【Honor】Recipient of 2021 MOE Outstanding Academic Performance – Elon Bar-Lev(IBMBA)

June 2021, while Taiwan is facing a nationwide alert level 3 caused by Covid-19, there are some things to be celebrated.

Other than the obvious upcoming graduation of IBMBA class of 2021, among them is an international student who has an extra reason to celebrate.

His name is Elon Bar-Lev, and he has been acknowledged by the IBMBA program, National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) and has been awarded the Outstanding Academic Performance Award for the year 2021.

This award is given to Taiwan Scholarship recipients under the Ministry of Education program, who have not only maintained an outstanding academic performance based on an average of their GPA, but have also been proactive in other extracurricular activities. From the hundreds of MOE scholarship recipients, only a few recipients are nominated for this award. From those few nominees, only a handful are selected. In 2019, from 560 scholarship recipients from the MOE, MOFA and MOST ministries, only 13 recipients were selected to receive the award. Elon, originally from Israel has been selected as one of those few in 2021.

Listed below are the reasons why Mr. Bar-Lev was chosen for this prestigious award:

  • Average GPA of 4.01 throughout his 2-year Master’s degree
  • Head coach of the International Dragon Boat team of NSYSU (2 semesters)
  • Internship in an International Taiwanese company (1 semester)

Unfortunately, due to the recent pandemic, the official ceremony held by the MOE office in Taipei had to be cancelled. During the ceremony, recipients would be introduced, would receive their certificate and enjoy a variety of Taiwanese cuisine. In addition to the honored guests such as the MOE office representatives, the country representatives of the recipient’s countries of origin have attended in the past, however this would not be the case this year.

Mr. Bar-Lev shared his feelings on being selected for the award:

“It was overwhelming at first when the IBMBA and OIA offices in NSYSU both told me they have discussed and wanted to nominate me for the award. I have never received any award for my previous academic achievements. To be fair, there weren’t that many, none actually. I always considered myself average, maybe average plus, but never outstanding! This was just proof to me that I could do it, and do it well. A few weeks after the nomination, the news came in that I was actually selected! I couldn’t believe it! I was so happy, not only for receiving the award, but to also finish my time in NSYSU on such a high note! The support I’ve received throughout my time in the program has been unimaginable, and I couldn’t think of a more supporting and motivating support system.”

Mr. Bar-Lev also wanted to share his experience with the IBMBA program and the MOE scholarship:

“I came to Taiwan initially to study Chinese. I had received the Huayu MOE scholarship for Chinese language studies for a duration of 1 year. It was great, but I looked for a reason to stay in Taiwan longer. I had known some friends in the IBMBA program, who have advised me to check it out. I went to the IBMBA office, and had a chat with the lovely employees there. Since then, I’ve come back to the office many times throughout my studies, always being greeted with a smile, or a hiding smile behind a face mask. The MOE scholarship has not only given me the opportunity to improve myself and my education, but had also given me the opportunity to live in this wonderful country. I consider Taiwan to be my home, and I intend to stay here for as long as I can. I highly recommend anyone who is even considering moving here, to apply for the MOE scholarship, whether the Master degree program scholarship or Chinese language studies scholarship, and find a way to live in Taiwan.”

Another report: https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20210609002449-260405