index_id=3&index_m_id=3
Thank you so much for everyone's help! Together we can turn this dream into a reality! :)
谢谢大家！
Organizer
Lucas Lopes
Organizer
Katy, TX