“I didn’t expect to get a Teacher’s Day card even at my new school… Thank you!”
“I’ve been busy adjusting to the new environment lately, but I was very happy to receive a card from a student from my first year of teaching who passed the college entrance exam, and I’m happy that I’m invited to the party. I hope that all the students who are still working hard also achieve positive results. That would be a true blessing!”
His Facebook posts are full of care for his students; on the bookcase in his research room, there is a whole cabinet of cards sent to him by students. He is a new assistant professor of the Department of Finance, Professor Sheng Yi Lo. Having recently arrived at the College of Management, NSYSU, he is already mingling with students, friendly and humorous, overflowing with concern for the students.
The Prodigal Son Returns as a University Professor
But in fact, Professor Lo wasn’t always a star student, once neglecting his studies and focusing more on having fun. At the time, following his parents’ expectations to become an accountant, he was studying accounting and statistics at the National Taipei University of Business. He admitted that he didn’t like accounting at that time, so he kept failing.
He added that before college, he loved to have fun, doing things like skipping class, playing pool, singing KTV at night, and racing cars. Then, the year before he graduated, he was worried about his future and made up his mind to start over and prepare for college transfer exams. But when he went to college, he also wanted to enjoy the college life. “Basically, I have tried everything that college students would do, so I can generally understand the mentality of students.” Professor Sheng Yi Lo is not the stereotypical academic who studied hard all the way through school, but because of this, he can relate even more to the students’ perspectives.
When he graduated from college, Sheng Yi Lo decided to work in an accounting firm first, so did he ever experience the demanding and exhausting nature of the accounting industry? “In an accounting firm, the most important thing is interpersonal relationships,” he says. “If you get along well with others, you can stay for a long time, and professionally, the firm provides training, so you learn quite a lot.”
After working for almost two years, Sheng Yi Lo had the idea of going to graduate school to add another qualification to his portfolio, so he decided to quit his job and prepared full time for graduate school entrance exams.
“I told myself that there was no looking back.” He didn’t take exam prep classes and instead decided to study all by himself, borrowing study materials from his sister. During the six months that he prepared for the exams, he studied in a nearby university study room from 7am to 11pm every day.
After studying so hard, Sheng Yi Lo was admitted to the Graduate School of Accounting at National Changhua University of Education. He said he was very lucky to meet his advisor, Professor Chun-Ju Fang, who inspired him a lot, told him how he could improve, and gave him a lot of advice and reminders on his academic path, for which he is very grateful.
During this period, he also cultivated his passion for research before he considered continuing to study for a doctoral degree. He served as a project assistant for one year, holding thematic discussions with professors two or three times a week. Through intensive training, he gradually built up a solid academic background and then was accepted into the Graduate Institute of Accounting at National Taiwan University, where he studied under Professor Chi-Chun Liu of NTU’s Department of Accounting.
“Professor Liu has been a member of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and the chairman of the Taiwan Accounting Standards Board, so he often shared his practical experience with us, and gave us a lot of advice and suggestions about academics and dealing with people,” Professor Sheng Yi Lo said gratefully.
During his time at NTU, Professor Lo was taught and guided by many teachers, such as Professor Yen-Jung Lee, whose academic stimulation helped him refine his attitude and beliefs in research. He was also greatly influenced by Professor Suming Lin, an honorary professor in NTU’s Department of Accounting. “Professor Suming Lin remembers all the names of the students that he knows, and even after years of graduation, he can still call out their names,” Professor Lo said with a smile. Even if a student is 100 meters away, Professor Suming Lin will still shout out his or her name, and he is very caring to the students. “I thought that was great, and it made me want to do my best to care for my students when I became a teacher.”
A Teacher and a Friend: Interacting and Mingling with Students
After graduating with his PhD, Professor Lo taught at the Department of Public Finance of Feng Chia University. He specializes in voluntary disclosure of information and financial accounting information. Voluntary disclosure refers to the spontaneous disclosure or provision of specific information by individuals or organizations without being required by law or other mandatory requirements. The purpose of voluntary disclosure is usually to respond to market demand and to build trust.
Currently, the main subjects of his research are American companies. In Taiwan, due to the strong financial regulatory system, there is a set of public standards for financial reports and other information, and voluntary disclosure is not yet the norm in Taiwan.
As an advisor himself, he organizes many activities, including class trips and Christmas gift exchanges, etc. He says he enjoys interacting with students, and even though he didn’t have experience as an advisor at first, he recalled how he had been cared for by many professors at NTU, and he naturally knew what to do.
For example, when a student was involved in a car accident, he took the initiative to call the student’s parents to express his sympathy and concern. The parents were surprised because undergraduate professors generally don’t have as deep a connection with students as high school teachers. They hadn’t realized Professor Lo cared so much about their child, and the experience gave them a better impression of the school.
The students can also feel the professor’s concern for them, making them feel that he cares about them and is willing to help them in their academic or personal lives. Because of this, they will not stray too far off course, and they will develop a sense of belonging, feeling that they are really becoming a part of this school.
“But I’m very strict in my classroom,” he says. For example, for the junior year course final presentation, he would ask professors and master’s students to be the judges. Eight judges would line up in front of the stage, and the order presentations was drawn by lot. Many students felt intimated by such a setup, but after going through this “devil’s training,” they were less likely to be afraid of any future situations.
Impressions of NSYSU: the warmth of Kaohsiung’s people and monkeys
Today, Professor Lo says he chose to come to National Sun Yat-sen University’s College of Management because NSYSU is a research-oriented university, which coincides with his love of research.
Coming to the south, he says he is most impressed by the warmth of Kaohsiung people and by the monkeys.
In addition to the heat of Kaohsiung’s scorching sun, NSYSU’s faculty, staff, and students are also like little suns, warmly helping others. “I am very grateful to the Dean, Director Wei-Che Tsai, Professor Yih Jeng, Professor Chou-Wen Wang, Professor Pei-Shih Weng, Professor Shih-Sian Jhang, Professor Chia-Fen Tsai, Professor Po-Wen She, and Professor Lin-Chi WU, among others, who have assisted me in getting accustomed to the big family of the College,” said Professor Sheng Yi Lo.
The students also take the initiative to help faculty, such as planning advisee gatherings and other activities on their own. Professor Lo thanked the NSYSU students and praised them: “NSYSU students both have excellent character and are passionate about serving others.”
Professor Lo also marveled at the activity of the Shoushan Mountain “seniors”, the famous monkeys that live there. As he posted on Facebook, “It’s been almost two months since I came to NSYSU, and I have to say that I’m really impressed by the various styles of the residents of Shoushan. They even staged a scene reminiscent of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes…. I really admire them!”
Laughing, he said that one time when he and his research assistant went to a convenience store at the College of Science to buy lunch, a monkey suddenly appeared at the entrance of the staircase, ready to snatch their food. His startled assistant screamed, and both of them jumped backwards at the same time. In particular, the spectacle of the College of Liberal Arts’ “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” left a strong impression on him.
Although he often went hiking with his friends and saw many wild animals and plants, none of these impressed him as much as the ones on Shoushan Mountain.
Encouraging students to learn from failure and build up their skills before doing internships
Professor Lo observed that the students of the College of Management, NSYSU are very eager to participate in internships, but he warns that rushing into internships without first clarifying your own aspirations is putting the cart before the horse. “I recommend that students first accumulate more knowledge and understanding, finish their thesis, and only then go to internships and work. That way, they will have the confidence to show their knowledge and abilities in the workplace.”
“In fact, students are learning how to avoid taking the wrong path.” Professor Lo encourages students to ask more questions and try to answer them as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because making mistakes is a privilege of being a student. Instead, learn from failure while you can. When you start working in the future, you won’t be able to afford to make mistakes as easily. If you make a mistake on the job, you will have to apologize for it, or, worse, the company’s reputation and finances will be damaged and you might even be fired, so it is better for you to try different things to gain more experience and increase your strengths while you are still a student.”
In addition to academics, Professor Lo also encourages his students to read more classic books. The three rows of bookshelves in his study room are full of books, including The Meiji Restoration; Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind; The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; The Art of Statistics; The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality; and Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, all of which are thought-provoking and enlightening worldwide bestsellers in a variety of fields.
Speaking of the author of The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Professor Lo said excitedly: “He writes superbly, he writes superbly! How can someone write Hong Xiuquan so well?” The author of The Meiji Restoration described the destructive reforms of the time, which Mr. Lo found “really daring.”
Why does he suggest reading a lot of books? “I think we should have both a big-picture perspective and a practical hands-on approach. We should stand on the shoulders of giants, grasp the pulse of the times, avoid detachment from reality, and enrich ourselves, so that we can speak with substance.”
Professor Lo is a strict disciplinarian, and academically, he is a demanding teacher, but in his life, he is generous to others, fun and friendly, and full of curiosity and empathy. He says, “Teaching is mutually beneficial, and I am willing to grow with my students.”
