Alumni Spotlights

Welcome to Kaohsiung American School’s Alumni Spotlights, an interview series brought to you by Jeremy Wu, class of 2017! Throughout the school year, we will feature Jeremy’s interviews with alumni that touch on everything from their experiences at KAS, to college admissions and navigating the job search.

Evan Wang ’18 | Business Owner

At the age of 21, Evan started a meat import company that sells high-end Japanese Wagyu, Australian Wagyu and various other meat products in 2020. This year, Evan is opening up a branch in Japan to expand his clientele into the international market .

Although the meat industry is a very specialized field, Evan’s journey of navigating through it while being new to the industry can offer valuable insights to listeners on how to embark on a job or start a business in an unfamiliar profession.

Furthermore, Evan shared his experiences in cold calling potential sales leads and entrepreneurship. In the process of reflecting on his past attempts on the topics mentioned above, Evan’s positive outlook towards his personal process of trial and error is shown.

Additionally, Evan’s advice on balancing between establishing business connections and actually working on the business is very insightful. 

Interested in Evan’s response to a specific question? Here is the list of interview questions along with the interview timestamp.

  • 0:50: Can you briefly introduce your company and the services and content it offers? 
  • 2:40: How did you find customers from different regions when you first entered this industry? 
  • 8:18: What did you learn from the process of facing rejection while expanding your customer base? 
  • 12:40: After graduating from KAS, you started your entrepreneurship at a young age. What made you decide to become an entrepreneur? Could you give a brief overview of your experiences since high school graduation? 
  • 17:35: Why did you choose to be in the meat business?
  • 21:18: Starting a business involves considering various aspects such as marketing, product management, and costs. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting their own business? 
  • 24:50: Did you encounter any difficulties during your entrepreneurship journey? 
  • 28:21: Is there any difference in learning efficiency between school/training and practical work (Jeremy shared)? 
  • 30:21: What accomplishment in the meat business are you most proud of after starting your own venture?
  • 38:50: How did you make your meat brand stand out in the competitive market and become a partner with large chain restaurants? 
  • 46:28: What are the differences between a trader and a wholesaler? 
  • 49:42: What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs? 
  • 1:02:09: If you could travel back to high school and talk to your younger self, what advice would you give to him/her?

Jason Hou ’17 | Ph.D. Student, Yale University

This month’s spotlight features an interview with Jason Hou, class of 2017. After graduating from KAS, Jason attended undergrad at Wake Forest University and is now working towards his Ph.D. in Genetics at Yale University.

In this interview, Jason explores various topics covering education and career which include:

  • What made his application stand out from other prospective Ivy League Ph.D. students
  • Why he decided to pursue a research field instead of attending medical school halfway through college
  • How he found his passion
  • Strategies for memorization and understanding biology concepts

Interested in Jason’s response to a specific question? Here is the list of interview questions along with the interview timestamp.

  • 0:00: Introduction 
  • 1:17: Brief introduction of Jason’s time in KAS(clubs, activities, achievements) and what benefited him later on in life?
  • 3:25: Did you know what field you wanted to pursue when you were in high school? 
  • 5:19: What does a Genetics Ph.D. student do? 
  • 11:15: What is your thought on epigenetics? 
  • 12:38: What research have you been on so far? And what role do you play in it? 
  • 22:31: Walk me through your most typical day to day life.        
  • 26:32: Why did you go from wanting to be a doctor to becoming a researcher?
  • 27:30: How did your friend from college get into an US medical school as an international student?  
  • 30:40: Jason’s process of finding his passion in doing research  
  • 36:22: What made you stand out in your applications? How did you get the Ph.D. acceptance without a U.S. passport?(What any educational programs want from prospective students) 
  • 41:58: Being classmate with Tzuyu from the K-Pop group Twice
  • 43:25: How did you thrive academically coming to KAS in 10th grade with minimum English proficiency? 
  • 45:30: What are some strategies for memorization and understanding of biology concepts?
  • 50:58: Do you need a great college for a research/ premed related job ?
  • 53:40 Let’s make a timeline explicating the important academic/professional events after high school graduation to eventually becoming a Ph.D. student at Yale
  • 59:23: What is your plan after your Genetics degree? 
  • 1:03:53: Advice to a student that want to get into an Ivy League school studying a science related major 
  • 1:15:47: If you could travel back to high school and talk to your younger self, what advice would you give to him? 

Audi Liu ’17 | Engagement Manager, Amazon

December’s spotlight features an interview with Audi Liu. Audi graduated from KAS in 2017 and attended UCLA where he majored in Mathematics and Computer Science. After graduating from UCLA, Audi landed a job as an Engagement Manager (project manager for coding projects) at Amazon.

In this interview, Audi explores various topics in education and career which include:

  • How he stood out from other Amazon internship applicants
  • What it takes to have a coding related job in the US
  • The importance of creating a cohesive and unique story for admission essays
  • How joining the Cadenza club in KAS benefited him later on in life

Interested in Audi’s response to a specific question? Here is the list of interview questions along with the interview timestamp.

  • 0:53: What is an engagement manager?
  • 1:12: What kind of projects do you work on?
  • 3:27: How and why did you transition from a programmer to a project/engagement manager?
  • 4:43: How did you end up with your job?
  • 7:15: What made you stand out from all the other candidates that applied for an Amazon internship?
  • 8:26: Did you plan out your coding projects to fit your career goal or just did projects that interest you?
  • 9:16: What activities/clubs have you participated in KAS that benefited you later in life?
  • 12:55: What are some ideal high school courses for a student planning to pursue computer science in university?
  • 13:40: Do you need a prestigious college education for a coding job?
  • 14:57: Do standardized tests matter?
  • 15:56: Do you recommend learning coding before college?
  • 17:14: How did you find places to do service hours?
  • 18:17: If you could travel back to high school and talk to your younger self, what advice would you give to him/her?

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