Letter from the Editor
By Derek Lin
March 30, 2018
You are running. It’s a sunny day, and the grass could not be greener as you tread over it. But you are focused. All you see are your friends, gesturing wildly at you like those humanoid inflatable tubes you see outside your local gas station. They are screaming, but their voices are drowned out by the pounding of your own heart in your ears as you feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins. Your focus shifts to the watermelon you are holding. You then look to the ground. Time is of the essence, and an idea dawns upon you like the looming shadow of your mother when she wants you to practice the piano. With as much force as you can muster, you lift the watermelon above your head and throw it towards—
SPLAT.
You look at the explosion of red and green on the ground. You realize this is going to be yet another camp story that goes down in LYF history.
Welcome everyone, to the LYF Journal! My name is Derek, and I am the Journal Editor this year. I have been a part of the TACL-LYF community since 2011, when I joined as a camper. Prior to that though, I had always had a lot of pride identifying as Taiwanese; that pride manifests itself within me even today, shaping and influencing my experiences in life. Thus, I look forward to delivering content I feel connected to, but that speaks to us all.
Going back to the short anecdote above: this amazing sequence of events occurred during an activity called the “Food Relay,” in which groups raced against each other to finish eating a set of different foods given to them. It is just one camp memory of many, and there will undoubtedly be many more to come! As such, this page will also be documenting those memorable experiences and events.
We will be striving to make the LYF Journal a space that everyone in the community can visit to feel connected to each other and to themselves through culture, news, and other relevant TACL-LYF material. Be on the lookout for more content regarding Taiwanese and Taiwanese American perspectives!
Lastly, we would like to hear from you! If you have any ideas concerning topics you would like to be discussed, please email tacl.lyf@gmail.com.