繁 Fourteen students from Yuan Ze University formed the 12th Career Exploration Team and spent six months preparing for the project. In collaboration with Grandpa Huang’s Home, a program of the Huang Lie-Huo Social Welfare Foundation, the team recently organized the five-day Little Career Explorers Community Service Camp at Ding-She Elementary School in Luzhu District, Taoyuan. From project planning and curriculum design to camp implementation, the students independently completed every stage of the program. Through career exploration courses, challenge-based games, and diverse hands-on activities, they accompanied 25 elementary school students in discovering themselves, exploring their interests, and courageously envisioning their future career paths. The camp reflected Yuan Ze University’s educational achievements in fostering self-directed learning, social engagement, and University Social Responsibility (USR).
The camp centered on the theme of career exploration. Using career cards, role-playing activities, teamwork exercises, and challenge-based missions, the program guided students to identify their interests, abilities, and personal characteristics while developing essential future competencies, including communication, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills. Many children stood on stage for the first time to share their dreams. Some aspired to become scientists, designers, or basketball players, while others hoped to pursue careers in pastry arts or veterinary medicine. Through encouragement and companionship, each dream gradually became clearer.
During the final presentation session, the children showcased their self-created dream maps and shared their aspirations for the future. A fourth-grade student surnamed Chiu said that the five-day camp had helped him learn about more professions and gain confidence in expressing himself. Hsiao-Luo, a fifth-grade student, expressed gratitude to the camp counselors for writing personalized cards and leading participants through an RPG-style outdoor adventure game that he had never experienced before, creating unforgettable memories. A student surnamed Huang, who would soon enter sixth grade, said that the camp had introduced him to a wide range of occupations and helped him make many new friends, whereas previously he had not known what he could do when he grew up.
Chao-Chen Hsiao, a master’s student in the Department of Electrical Engineering, explained that the Little Career Explorers Camp marked the first time the Career Exploration Team had entered an elementary school to conduct a career development service camp. To enhance the learning experiences of children from vulnerable families, the team adjusted teaching materials according to students’ needs. They added phonetic annotations to presentation slides, refined competition mechanisms, balanced dynamic and static learning activities, and adjusted camp content in real time based on students’ learning conditions and responses. Seeing the children look forward to classes every day and sincerely share their reflections during the final presentation allowed all team members to deeply appreciate the value of educational companionship.
Han-Ru Wang, a third-year student in the Department of Information Management, reflected on the six-month preparation process, noting that the team initially faced challenges such as limited manpower and insufficient funding. Team members gradually integrated resources and sought support from enterprises. Although they experienced periods of adjustment and pressure along the way, these challenges strengthened their unity and enabled them to complete the camp. In doing so, they embodied the Career Exploration Team’s spirit of “Building Alliances Through Career Development and Courageously Reaching New Heights.”
Jun-Guo Sun, Principal of Ding-She Elementary School, stated that the students from Yuan Ze University had carefully planned the curriculum and dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to accompanying the children, demonstrating young people’s enthusiasm and sense of responsibility for serving society. The camp provided nearly half of the school’s students with opportunities to explore their interests and future directions while planting seeds of courage and ambition in their minds. He also expressed appreciation to the Huang Lie-Huo Social Welfare Foundation for facilitating the collaboration, enabling university students to bring their expertise and passion into the campus and bringing more possibilities to education in underserved communities.
Yi-Chun Liu, Dean of Student Affairs, stated that Yuan Ze University had long encouraged students to enter real-world settings and transform classroom learning into practical problem-solving capabilities. Through interdisciplinary learning, industry-academia collaboration, and social engagement, the University had cultivated talents equipped with professional expertise, innovative thinking, and a strong sense of social responsibility. Looking ahead, the University would continue collaborating with enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and local communities to support more young people in public service, respond to societal needs, deepen community engagement, and further demonstrate Yuan Ze University’s commitment to USR through education.
