Help Change the World Through Language

Jamar Whaley Start Date: Jul 25, 2015 - End Date: Nov 21, 2015
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Taipei, Taiwan

My Travel Story

by: Jamar Whaley Start Date: Jul 25, 2015 - End Date: Nov 21, 2015
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
[UPDATE: While I appreciate and love all the help FundMyTravel has done for me, due to technical difficulties and to provide incentives for donating (i.e., classwork, promotional items, etc) I have moved the campaign to another site. Please visit gofund.me/JamarWhaley to follow my continuing blog and to donate. Much love]

In 2013, I moved to Beijing, China on a Fulbright grant. I worked with Dr. Ran Tao, the director of the first addiction center for Internet Addiction in China, but quickly realized my level of Mandarin wasn't strong enough to  conduct my research and reached an emotional low. However, shortly afterwards I met with the First Lady of the United States. 

Mrs. Obama believes that studying abroad is critical to the policy of the United States. Additionally, she noted the difficulties that minorities and the poor encounter when attempting to study abroad. She spoke directly with me and told me my story of poverty, surviving cancer shortly before traveling to China, and learning Mandarin at an adult age of 36 is inspirational and should be shared. 

In my life I have survived childhood asthma, being fatherless and having a drug addicted mother. I failed out of high school and didn't start college until the age of 29. Since college I have been inducted into several honor societies (i.e., Phi Beta Kappa), have won several major national awards (i.e., Goldwater, Fulbright Scholarship, NSF GRFP) and have had my image appear on City University of New York (CUNY) subway, print, and television ads). 

People tell me my story is enough for them to believe in me, though it's hard to explain in words just how much meeting Mrs. Obama has shaped and defined what I want to do with my life. I have mapped out what I believe will allow me to continue my addiction research while growing to become a leader in the area of encouraging and supporting minorities in the area of study abroad. 

THE PLAN:

1. A year of Language study for CLD which is the minimum requirement for: 
2. The Blakemore grant, which will put me in a place to be a strong prospect for
3. The Taiwan MOFA scholarship (provides 4 years of graduate level study) enabling me to study either:
4a - Basic Science (the lack of which is a major deficit in my Neuroscience application for schools in the US)
4b. - Business Management (which would give me the knowledge and skills to enact the projects I aim to create which will help decrease the education inequality for minorities and the poor in relation to study abroad programs).

At the moment, I am one of the people I am working to one day help. I am poor and it’s only through the help of others in an initial campaign was I able to raise the $4000 to allow me make it to Taiwan to study Mandarin. I have started this campaign to raise the final $6000 for the room and board necessary to live in Taipei for the next year while studying. 

I hope after reading about my story you will help. I believe my life is bigger than my own and I am sacrificing a lot in order to be someone who leads the people I feel closest to (minorities and the poor) to higher possibilities and a better world. I think of all that I might not have been able to do if people hadn’t believed in me and I am dedicating my life so that others get the same chances that I have been blessed with. 

I truly believe that I am someone who can help to make the world a little bit better, but to do so I need your help. 

Thank you for reading,
Jamar Everett Whaley

List of people (51) who contributed during my initial campaign to get to Taiwan (THANK YOU):
Kif Augustine 
Kelly Roche
Essie Smolar
Daniel French
Charles Royal
Desaray Smith
China
Choya Adkison-Stevens
Christi Johansen
Jeffrey Atto
Jesse Appell
Jumping G
Eleanor Goodman x2
Christina Barbato
Tze
Walach DthBlayde
Ian Rowen
MaryAnn Talavera
Ron Burgundy
Sarah Poe
Dina Dvorak
Kaitlin
Abigail Coplin
Juan Barrena
Tony Whipple
Carole Filangieri
pakman61
Hannah Huddleston
Rebecca Tisherman
Nicole Hevener
Tricia Coke
Devon Wade
Peter Xu
Risa
Elina Galperin
Ronald Sanchez
Francis
Alexandra Ruiz
David Cowley
and multiple anonymous contributors.
  • Taipei, Taiwan

Updates

44

  • I Am Going The Distance (Aka. What Was That We Just Passed? Oh Just The Mid-Term)

    I Am Going The Distance (Aka. What Was That We Just Passed? Oh Just The Mid-Term)
    This is my "We're going to "beast(!) this test" face":



    The mid-point of the semester is finally here. It’s been a long month and a half yet it feels like no time has passed at all. I realize it’s because my days are so similar. I wake up, I study, I go to school, I study, I come home, I study. Wash rinse and repeat.

    I’m not complaining. Truthfully, this is an amazing experience. At the age of 38 I’m studying one of the hardest languages on the planet (for English speakers) and I’m doing pretty well. At the beginning of the semester if I were to tell you I’d be able to recognize and write traditional mandarin characters I would have scoffed a bit. Even with what I have been known to be capable of, remembering/writing characters is very hard. It has taken a lot of time and effort but it’s paying off.

    So today I had my 2h and 50minute mid-term. The parts listed were Pinyin to Traditional Character translation (within associated sentences), multiple choice, find the incorrect character within a sentence and write the correct character, question answering, an oral test, and for the first time (out of any assignment) we had to write a 200 character essay. The essay topic, you may be wondering? Well, I’m not going to tell you.

    Kidding… the topic was “What is my dream/aspiration?.”

    I ended up not wanting to get too fancy so I just used the characters available to me in memory. I basically wrote about the problem we have with cell phones (you can replace cell phones for the internet for my research) and how it’s not a problem for everyone and that they are very convenient, but for some there is a significant issue. That those with problems are the ones I wish to help.

    It was interesting having to free write an essay. Thankfully, I have had essay writing practice when I was at CET and first started this Mandarin learning process. Especially interesting as, again, we haven’t been asked to write an essay except for, perhaps, the comparison sentences between President Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. I mean even if my test essay was written poorly (I’ll see when I get it back) the truth of the matter is I put an essay together. It had an interesting beginning, had two paragraphs that build to an overall conclusion and it wasn’t just a series of sentences thrown together. It was a concrete piece and no matter what the grade I have received I am pretty proud of the work I have done up to this point. I know my overall grade (at the end of the year) will reflect my effort and that’s what I am counting on.

    Still, I did set some prizes if I meet certain goals. If I somehow managed to get an A+ I will purchase an NTU T-Shirt. If I receive an A I will purchase some personal care products which aren’t particularly necessary. If I receive an A- I will purchase some fancy school supplies (Folder, new mechanical pencils). So I am hopeful. Nervous but hopeful. I think my effort was above a B but only time will really tell.

    So after my exam guess what I did? That’s right. I went to the second floor of my school building and I studied! We have new characters to prepare for and even with the 3 day weekend time is always of limited quantity. I didn’t get straight to studying, however… I ended up chatting with a lovely, 23 year old Japanese woman who makes bags and markets them in China. She’s here to improve her language skills so that she can improve her trade.

    It was nice just chatting with a fellow student. She sat in in our class during the week you could switch classes, but ended up switching back to her original class when she realized the spoken language level of our class was too high for her. Interesting how different classes have different personalities. The day previous I had made the mistake of thinking that my class was going to start in the classroom her class has classes in. Wwe ended up speaking for a little bit (story behind the mix-up: due to the typhoon, we had a couple of weeks ago, our class has decided to add an hour to existing classes. Our “extra hour” was in the classroom she has her normal class in… so yeah).

    Earlier today we spent a good 30-45 minutes chatting in Mandarin. She asked me about my family, my age, where I grew up. I explained that I didn’t know who my dad is, my mom is an addict and a pretty bad person (relatively) and how I don’t really worry about her as she lives her life and I live mine. I told her about my great-grandmother, my language course, how growing up there was no one ethnic group in my classroom when I was growing up and just how different that was for her when all her friends and classmates were Japanese.

    The ethnic diversity in the US is such a beautiful thing. It’s such a shame our country doesn’t seem to appreciate it and we divide ourselves into so many groups of “us” and “them.” If only we truly started our country with all men and women being considered equal perhaps our country wouldn’t be in such the muck and mire it seems to be rolling through. Oh well, everyone knows I feel strongly that the image we send abroad must reflect what we are still lucky enough to experience at home. I am working hard to make that difference, starting with this journey that I am on.

    After our shared words I worked a bit, ate at a local inexpensive cafeteria, and then proceeded home where I spent a few hours looking at apartments. I ended up giving up my apartment search as several things have become very clear. I just do not have the money to find an apartment at the moment.

    Currently, I have 30,000 NTD in my bank account (the money I had left over from arriving and the scholarship). The range of prices currently are between 9000 and 12000 NTD (300 to 400 US approximately). Even if I were to find something at the lower range (which is amazingly bare bones and often times still very incontinent to my school) with the 2 months deposit that’s being asked I’d end up having to pay 27,000 immediately. That doesn’t, generally, include electricity (1000-2000 a month) and some other utilities (200-700 a month). PLUS I still owe 4000 to my current landlord. I have to pay almost 30,000 for next semester at the end of the month (which will tap my next scholarship payment) AND I have to eat.

    Looking at this situation I realize I only have one real alternative. I have registered at a hostel to live in their dorm. The cost is approximately 9000NTD for a month but that’s without having to shell out a deposit. That will leave some money left over to pay my landlord, and a bit after that to live and do all the other things that require funds (though I am trying to keep my life very simple). I, unlike some of my peers, just don’t get to live the life of the baller, baller. By necessity and by desire I’m living the life of a poor student struggling to make it through the semester. But make it I will.

    I had considered ending the drive to get the final 6000US of the campaign but I realize I still need help. The one thing about Taiwan is that it is an expensive place to find an apartment in (for a poor student, that is. Relatively it’s less expensive than Beijing or New York City). I hope the switch to a new campaign platform will foster the fundraising and will do my best to get that new site set up before the beginning of the weekend. I also hope the switch to a dorm will not hinder the progress I’ve started but regardless the situation, or set back, I am going to fight to do the best that I can. So many have given their time and belief in me… and I believe that others will do so as well. Here’s to faith.



    One last thing before I go, my great-grandmother says, “Hello.” Her brother is very sick (which hurts me since he is one of the family members outside of my immediate family that I grew up loving). My uncle went and actually visited her but only spent a day at her home (after spending time with my mother (sadly). But with all that she’s healing well, walking on her own (to the post office no less). And looks good. She keeps wanting to send me money but I keep telling her I’m doing my best so that I can send her money. There is a collection agency trying to recapture 500$ for x-rays in which needs to be paid for by her insurance. They still haven’t fixed her food stamps issue and she’s living on 16$ a month in food stamps. What I don’t get is why do people try so milk money from the poor? Our country exists on a regressive system and its kinda bullshit. But what’s also kinda bullshit is the way my great-grandmother gets treated.

    Time to get some sleep, try to get up early, and get back on the grind as the semester isn’t over… in fact the second part is just beginning. Thanks again everyone and ADD OIL!

  • If You Don't Hear A Sound That Will Be Me Studying

    If You Don't Hear A Sound That Will Be Me Studying
    First, before anything else I would like to thank everyone who has helped me. At 40% of the goal raised all of the “get Jamar to Taiwan” stuff has been covered. From plane tickets, to Visa, to health checks, to applying for my Alien Residency Card. Having a temporary place to stay, having to pay for the first semester’s tuition (before even being able to apply for my scholarship), etc, etc, etc. Thank you everyone this is truly magical and I would not be where I am without the faith and belief of others that I and what I’m trying to do is worthwhile. This has given me such a great forward momentum and I am going to do everything I can to make the most of this. So again, thank you so very much.

    For the next few days I might not be sharing as much as I’d like. I mean you all know the drill by now. Still, this week is doubly intense. Due to being out voted I don’t just one test this week… I have 2.

    We have our chapter 6 end of test, the midterm exam, AND we’re starting chapter 7 work during the lead up to the chapter 6/midterm test. From what I gather, we’re not going to do any extensive review in class so it’s on our shoulders to elevate our game and make the most out of the two tests ahead.

    Ahh, my classmates. I still don’t understand them. How could a student not want extra time to study for a test that’s 20% of your grade? We have some smart students in our class but with the long weekend (or weekend, period) it seems to make sense to just give ourselves some time but maybe this is for a benefit.

    Anyway, griping about it won’t do much. All I can do now is throw my weight into studying. Push myself and try to be the best I can be. There are so many wonderful people out there supporting me. It really means a lot. Due to the choices I’m making my life is fairly lonely. I don’t hang out with the other students. I tend to keep my nose in the books. This past weekend I spent time with my friend Ben and he was courteous enough to spend the whole time engaging me in just Mandarin. It was really brilliant and I hope, someday he realizes just how strong of a Mandarin speaker he already is.

    Anyhoo, I am going to shower and sleep. Maybe rise early and do more character review but for now I just want to get some good hours of sleep in. With my taking over my medication dosing I feel MUCH better. I’m not going to lie, last week I truly felt I required emergency medical services but what does one do when one has no money? The plan is to get through this week and use blood work to assess how I am doing on a quantitative level (qualitatively though I feel SO MUCH BETTERRRRRR!!!!)

    Oh and my grades are steadily climbing. I received a 94 (a few small snafu’s) on my last chapter test (bringing the overall average up to 91.6% if my calculations are correct) and I received my highest grade on a tingxie (listen/write) exam so far (89). We only have one this week but I hit my mark. High 80s. I am not sure about next week but I will see about pushing into the 90s region. Once I’m there I’ll be cool with hanging between the high 80s to 90s. Finishing the semester in such a fashion I think will make up for the slow start that I began with.



    And that’s that (there’s so much more but I really must get to sleep). I hope you all enjoy reading, and that you keep doing so. I will continue to post images on instagram (@jamarwhaley), twitter (@jamarwhaley), and facebook (jamar.whaley). This weekend I hope to make some changes which will begin the second part of my first semester studying Mandarin Chinese at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. And as always… ADD OIL!