March 31st, our department assistant took 17 exchange students to visit The Legislative Yuan of Republic of China. Upon arrival, receptionist guided students to the briefing room to watch a film about The Legislative Yuan, which included an introduction of its organization, composition and current legislators.

Then we passed through the building which was built during Japanese colonial period, and reached the Council Hall which all of us were very excited to see. We intentionally chose to visit on the day that the final general interrogation was held, so exchange students had an opportunity to observe how administrators and legislators interact with each other in a democracy country.

Afterwards, exchange students got permission to sit in the public gallery on the second floor, and the receptionist explained seats allocation of legislators and administrators as well as the meeting progress. She even explained what had happened on the 318 students movement in Legislative Yuan last year.

In Council Hall, the legislators prepared different ppt slides to interrogate the administrators from different departments. In addition to discussing the issue about officials’ allowance in Kinmen territory, there was also an excellent interrogation and defense about whether our country should join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The legislators addressed their research findings on that issue, including details about what name should we use to join, the investment budget, and benefit assessment, etc.

After the tour finished, some exchange students chose to stay longer in the Legislative Yuan to continue to observe and learn. We truly believed that this visit trip would be a fresh and inspiring experience for them since they all came from countries which implement different political systems.

Strolling in the NTU campus in March, apart from the tall coconut trees that had been no stranger to visitors, one could also perceive varieties of colors along the road. Red, pink, white, and purple clusters of flowers remind us of the time we celebrate our annual event of blossoms: The Azalea Festival. Since 1997, the Azalea Festival had seen a long history of National Taiwan University. In this year’s events, we had a book fair sponsored by the Main Library; an exhibition of Top 50 Agricultural Issues in Taiwan; the Very Fun Park Art Exhibition; and an ornamental plants Expo and more. The most popular event of all was the Departments’ Expo, which provided high school students with an opportunity to explore each department, and allow them to be more prepared when it comes the time to plan for their higher education.

The two-day Departments’ Expo. commenced after the opening ceremony on 3/14 morning. The Festival could be seen as two separate parts inside and outside of the Sports Center. Outside the center was the Clubs’ Expo, a real representation of our diversity and development of clubs in NTU; inside was the Departments’ Expo, which attracted numerous high school students throughout Taiwan. The stand of Law School was located at the 3rd floor, decorated with the theme of the Goddess of Justice.

In addition to the basic curricular information, the information about students’ possible career development and some examples of application to our department were provided at the Law School stand. We also handed out notes for high school students to write down their future goals and wishes. On the other side of the stand, the robes of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors, were available for try-on to those interested. The chair of the Academic Division, 許凱翔, who was in charge of this activity, said that the stand for this year was like last year and many years before that. The staff all worked hard to familiarize high school students with the Law School curriculum, future career development by preparing brochures and setting up posters.

Many Law School students happily volunteered to explain every aspect of the Law Department to high school students. One of the volunteers, 宇善蓉, once had a rough time deciding if it was ever meaningful to choose Law as her major, was willing to share her thoughts with the participants. In addition, this year the chair explicitly pointed out the purpose of the Azalea Festival was not only to introduce NTU Law to the participants but also to help them reassure it’s their suitable major. We wanted to help high school students think about the following: “does the Law school curriculum really fit my own personality?” Another volunteer discovered that after the two-day event, plenty of high school students have an impression that Law School students have to memorize lots of Law articles throughout their study, which in not entirely true. We hope that through our clarification during the event, high school students who are truly fit for the Law School would be more determined; and those aren’t, can make their decisions to choose other fields in an earlier stage.

For the activities, we designed a field game with three simple stages. Every participant could win a small but exquisite reward. Those who won the game got a pen shaped like a mallet. With this field game we hoped participants could learn more about legal materials such as constitutional interpretations. One of the participants said this activity helped him get a broad picture about what Law School is like.

Many high school students came to this exhibition with a longing for joining the top university of Taiwan. Therefore, one of the goals of this festival was to provide application information to them, who just finished the General College Entrance Exam and are preparing for their application.

Among all the stands in the festival, the Law School stand was one of the most visited. Many visitors indicated they gained useful information about our department. Also, some got more determined to making their decision to join Law school. Others said commentators helped solve their confusion about the differences between the three divisions. In addition, one of the commentators said she was inspired by the enthusiasm of those high school students and this inspiration would last throughout her education in Law School.

NTU Azalea Festival this year ended with piles of petals and cheerfulness from the crowds of people. We hoped every visitor had found their call here and is ready to set off for their goals just like our slogan: “stroll in the town of flowers, step toward the splendor of light.”

Writers: Freshmen, 羊振邦, 溫晴方, 許瀞方

Translator: 張彥麟

For more information: NTU LAW Student Association